(ZENIT News / Los Ángeles, 31.01.2024). Latin Catholics represent 40% of the Catholics of the United States, and they are the majority of those of school age that profess the religion . However, they are not well represented in Catholic schools and in the priesthood: pupils in Catholic schools constitute 19% and there are only 3% of Latin priests in the country.
The demographic future of the United States, at the level of Catholicism, is basically in the hands of the Hispanic community,” said, in an interview with The Epoch Times, Dr Hosffman Ospino, theologian and Director of the Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry of Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry. The average age is 29; two-thirds of the Hispanic population was born in the United States and almost half are immigrants. Catholic minors are Hispanic.
For twenty years Boston College has researched “the Catholic Hispanic reality in the United States and how we, Latin Catholics, are transforming Catholicism in this country.” They have noted the process of cultural and demographic transformation of Catholicism at the national level, where we, “the Hispanics, don’t need to be welcomed by them, but we build the Church with the very large numbers we have.”
Father Michael Kueber, priest of the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, in charge of the Hispanic Ministry, said that “the Bishops, priests, deacons and catechists of Anglo origin don’t feel prepared to attend pastorally the Latinos in the United States.” In his book, “preaching to Latinos,” he suggests means to “those in charge of pastoral care to understand the Hispanic culture and be able to exercise pastoral care.”
The first generation immigrants want to transmit their traditions to the coming generations, who take up secular attitudes as, for instance, indifference to the Catholic faith. The Church leaders suggest changes in school pedagogy and in parish catechesis programs, said Father Kueber.
Hosffman Ospino thinks that the growth of the Latino community calls for more leadership of the Latinos in the Church. He sees their largest presence in the political realm, in business, commerce and education, and he suggests that “the key, now, is how among us all we help one another to build faith communities, as we help each other to sustain our Catholic identity, by being formed, helping one another, supporting leaders and, ultimately, recognizing that, to a large extent, the future of Catholicism in the United States will depend on the investment we make in the Hispanic community.”
Archbishop José Horacio Gómez Velasco of Los Angeles expressed to ZENIT, some time ago now, his conviction that Hispanic Catholicism is fertilizing the culture of the United States. “The presence of Hispanics in the United States is a fact of great value for the culture. Somehow, the values the immigrants bring, are making North American culture return to its Christian roots. They are very basic values, of a profound Catholicism, where faith, family, and expressions of piety, are all part of our daily life.”
The challenges of policies and ideologies opposed to Catholics’ spiritual convictions make “every era in history have moments where there are leaders that support the different Religious Movements. And there are moments in history when leaders don’t support them. We need to be able to articulate our convictions in a respectful manner and, at the same time, exact respect from other organizations and from the leaders,” said Hosffman Ospino.
The spread of views contrary to the Catholic faith calls for preparation in believers to affirm their convictions amid a plural environment. Boston College is developing an initiative to promote Hispanic leadership among Catholics called New Moment, to give financial and formative support to a dozen Catholic organizations and Universities.
