• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Hispanic Ministry in Catholic Parishes A Summary Report of Findings from the National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry by Hosff man Ospino, Ph.D. in collaboration with the center for applied research in the apostolate (cara) the national study of catholic parishes with hispanic ministry was designed and led by the boston college school of theology and ministry in collaboration with the center for applied research in the apostolate (cara) at georgetown university. it was possible thanks to the generous financial support of several private organizations, including the our sunday visitor foundation, committed to supporting research and initiatives that lead to a stronger catholic experience in the united states, and anonymous donors. principal investigator: hosffman ospino, ph.d., boston college research consultants: mr. alejandro aguilera-titus, united states conference of catholic bishops dr. mark gray, cara, georgetown university dr. robert hurteau, loyola marymount university mr. ken johnson-mondragón, d. min. (cand.), instituto fe y vida dr. timothy matovina, university of notre dame dr. brian starks, university of notre dame dr. anthony stevens-arroyo, city university of new york © 2014 trustees of boston college table of contents Hispanic Ministry in Catholic Parishes A Summary Report of Findings from the National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry 4 | Introduction 12 | The National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry 13 | section i: structures 21 | section ii: leadership 33 | section iii: faith formation 40 | Emerging Insights: Toward a Constructive Conversation boston college school of theology and ministry | 3 Introduction © Paul Liebhardt/Paul Liebhardt/Corbis “The mutual influence of Catholicism and Hispanic peoples in the United States is shaping not just the future of American Catholic life but also the life of the nation.” —Timothy Matovina, Latino Catholicism, viii The National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic1 Ministry This is the fi rst time that a comprehensive national tity while they integrate into the larger society. Parishes study focuses solely on Catholic parishes with Hispanic matter. Parishes continue to be privileged places where ministry.2 Hispanics in these parishes are largely Span- most active Catholics learn, live, and celebrate their ish-speaking. However, most of these communities also faith. Such is a hallmark of the communal identity at the serve a growing body of English-speaking Hispanics and heart of Catholicism, an experience very close to the His- are typically shared with groups of non-Hispanic Cath- panic cultural ethos. Parishes play an important role in olics. In the early 1980s it was estimated that 15 percent the lives of millions of Hispanic Catholics. In parishes of all Catholic parishes served Hispanic Catholics, most- where Hispanics are present, the number of Catholics ly in Spanish. Hispanics constituted about 25 percent attending Mass is larger compared to the overall U.S. of the entire Catholic population in the United States.3 Catholic population (see data in the section “Anatomy Three decades later, when Hispanic Catholics are about of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry”). Parishes 40 percent of the approximately 78 million Catholics in are among the fi rst places Hispanic Catholic immi- the country, 25 percent of all Catholic parishes intention- grants seek when searching for a familiar experience of ally serve Hispanics. community in a foreign land. Parishes with Hispanic ministry are often centers where Hispanics seek spir- Catholic parishes with Hispanic ministry constitute itual accompaniment alongside support to meet other a very important portion of the U.S. Catholic experi- immediate needs. ence that needs to be better studied and understood. The fi ndings of the National Study of Catholic Parishes with The fi ndings of the National Study of Catholic Parishes Hispanic Ministry, with its reports and publications, are with Hispanic Ministry are an invitation to make instrumental to achieve that twofold goal. What we learn informed decisions about ministry with Hispanic about parishes with Hispanic ministry today gives us a Catholics—and other Catholics sharing these faith sense of what Catholic life in the United States already is communities. Many crucial decisions are made on a in many places where Catholicism is growing vibrantly— daily basis at the parish and diocesan levels that directly of course, not without challenges. Considering current impact Hispanic Catholics: pastoral plans, parish demographic trends and the steady growth and infl u- reconfi gurations, allocation of resources, development ence of Hispanic Catholicism, these communities also of materials for faith formation, vocational recruitment, provide us with a glimpse of what U.S. Catholicism will hiring of new pastoral leaders, and theological formation likely be in vast regions of the country—at least during for ministry, to name only a few. In our day, a number the fi rst half of the twenty-fi rst century. The study of of these decisions require full consideration of current these communities is an invitation for pastoral leaders, realities, trends, needs, and possibilities associated with scholars, and organizations interested in supporting the Hispanic Catholics. Pastoral leaders often lack enough U.S. Catholic experience to imagine a future together, data and informed analysis to appropriately assess those investing and planning today with Hispanic Catholics. realities. The National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry provides a wealth of relevant data Diocesan reconfi gurations in various parts of the and analyses to generate creative conversations about country during the last two decades have led to thou- life in Catholic parishes and ministry with Hispanics. sands of parish closings and mergers. This is somewhat A key step to follow this eff ort is to extend the spirit concerning considering that during the same period of of research and analysis to the entire body of Catholic time those changes have coincided with a large infl ux parishes in the country in light of the culturally diverse of Catholic immigrants—mainly from Latin America, dynamics in which U.S. Catholicism unfolds today. A the Caribbean, and Asia—who often rely on parishes much needed project, indeed. to remain connected to their religious roots and iden- boston college school of theology and ministry | 5 The Hispanic Parish in Context the evolution of the hispanic parish4 There was a major diff erence, however. The European The oldest Catholic parish under the fl ag of the United national parish was indeed for a “nationality”: Poles States of America is Hispanic. This is true whether one went to the Polish parish, Italians to the Italian parish, looks at the fi rst church erected in San Juan, Puerto etc. But a mixture of Catholics from the 21 nations in Rico, in 1523 or the oldest Catholic mission established Latin America, without counting Spain and Puerto Rico, in 1566 in St. Augustine, Florida. The annexation of call the Hispanic parish home. The Hispanic parish has Texas and other territories at the end of the 1848 Mex- often been a place of encuentro for diff erent nationalities, ican-American War added to Catholicism a plethora of making the name more appropriately “Pan-Hispanic parishes that were older than the Republic. It is one of national parish.” True enough, the Mexican infl uence the anomalies of history that the Hispanic parish, which was the most common from Texas to California. came fi rst for American Catholicism, is often viewed as Although 64.5 percent of the nation’s Hispanics today a new creation. have roots in the Mexican culture, concentrated mostly in the Southwest, not every parish is mostly Mexican. As described in many histories of the Hispanic Catholic In the 1950s, for instance, New York City’s Hispanic experiences, however, these parishes have guarded the population was 80 percent Puerto Rican. After the 1959 faith and adapted ministry to challenging circumstanc- revolution, Cubans became the dominant Hispanic es. Despite the frequent manifestation of ugly prejudice, presence in Miami. During the fi rst half of the twentieth traditional culture and the Spanish language legacy were century, Hispanic parishes were focused on eff ective sustained by popular celebration of Catholic feast days service to the local community. They diff ered widely like the Three Kings on the Epiphany and the Via Crucis from diocese to diocese and had few connections with on Good Friday. Many Marian devotions in Hispanic each other. Catholicism fl ourished in these parishes, particularly the love for Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose shrine had As the United States emerged from the Great Depression, sealed the victory of the faith in Mexico, rooting the however, the policy of proliferating national parishes Hispanic contribution to American Catholicism at the came under question, particularly in large cities that onset of evangelization in the New World. attracted successive waves of newcomers. Accordingly, a diff erent model for the Hispanic parish emerged. Sunday The Hispanic parish antedates the well-known national sermons and pastoral care were delivered to Spanish- parish, which was created in the nineteenth century speaking Catholics within existing parishes, often in the United States for ministry to European immigrants like basement church. Even when physically, pastorally, and the Germans, the Italians, and the Poles. The national linguistically separated,

Load more

  48

Copy Link