Latin American Catholics may be exactly what God has sent to renew the Church in the United States. As with any gift, the Church here should receive this one gratefully — without trying to Americanize it.

Many Latin Americans fall away from the Church when they come to the United States. This is something the Church here cannot afford to let happen. This new blood is exactly what we need, especially in a time when scandals are weakening the vigor of the faith.

As the front page story in this week's issue shows, it is more than possible for the Church to sustain the fervor of Latin Americans' faith. We won't do it by inventing new liturgies, having just the right smile, or getting in touch with Latin pop culture. Legitimate efforts to inculturate the Gospel to a community are a help, but they alone won't win the faithful. Only a return to the basics can win Latin Americans' hearts. Latin American customs that celebrate the fundamentals of the faith can then enrich the experience.

Is the Church in the United States ready for that?

When the Vatican announced that it would canonize Opus Dei founder Msgr. Josemaría Escrivá, Padre Pio and Juan Diego, some leading American Catholic lights showed that they are a bit out of touch with the common faithful. One columnist said that these three enormously popular holy men didn't have “universal appeal.” He went on to question each canonization decision in turn.

And yet the Spanish monsignor is a best seller ubiquitous in Catholic bookstores, Padre Pio's beatification set new attendance records for Rome events, and the Mass for the canonization of Juan Diego is expected to attract the largest congregation for any single Mass ever.

If the Latin American Catholics who are so enthusiastic about these saints — and the kind of popular piety practices that go with them — are meeting similar dismissive attitudes in their parishes, it's no wonder they feel unwelcome.

Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City spoke to this point last fall in the Vatican.

The cardinal, whose archdiocese includes the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, said that over the past four decades many theologians and pastors saw popular piety as a simplistic sign of uneducated faith “which was necessary to purify in most cases or to tolerate with condescension.”

But such “know-it-alls,” he said, ignored the deep faith of the people and the potential of popular piety to witness to and strengthen faith in Christ and to enrich the celebration of the Mass with true devotion.

As Pope John Paul II has done in the past, the cardinal called for the Church to accept and encourage popular piety, purifying it, directing it and deepening it. Cardinal Rivera cited the rosary, pilgrimages, processions and novenas, as obvious ways to prepare the people for a more intense celebration of the Mass on feast days.

Making the sign of the cross when passing a church, praying before the Eucharist and participating in a Corpus Christi procession strengthen people's awareness that Christ is present in the Eucharist, leading to a greater respect for the sacrament and for the Mass, Cardinal Rivera said.

And various Marian prayers and devotions, if they are motivated by a desire to live the faith like Mary did, can bring people to Christ and to a renewed commitment to dedicating their lives to him, he added.

The Mexican relatives of Derek Parra, the Olympic speed skater, erupted in applause when the skater crossed himself after his gold-medal winning performance. It is that faith the Church in America should encourage. Pious Latin-American families who have home shrines to Our Lady of Guadalupe are very enthusiastic about their faith. It isn't their fault if they have less enthusiasm for parishes which disregard, disdain or discourage their devotion.

The simple but profound expressions of faith by Latin-American Catholics may soon come to the rescue of the Church in the United States. We should do more than welcome them. We should join them.