HOUSTON — Against the backdrop of dire statistics showing large numbers of U.S. Latinos are leaving the Catholic faith, U.S. Church leaders are making efforts to better reach the country’s youngest and fastest-growing population.

In a speech delivered in August in Houston to leaders in the Latino community, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said the Church needs to place added emphasis on catechizing the Latino community and developing leaders from within it.

Archbishop Chaput’s remarks come in the wake of a Pew study on American Hispanics’ religious affiliation that was published earlier this year. The study found that the percentage of Latinos who are Catholic had dropped by 12 points in the last four years alone, from 67% to 55%. One in four American Latinos, the study adds, are “ex-Catholics.”

“Catholics falling away from the faith isn’t a ‘Latino problem,’” said Timothy Matovina, who is the executive director of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame and author of Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America’s Largest Church. “It’s a ‘Catholic problem’ that affects people of all cultures and backgrounds.”

Matovina also notes that further study is needed to expand on the findings of the Pew study. The Notre Dame professor also pointed out that the study doesn’t adequately explore the beliefs of “unaffiliated” Latinos, who make up 16% of all U.S. Hispanics but 31% of younger Hispanics.

“Who are those people?” he asked rhetorically. “They’re probably not philosophical atheists. Are they spiritual but not religious? To evangelize within the Catholic Church, we need to learn more about who these people are.”

 

Latino Spirituality

According to Matovina, the decreasing prevalence of Catholicism among U.S. Hispanics is due in part to the Church in America not doing enough to promote liturgical and parish practices that resonate with Latinos.

Although he is quick to point out that there is no such thing as “a single Latino spirituality,” Matovina acknowledges that there are some general characteristics found in the religious attitudes and practices of most people of Latin-American origin. Among these, he highlights a “vibrant” style of worship and a “communitarian ethos” that emphasizes fellowship beyond Mass. “[Catholics] have that style of worship and a strong emphasis on community, but it’s not being lived out fully in our U.S. Catholic parishes,” he said.

The importance of these factors — and their absence from some Catholic churches in America — would explain why a large number of Hispanic Catholics are attracted to evangelical-Protestant denominations, like Pentecostalism and similar “charismatic” movements.

According to the Pew study, the percentage of Latinos who consider themselves evangelical Protestant has increased four points in the past four years, most noticeably among middle-aged people. Many who leave the Catholic Church cite the sense of community and the more vibrant style of worship as a reason for making the switch from Catholicism.

But according to Matovina, “What works for evangelical Protestantism works for the Catholic Church,” and most dioceses that have a large number of Hispanics are increasingly promoting practices that resonate with Latino spirituality, as opposed to simply offering Mass in Spanish.

“If you have good preaching, good clerical leadership and good music, Latinos will drive from miles away to attend Mass,” says Matovina.

 

Room for Improvement

That’s a finding confirmed by Hosffman Ospino, who teaches at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry. He recently conducted a three-year national study of Catholic parishes with Hispanic ministry, focused on learning more about the leadership, methods of evangelization and structure of parishes with Hispanic ministry.

“Parishes with Hispanic-specific ministry are vibrant and have higher levels of attendance and baptisms [than those that do not],” Ospino said of one of the study’s major findings.

But other survey findings are more disconcerting. Despite the fact that Latinos make up 40% of all U.S. Catholics, only 6% of priests and 12%-15% of seminarians are Latino. Similarly, only 10% of American bishops are Latino.

 

Youth Ministry

According to Ospino, 60% of U.S. Catholics under the age of 18 are Hispanic, but very little is being done to reach out to them in an effective way.

“It’s a huge problem,” said Ospino regarding the lack of focus on Hispanic youth.

“We need ministry that’s in English but has a distinctively Hispanic character,” he advised.

Ospino highlights the work of Instituto Fe y Vida as an example of an organization that is supporting Hispanic youth ministry done right. The Stockton, Calif.-based institute was born out of the Second National Encuentro for Hispanic Ministry in 1977 that requested “a national organization be set up with a formation center for Hispanic ministries.”

Ken Johnson-Mondragón, Fe y Vida’s director of research and publications, says “Fe y Vida is taking a leading role in providing support and training where none would otherwise be available, as well as in advocating for additional emphasis on this ministry at the level of dioceses, parishes, Catholic schools and ecclesial movements.”

Fe y Vida’s programs, training and support have inspired thousands of people who do engage in youth ministry with Latinos. Johnson-Mondragón says that, in a few cases, youth ministers who receive training from Fe y Vida have seen their pastoral outreach grow as much as 200% or even 300% in a short time.

 

Lay Leadership

While Hispanic Catholics may be underrepresented in the priesthood and in Catholic schools, one area where they are increasingly rising to prominence is lay leadership.

Catholic Extension’s Hispanic Lay Leadership Initiative (HLLI) has played a critical role in this process. A national fundraising organization, Catholic Extension promotes Hispanic lay leadership by partnering with dioceses with large but underserved Latino populations, also known as “mission dioceses.”

“We’re providing the seed funding for these communities to grow, develop and eventually become sustainable with their Hispanic ministry programs,” said Marina Pastrana, the initiative’s manager of mission programs.

Pastrana says one of the most important indicators of HLLI’s success is the number of vocations it has produced. “Several of our lay leaders now have the first Hispanic vocations in the history of their dioceses,” Pastrana noted.

 

Incredible Potential

U.S. Latinos are on course to be the single largest demographic in the Catholic Church in the near future.

“Latinos are hungry for God,” said Notre Dame’s Matovina, who regularly speaks at Spanish-language formation programs in dioceses around the country. “It’s one of the greatest treasures the Catholic Church has in this country right now.”

Jonathan Liedl

writes from Minnesota.