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puzzleannie
Guest
how convenient to ignore the most dynamic aspect of today’s Catholic Church – and American demographics in general – the influx of Hispanic Catholics and their growing percentage of the population.
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otm
Guest
However, it is also a group that has suffered from not poor catechesis, but almost no catechesis.
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katolik
Guest
What about Traditionalists. They truly are the fastest growing segment of the Church.
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margie
Guest
Because I have five years on ministry to my parish Hispanic community, I know a bit about them. I would guess that our dioceses have few reliable statistics about our Hispanic worshippers. Because many are illegal immigrants, they eschew ‘registrations’ of any kind, even if the Church requires them in order to perform baptisms; baptizing their children is VERY important for most Catholic Hispanics.
They may not have been mentioned in the article also because, as a group, they are not likely to contribute large dollar amounts to their or any parish. On average, they have attended school for only 6-9 years, and most hold minimal wage, entry- level, or ‘under-the-table’ jobs. Their populations are concentrated in the large coastal cities and southern borders, not in the heartland. They usually have RESILIENT AND AMAZINGLY STRONG social supports. They often display a strong Marian devotion. In so many ways their Catholicism is practiced differently from the ‘typical’ American (European ethnic background) church-going Catholic. They seem to me neither to hold inherently nor to apply the same standards of morality of the typical or general ‘European-American’ Catholic churchgoer. Their morality and practice of it reminds me of their idea of punctuality: They profess to understand it and promise they will act at a certain time. Then most of them either come late or they don’t come at all.
For what it is worth, this has been my experience and my studied analysis. Sure, they are Catholics and have influxxed our country. But their ‘flux’ prohibits our knowing much more about them.
They may not have been mentioned in the article also because, as a group, they are not likely to contribute large dollar amounts to their or any parish. On average, they have attended school for only 6-9 years, and most hold minimal wage, entry- level, or ‘under-the-table’ jobs. Their populations are concentrated in the large coastal cities and southern borders, not in the heartland. They usually have RESILIENT AND AMAZINGLY STRONG social supports. They often display a strong Marian devotion. In so many ways their Catholicism is practiced differently from the ‘typical’ American (European ethnic background) church-going Catholic. They seem to me neither to hold inherently nor to apply the same standards of morality of the typical or general ‘European-American’ Catholic churchgoer. Their morality and practice of it reminds me of their idea of punctuality: They profess to understand it and promise they will act at a certain time. Then most of them either come late or they don’t come at all.
For what it is worth, this has been my experience and my studied analysis. Sure, they are Catholics and have influxxed our country. But their ‘flux’ prohibits our knowing much more about them.
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