Different races in the Catholic Church

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excaliber

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Hi

This has become VERY obvious to me.
The Catholic churches I have seen
have been all 95 percent black or 95 percent white.

Why is this? I understand that spanish have a different mass because of language.

There are some churches that I remember being more mixed.
Its not a big deal…but why would there always be SO MANY of only one race?
 
excaliber said:
Hi

This has become VERY obvious to me.
The Catholic churches I have seen
have been all 95 percent black or 95 percent white.

Why is this? I understand that spanish have a different mass because of language.

There are some churches that I remember being more mixed.
Its not a big deal…but why would there always be SO MANY of only one race?
Click to expand...
I have never in my life seen a Catholic church that WASN’T 95% Hispanic. Why? Probably because I’ve lived in West Texas and New Mexico all my life!
 
I think it comes down to parish boundaries; where whites predominate in a given geographical area of a city you will, of course, see more whites, and the same where most in an area are black - or Chinese or Korean, etc… It’s not a matter of dividing within the Church - although that can happen, too - but of the economical background that will divide geographically.
 
Demographics mostly. Also the history of the area and the traditions of the people who live there. Our parish is pretty diverse, but certainly not 50/50 between blacks and whites. However, we also have 2 thriving historically-black churches in our area–one AME and one Baptist. So most of the black families that have lived in this area for awhile probably go to one of those 2 churches. The Lutheran and Methodist churches in this area are 99% white, so I would say that the Catholic Church here is actually the most diverse of all.
 
You are painting “all” Catholic Churches with quite a broad brushstroke.

Churches reflect the demographics surrounding area.

My old parish, in a large multi-cultural city, was very diverse.

My new parish, in a rural Midwest community that is 99.9% white is-- surprise-- all white.
 
It is like the poster above said: demographics.
The Catholic Church is broken up into Dioceses,
which in turn are broken up into parishes
located within particular areas.
Catholics are registered in the parish nearest their home,
so most Catholics ATTEND the parish nearest their home.
If that is a neighborhood that is 90% African American,
most members of the Church will be African American.
But NO CATHOLIC is FORBIDDEN to attend ANY parish.
There is no deliberate segregation of races in the Catholic church.
My parish is about seventy percent Hispanic (and I’m talking about the English masses), about 20% Caucasian,
and about 10% African American. If more black Catholics
move into my neighborhood, my church will have more black members.
One of the prettiest modern-built Catholic Churches in Northern Miami-Dade County is Saint James Church on NW 7th Avenue at around 135th Street. It is largely a Haitian-American black parish.
And in the Southwest sections of Miami Dade County, most of the parishoners are either Nicaraguans or Cuban-Americans, with a smattering of Anglos like me.
Miami-Dade County Florida is very heavily Hispanic.

Jaypeeto4
+JMJ+
 
simply depends on the population of the area where the parish is located, and the balance of church-going Catholics in that population. NB “Hispanic” is NOT a racial classification, but an ethnic, and not even that since speaking the language is not a reliable indicator of national origin or family background.

Try going to a CAtholic Church in the Galveston-Houston archdiocese, for example, or in LA, you won’t have enough fingers on one hand to count the different races and ethnic groups represented in the congregation.
 
As others have said, it’s most likely the area you’re in. My parish in Houston reflects the demographics of the location. We’re about half “Anglo” and half Hispanic, with maybe 5-10% black and Asian. We have heavily Korean and other Asian parishes in Houston, but not so much in my area of the city.

The only place I’ve ever seen a 95% black Catholic parish is around New Orleans or in photos from Africa. 🤷 It’s all what you’re used to in your neck of the woods.

The megachurches around here are very culturally mixed. Why? Because they only have 1-5 locations throughout the entire metro area and people sometimes drive 50 miles to attend them.

Also, IMO, the megachurches have less of a cultural basis within families since they’ve only been around for 30 years.
 
Well that makes sense.
It is the same with the jw’s, it depends on the area.

Do Catholics have any gatherings were the different races fellowship?

For example jw’s have groups of churches that meet together for what is called assemblies.

Of course mass is far better then jw’s meetings.

But I was woundering if groups of catholic churchs meet together for fellowship?
 
excaliber said:
Hi

This has become VERY obvious to me.
The Catholic churches I have seen
have been all 95 percent black or 95 percent white.

Why is this? I understand that spanish have a different mass because of language.

There are some churches that I remember being more mixed.
Its not a big deal…but why would there always be SO MANY of only one race?
Click to expand...
The commuter Church I got to is probably 85% Phillipino and black, and 15% Spanish and White. The other commuter Church I go to is a complete mosaic. I work in NYC though so basically it reflects the people who live and work in the area. Any Church will be the same, it will be a mix of those who live in the area. If your Church has 95% whites I would guess the area in which you live is around the same.
 
The Catholic church I attend is completely mixed as far as race goes… we have all races, all nationalities. I was actually pondering that this morning in the confession line. I was behind a black lady, and in front of an asian man.

Whereas all the Baptist churches I used to go to were 100% white. We had a black lady come to a service once… there was a definite air of uncomfortability that morning. It was weird, and I hated it. One reason I started looking elsewhere. 😉
 
excaliber said:
Hi

This has become VERY obvious to me.
The Catholic churches I have seen
have been all 95 percent black or 95 percent white.

Why is this? I understand that spanish have a different mass because of language.

There are some churches that I remember being more mixed.
Its not a big deal…but why would there always be SO MANY of only one race?
Click to expand...
When the Catholic immigrants came to the United States they formed parishes with their those of the same ethnicity, you’ll see Polish churches, Slovak churches, and churches of other different ethnicities formed and many of these churches are still around today with 2nd and 3rd generation Americans. People tend to not change churches that often, and since few if any blacks immigrated with the Slovaks and Poles, those churches remain predominantly white even today.
 
you do realize the CAtholic Church is truly universal, worldwide, so includes Catholics of virtually every race and nationality on the globe.
 
Kielbasi said:
When the Catholic immigrants came to the United States they formed parishes with their those of the same ethnicity, you’ll see Polish churches, Slovak churches, and churches of other different ethnicities formed and many of these churches are still around today with 2nd and 3rd generation Americans. People tend to not change churches that often, and since few if any blacks immigrated with the Slovaks and Poles, those churches remain predominantly white even today.
Click to expand...
There are a few Catholic parishes in Cleveland that are predominantly black, mainly because most of the people living in the neighbourhood are black. However, most blacks tend to be Baptist or AME, not Catholic. In the suburb where I grew up, many of the whites moved away or died. The parish I grew up in closed because the blacks who moved into the neighbourhood were not Catholic. There is a Baptist church close by that expanded their building since they had many new people join the church. Many of the neighbourhoods in Cleveland that used to be predominantly white are now predominantly Hispanic, but the Catholic churches in those neighbourhoods are thriving because most Hispanics are Catholic.
 
excaliber said:
Hi

This has become VERY obvious to me.
The Catholic churches I have seen
have been all 95 percent black or 95 percent white.

Why is this? I understand that spanish have a different mass because of language.

There are some churches that I remember being more mixed.
Its not a big deal…but why would there always be SO MANY of only one race?
Click to expand...
What is your point?

I have lived in many different places and travelled a lot for work and have attended various Catholic churches in the process. Depending on the region or neighborhood some have been mostly white, some mostly hispanic, or 50 - 50. Some have been mostly Polish with a very rich culture and tradition. some have been mostly Asian… The church I attend now is Maronite rite and mostly Lebanese.

One thing in common, My family and I have always felt welcome at all of these churches.
 
excaliber said:
Hi

This has become VERY obvious to me.
The Catholic churches I have seen
have been all 95 percent black or 95 percent white.

Why is this? I understand that spanish have a different mass because of language.

There are some churches that I remember being more mixed.
Its not a big deal…but why would there always be SO MANY of only one race?
Click to expand...
Funny, I’ve found the opposite to be true. My parish and the Protestant church I was going to are fairly close together and my parish is much more diverse.

I would guess we are about equally white and Hispanic and we have a large Filipino population too. There aren’t too many blacks, but that is pretty in keeping with the makeup of the area.

The Protestant church I was going to was probably 99% white. I can easily count on my fingers and toes the number of people who aren’t white in a church of around 1000. 🤷
 
It’s a very complex question. You might find the following article on statistical studies of racial diversity among US churches (of all denominations) interesting
encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-71949662.html

Catholics actually appear to do a good bit better job than mainline Protestants in this.

*Ironically, the poorest record on diversity–only 2 to 3 percent mixed on average–belongs to historic Protestant churches, which were among the first to trumpet the ideal of integrated congregations… Catholic churches “are almost three times more likely to be multiracial than are Protestant congregations” because the large parish boundaries normally embrace several neighborhoods, he said. Yet the Congregations Project found less socialization and interaction between ethnic and racial groups in Catholic parishes, which often have separate masses for different language groups.

The more integrated churches among Protestants usually were the more theologically conservative, non-denominational congregations. Overall, the study found that only 7 percent of Protestant congregations nationally could be called “mixed.” …

Looking at independent, nondenominational churches in the Hartford study, research associate Scott Thumma said that nearly 25 percent of them had a substantial mix in which the dominant racial group was no more than 60 percent of the congregation. “A plausible explanation is that denominational labels create a cultural expectation of whether they are white' or black’ churches,” said Thumma, noting that, like Pentecostal churches, nondenominational congregations have more contemporary worship styles and flexibility.

Floyd “Butch” Gamarra, missioner for multicultural ministries in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, put it another way: “In a lot of mainline churches the issues are race and class.” Liberal churches present the theological idea that “the world is supposed to be a rainbow,” but the upper-middle-class church members “want to be cerebral” about it, Gamarra said. The Pentecostal and independent churches “tend to attract more working-class people who are in the same social, economic class,” Gamarra said. “The mix is a lot easier.” *
 
I guess its obvious that I gota get out more LOL.

Its no big deal, we don’t go to mass to chat anyway.

When I have a chance I will look for one of these mixed churches…

I ment nothing bad …just an observation.
 
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