I have seen figures that show a gradual and slow decrease of Catholicism among Mexicans in Mexico, the Evangelicals have really targetted Latin America for decades, so one might see some effect certainly. I even knew a family that were Jehovah’s Witnesses and they really tried to stingently follow that faith closely.
And…this is the problem the Catholic Church faces. People naturally are drawn to sin. Protestants are, if not more tolerant of it, they assign less weight to it. How do you convince someone that they need to go to confession regularly, do penance, avoid sex, avoid drunkenness, not get divorced, etc…when the Iglesia Evangelico de Jesus down the street tells you that as long as you come to Sunday service and put your money in the basket, you’re “saved” and going to heaven, no matter what you do?
Yes I remember the first time I heard we reject the “glamour” of evil and it dawned on me that evil IS often quite glamorous. We are told by the media to be “tolerant” and “love everyone” which is sadly often excuses really egregious behavior. Also the standard that seems to say all you need to do is “accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior” and it’s a one stop shopping trip to heaven. I have several Evangelical sisters in Christ who are wonderful lovely people but one has been married three times to a man who’s been married four times. They think the Church and the annulment process is ridiculous. Why should you have to go through that? Jesus wants you to be happy! I think we do have some common ground with Evangelicals and I love their strong ProLife stance. But they do have an interesting approach to fornication, marriage, divorce and one’s duty to their neighbor. Much easier to sit in church for an hour a week and then put it out of your mind until next Sunday.
I wonder, though, if the Spanish word for conservative, conservador, means the same thing to a Hispanic.
You make a really good point. I have heard several protestants say, oh were told that we can have sex, party, and act crazy but as long as we repent, well still be saved bc of baptism. I told both guys, what makes you believe that you will have a chance to repent, you may die suddenly and not get a chance to repent.
I heard the other day (actually from a Protestant pastor) that God doesn’t want you to be happy, he wants you to be His. I thought that was a very powerful statement.
I think the fault lies with the church.In the past in mexico perhasp they didn’t give the people the proper religious education so many were ignorant of the faith.many may have been illiterate and could’nt read a catechism book in spanish’much the less anything else.And this may go for elsewhere in Latin America;which is why from Mexico on downI totally agree. I sure pray that we can get more priests, nuns, deacons, catechists who can go out and evangelize. For us to learn and teach others, so they know the fullness of the Church.
the eveangelical protestants made inroads.Now here in Texas they had protestant circut riders like baptist;methodistsetc.in the past as well as catholic priests who ran a circut out in south Texas especially along the border.
There is a book Crossing Guadalupe Street which is an autobiography of a young hispanic growing up in Seguin,Texas whose family was methodist(converted ages ago) and who also had catholic relatives.I think you can find it listed on Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
The church needs to get out there and preach the bible and show these people through the bible why the Catholic Church is the one true church and use some of the tactics the protestants use to recover these people.
At least around here, Hispanic Protestants tend to be Pentecostals, or one of those nondenominational churches also popular among Anglophones here as well.
Many of the Protestants know more Bible than Catholics. Some of the Protestants have even memorized the Latin Vulgate. However, since the printing press came along, perhaps the biggest threat to Catholicism is/are the different interpretations of the Bible. But is agreeing with some of the non-Catholic interpretations the best way to expand Catholicism? Do we want to create even more Christian denominations?
I think they meant tactics. Round here the Legion of Mary does that kind of thing.
I grew up in a mostly Mexican-American community in Phoenix in the 1960s where out-of-wedlock birth was unknown. I don’t doubt that a girl may have gotten pregnant occasionally, but the boy who did it would have married her quickly, or her dad would have put him in the ground. There would not be any illegitimate births in their families. Those men were relentlessly Catholic, the entire family went to mass every Sunday, and our lives revolved around the parish and the parochial school I attended. Everyone knew everyone else, and we went from house to house to play and eat dinner, and if you were in someone else’s house and acted up, their dad would yell at you the same way your own dad would. There was an understanding that every dad and mom in the neighborhood acted in loco parentis for each other’s kids. It was a lower middle-class community but real problems or gang involvement or delinquency were unknown. Those men were our scoutmasters and our CYO boxing coaches and our CCD instructors and our little league coaches. They made sure they were a big part of their kids’ lives. They were 4th and 3rd and 2nd and some 1st generation Americans, who were proud of being American even as they celebrated the old ways, who had fought in WWII and Korea, and wanted a better life for their kids. They worked hard at their jobs and provided for their families and took care of others who weren’t well off and, I think, enjoyed being who they were. I miss them.
Bravo. I will add something else. Many Spanish churches are in effect private businesses. Some have seen that one can make a pretty good living from being the pastor of a small church. One needs a minimum of education and a sense of a call and a winning manner, and then if he can get a following he is able to rent or build a space then he can build a large congregation. Becoming a priest reguires much, much more, including giving up a wife and family, but also a much more extensive education. All this explains why there are so many such churches. They but follow the same pattern as Anglos.
Amen. Absolutely, we need a new evangelization. It’s only in that that we’ll change our culture. We need to get our hands dirty again, and do domestic mission work. Being “God with skin” for those who are poor, oppressed, uneducated, illiterate, abused, neglected, and ignorant. Only then will we be a Church people want to join.
Your sentence bolded above! You are absolutely right and I hadn’t really thought of it in this way. What does the average American see? As you said, sensationalized reporting of every real or imagined issue, plots and intrigue, and then we have “Catholic” politicians who are given a pass as they pontificate on matters of Doctrine
Eh, in my experience, most priests don’t speak of these things either. So, I tend to think that many of these Hispanics are going to the Evangelical churches to actually hear about sin (!), etc. I think it’s high time for our clergy to speak about the not-so-feel-good topics. Because staying safe isnt increasing our numbers.
The problem I think extends beyond this. This is actually more of a Catholic viewpoint, because it stresses the need to repent. But if you fall into the category who believes that as soon as you accept Jesus as “Lord and Savior”, you’ve gained an irrevocable ticket to Heaven…well, you see the problem.