Hispanics Reshaping U.S. Catholic Church

Lightkeeper · #1 (**permalink**) 26th April 2007, 03:36 AM

Quote:

April 25, 2007

Hispanics Reshaping U.S. Catholic Church
by Laurie Goodstein
The New York Times

The influx of Hispanic immigrants to the United States is transforming the Roman Catholic Church as well as the nation's religious landscape, according to a major study of Hispanics and faith released today.

The study, conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, found that many Hispanics practice a "distinctive form" of charismatic Catholicism that includes speaking in tongues, miraculous healings and prophesying -- practices more often associated with Pentecostalism. Among non-Hispanic Catholics, these traditions are practiced by some but are not so widespread.

The study also found that most Hispanics are clustering in "ethnic congregations" with Hispanic clergy, Spanish-language services and where the majority of congregants are Hispanic. These ethnic congregations are cropping up throughout the country -- not just in neighborhoods with a concentration of Hispanics, but even in areas where Hispanics are sparse.

According to the survey, 68 percent of Hispanics are Roman Catholic, 15 percent are born-again or evangelical Protestants, 5 percent are mainline Protestants, 3 percent are identified as "other Christian," and 8 percent are secular (1 percent refused to answer). This is a very different picture than that of non-Hispanic Americans, where the largest groupings are 20 percent Catholic, 35 percent evangelical and 24 percent mainline Protestant

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http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=13309

Any thoughts on this?

statrei · #2 (**permalink**) 26th April 2007, 03:13 PM

Apparently the Hispanics are bringing their religion with them.

**Rev. Kelly** · #3 (**permalink**) 26th April 2007, 04:55 PM

I don't see what the fuss is about. So they practice differently than most Catholics, are they harming anyone?

evangelicalhumanist · #4 (**permalink**) 26th April 2007, 07:23 PM

I think it's important to remember that the Catholic Church, unlike most other Christian denominations (or other faiths, for that matter) are more focused on the authority of the Magisterium (the Pope, the Church and its authority to teach religious doctrine) than upon the authority of scripture. Thus, it seems to matter somewhat more in that body how people believe and how worship is conducted. It's likely that, more than anything else, that's causing some concern.

And it brings up a question that I don't think has been fully answered, which is, "if your practice is other than as defined by the Magisterium, are you really Catholic." This is certainly an issue with the Old Catholic Church (and several variants) for example. Are they really "Catholic?"

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