Church Must Increase Hispanic Ministry

Training of pastoral leaders and provision of most other resources for Hispanic ministry are not keeping up with the fast-approaching time when Hispanics will make up the majority of Catholics in the United States, according to a new report. “Hispanic Catholics have reached critical mass in the church,” said Hosffman Ospino, lead author of the National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry. He said 55 percent of all U.S. Catholics under the age of 30 are Hispanic, and Hispanics account for 71 percent of the growth in the U.S. Catholic population since 1960. “Ignoring the growth of Hispanic Catholics in the United States would be self-defeating for our churches and schools,” he added. Ospino, assistant professor of theology and ministry at Boston College, presented his findings from the first major survey of how parishes are handling the rapid demographic shift on May 5 at the college. Hispanics currently account for about 40 percent of all U.S. Catholics.

This article appears in May 26-June 2 2014.