14
May 27, 2014
in the church
As Hispanics approach majority in U.S. Church,
needs for ministry loom
By Patricia Zapor
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (CNS)
--- Training of pastoral leaders and
provision of most other resources for
Hispanic ministry aren’t 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 in
Chestnut Hill, presented his findings
from the first major survey of how
parishes are handling the rapid demographic shift.
Hispanics currently account for about
40 percent of all U.S. Catholics and their
share of the population is continuing
to increase. Nationwide, 4,358 parishes
-- almost one-quarter of the U.S. total
-- were identified as having some s ܝق