On October 5-6, 2008, a symposium on Hispanic Catholics in the US was sponsored by CARA, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, at Georgetown University. Highlights from the Symposium, along with the text of presentations and key resources are available at the CARA website.
According to CARA’s statistics, between 50% and 90% of Hispanics in the US identify themselves as Catholic. With the number of Hispanics in the US increasing, it is important to look at the impact and the needs within the Catholic Church.
Allan Figueroa Deck, S.J, Executive Director of the Bishops’ Conference Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, gave the keynote address. He spoke of how we live in “a time of accelerating changes.” He also quoted two researchers who made the following recommendation to the bishops, “Just as financial observers often speak of ‘leading indicators’ to gauge the state of the economy, we would recommend that the US Conference of Bishops consider Latinos to be the leading indicator of American Catholicism’s future.”
What does this really mean and how should we respond? Deck used the analogy of a traffic circle or roundabout which is at a crossroad but offers many choices. If you don’t choose carefully, you will end up getting stuck on the circle. As he explained, “The US Catholic Church and not just Hispanic ministry is approaching this roundabout that offers more roads to take than just a crossroads. By using this metaphor, I wish to stress the realization that choices have to be made in the light of new situations and that those choices may not be as straightforward or obvious as one might think.”
Deck identified several key areas, issues and opportunities to be considered. Given the rapid pace of change, the last thing we should do is follow the financial sector’s footsteps and do nothing. We do not need the equivalent of an economic crisis in our Church. If leading indicators are urging us to study issues and make decisions, then as Catholics we need to move forward, following where God’s Spirit is leading us.
