Will Pope Francis be able to stem the tide of Latino departures from the Catholic Church? The widely-reported growth of Latino Protestantism in the United States has led various observers to pose this question as the first Latin American pope visits the U.S.
Today about a fourth of Latinos in the U.S. self-identify as protestant, particularly as Pentecostals. But depictions of Catholic loss and protestant gain only partially reveal the state of Latino religion. The wider dynamic is the immersion of Latinos in a religious culture of choice. This leads to switching in many directions. It also encompasses the increasing number of Latinos, especially among the younger generations, who state they have no religious preference.
The religious culture of choice does not solely impact Latino Catholics who change religions or opt for “no religion.” Many have encountered protestant adherents who try to convert them or make derogatory claims about Catholicism. Most know family and friends who have left the Catholic Church. In such an environment Latino Catholics are confronted with the reality that their faith is not simply a matter of family heritage, cultural tradition or personal habit. It is a commitment that must be consciously chosen and nurtured.
Pope Francis is well aware that a religious culture of choice has increasingly become a marker of Western culture. In his native Latin America, he was among the principal architects of the 2007 episcopal conference at Aparecida that addressed this very concern. He is a proponent of teología del pueblo (theology of the people), a model of theological reflection and pastoral action that focuses on everyday people as recipients and agents of evangelization. This approach seeks to provide pastoral accompaniment among marginal peoples as well as a broad range of Catholic movements that have energized Latin American Catholics over the past half century, such as base ecclesial communities, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and new ecclesial movements like Focolare and the Sant’Egidio Community.
The U.S. Latino Catholics who await Pope Francis are in the midst of a similar faith revitalization borne of parallel circumstances. As in Latin America, their faith is evident in apostolic movements, groups that stress a programmatic formation in Christianity as an intentional way of life. In fostering religious experience, personal transformation, knowledge of one’s faith and passion to evangelize others, these movements are suited to a competitive religious environment and the pressures of modern urban life.
I have witnessed Latino Catholics’ hunger to deepen their faith on numerous occasions in workshops that I offer across the country. Again and again, I am humbled at the highly-motivated participants who toiled all week at menial jobs, left young children with family members or brought them along, and awoke before dawn to drive several hours to an all-day faith formation session. Nationally, Latinos are underrepresented in all the major leadership positions and formation programs in the U.S. Catholic Church, save for one. While they comprise about 40 percent of the U.S. Catholic population, Latinos number nearly half the participants in lay leadership formation programs. These youthful and vibrant leaders are among the most valuable resources for the renewal of Catholicism in the United States.
Pope Francis will preside at an outdoor Mass in Spanish during his visit to Washington. It will be the first Mass a Latin American pope celebrates in his native tongue on U.S. soil. During this celebration he will canonize Junípero Serra, the founder of Spanish missions in California. Despite protestations of Serra’s association with the colonization of native peoples, his recognition underscores that the forebears of Hispanic Catholics — indigenous, Iberian, and also African — established Christianity in what is now the United States.
Francis’s celebration of the Eucharist in Spanish and his very presence will communicate his esteem and hopes for those who follow in Serra’s evangelizing footsteps today. Of course, the pastoral visit of a single person, even a charismatic pope like Francis, will not categorically reverse the widespread trend of religious switching. But Pope Francis’s urgent call for committed missionary disciples will certainly intensify the wave of revitalization movements among Latino Catholics. It will also motivate the numerous ordinary Hispanic leaders who do everyday ministry as catechists, prayer group leaders, community organizers, spiritual advisors, immigrant advocates and much more. As the Catholic Church endeavors to retain its faithful, the pope’s efforts to animate Hispanic leaders who have the most direct daily contact with their fellow believers provides both inspiration and a model for future evangelization initiatives.
Timothy Matovina is a professor of theology and co-director of the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
