Within the next few years, Hispanics will make up the majority of Catholics in the United States.
Two professors from the Department of Theological Studies and the director of the Center for Religion and Spirituality joined church leaders, scholars and practitioners from around the country this month for a symposium on the future of Hispanic Catholic Ministry in United States. The event was held at Boston College and co-sponsored by LMU and Barry University.
“This is the first time something like this has been done – spearheaded by universities as opposed to something that comes from a bishop,” said Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu, a professor of theological studies. Gonzalez-Andrieu was joined at the event by Professor Michael Lee, from the department of Theological Studies, and Robert Hurteau, director of the Center for Religion and Spirituality at LMU (pictured with Fr. Allan Deck of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops).
The symposium focused on cultural differences among ethnic groups within the Church and how best to address them, as well as other challenges posed by shifting demographics. Some reports in recent years have suggested the U.S. leadership of the Catholic Church is underprepared for ministering to its growing Hispanic flock, particularly in parts of the country that have only recently seen an increase in their Hispanic populations.
The specialists attending the symposium split into different groups to discuss various topics relating to the Hispanic Catholic community, including liturgy and spirituality; education; immigration; and the academic aspects of theology. The participants hope to produce a series of studies and reports based on the conversations at the symposium and subsequent research, which will be published bilingually next year and distributed to scholars and dioceses around the country.
“Part of the plan is after our studies are published, we plan to have five years to do follow-up studies and see how things are being implemented or taken up by people at the parish level, at schools and at universities,” Gonzalez-Andrieu said. LMU may host the next symposium in 2014, she said.
