Latinos Seek Greater Role in Catholicism
- Share via
WASHINGTON — U.S. Latinos, increasingly restive over policies of the Roman Catholic Church, are urging change to revitalize their fast-growing ethnic group’s traditional religious bonds.
Complaints about a “cold church” are set to be vented among 1,200 delegates to a four-day National Hispanic Encuentro , or encounter, which opens Thursday in the nation’s capital. Latinos make up at least one-quarter of the nation’s 52 million Catholics.
The U.S. Catholic Conference, the public policy agency of American bishops, released excerpts from a working document that will be placed before the delegates.
The excerpts contain a clear warning that traditionally Catholic Latinos may not stay within the church unless they receive greater attention. Among other things, the document says:
--In this country, “a cold church is evident with the lack of fraternal love” and an absence of community spirit.
--”Many (Latinos) have to go to other churches to satisfy their hunger for God. . . . Many others leave disillusioned by the way our leaders or priests act.”
--U.S. Latinos, many of them refugees and undocumented immigrants, feel alienated and suffer from a “lack of pastoral attention.”
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
