Study Finds Segregation of Latinos in Catholic Church

Latino Catholics remain largely segregated from other Catholics in the nation’s parishes, and discrimination still prevails in many parts of the church, according to a study commissioned by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In one of its more striking findings, the study concluded that Latinos are twice as likely as other Catholics to worship in “separate and unequal settings.” Non-Latinos also control central functions in many parishes, even where Latinos are now a majority, according to the study.

California churches--particularly in Los Angeles--tend to have made more progress in integrating Latinos than the church nationally, the report said.

By contrast, it found that Latinos encounter considerable discrimination in several Southern states that have seen recent upsurges of Latino immigration. The report also said segregation is a problem in New York and in parts of Texas, where the study found increasing conflicts between immigrants and more established second- and third-generation Latinos, many of whom speak only English.

Advance copies of the study, “Hispanic Ministry at the Turn of the New Millennium,” were obtained by The Times and the National Catholic Reporter. The report has not yet been fully reviewed by the nation’s bishops and is scheduled to be released formally March 15.

The findings present serious challenges for the church’s future, said Ronaldo M. Cruz, executive director of the bishops’ Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs. “This is a long-term process. The hope of the bishops is that what happens gradually is that Latinos will be fully integrated into the church. This is not the end of the story. It can’t be,” he said.

Nationwide, Latinos make up 30% of the American Catholic population of 62 million. In many areas, however, Latinos are now the majority. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the nation’s largest, covering Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, has roughly a 65% Latino population.

The archdiocese has been relatively successful in integrating Latinos, the study found. About 70% of the region’s 289 churches are functioning as “multicultural” parishes, according to the study, meaning that all ethnic groups within a parish are represented on the parish council.

Even in Los Angeles, however, only two Latinos hold senior administrative positions in the archdiocese--Gabino Zavala, auxiliary bishop for the San Gabriel region, and Thomas Chabolla, director of the secretariat for pastoral and community services.

Nationwide, the study found, relatively few Latinos are entering the priesthood or becoming nuns. Last year, there were only 511 Latino seminarians in the United States and just one Latino priest per 10,000 Latino parishioners. By comparison, the church reports one priest for every 1,200 of the faithful overall.

In addition, the percentage of priests and nuns learning Spanish or studying Latino culture has declined in the past decade. In 1990, 9% of priests and 6% of nuns were studying Spanish. Last year, the figure for priests and nuns combined was less than 4%.

The study found Mass attendance among Latinos to be higher than commonly believed. Although many priests use a rough estimate that one in 10 Latinos attends Mass weekly, the study found that in concentrated metropolitan areas, 30% to 40% of Latinos attend that often. Among the general Catholic population, 28% to 30% attend church weekly.

The study reported progress for Latinos in some parts of the church. They have raised their visibility as a force in the church with increased budgets for Latino ministries, higher participation in parish planning and programs, and more support services.

But segregation of worship remains a major issue. In some parishes, the study found, Latinos “keep their Mass collections in a separate fund and use these monies to pay rent to the church for use of its sanctuary and parish hall.”

Also striking are the study’s findings on the lack of diversity in the church’s top administrative posts. Nationwide, non-Latino Catholics still dominate the upper administrative levels, the study found, even in dioceses where Latinos are now a majority. Nearly two-thirds of dioceses have no Latinos in key management positions in their central offices, the study found.

‘Key Battleground Is the Parish’

Stewart Lawrence, director of the study and president of the research organization Puentes Inc., said the results raise a question of leadership.

“It’s about integration and obstacles to that leadership,” he said. “We’ve had gatherings and documents at the national level calling for change. But the ability for that to trickle down has not happened. The key battleground is the parish.”

In integrating Latinos, bishops and priests must incorporate hundreds of traditions from across Latin America and reconcile them with the traditions of the Irish, Italian and other European immigrants who have shaped the American church until recently. At the same time, African Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans are demanding that their voices also be heard.

Because staggering numbers of Catholics continue migrating to California, conflicts still occur, even in parishes that are well integrated, said Louis Velasquez, director of the Los Angeles Archdiocese’s Office of Hispanic Ministry. Velasquez called for stronger language requirements and sensitivity training for young seminarians and priests.

“We’ve made some great progress,” he said. “Yet there is still a tremendous clash that happens between new immigrants, church leaders and priests. We need to train not only priests of the future but those that are here and now. We’ve had more than 20 years to look at the problem, so let’s solve it.”

The situations in other parts of the country displayed an array of problems. In New York, for example, where Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are the main Latino groups, few integrated parishes were found. Lawrence said he was at a loss to explain the results.

In Texas, “the class differences between the generations make it hard for the groups to worship together effectively,” Lawrence said. “In the case of indigenous groups from Guatemala, we appear to have Latino-on-Latino racism or cultural discrimination that is just as virulent as that practiced by whites,” he added.

The regions where the study found the most problems were in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee--all areas where Mexican immigrants have moved in recent years, primarily to find jobs in agriculture.