A first-of-its-kind study by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) shows that 28% of the country’s parishes offer Masses in Spanish.
This number suggests an increase in the number of Catholic parishes in the United States offering Masses in Spanish over the past 10 years.
Receive the main news from ACI Prensa by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channels today:
Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, deputy director of Hispanic Affairs in the USCCB Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, said in a statement that the survey “reflects the dedication of our dioceses to the Hispanic and Latino communities.”
He called the survey results “encouraging” because they show a “widespread commitment to building a more integrated and united Catholic Church in the United States.”
The survey results
The bishops’ survey included data from 175 dioceses and 16,279 parishes. The study found that 4,479 parishes, 28% of all parishes in the United States, currently offer one or more Masses in Spanish.
Although there is no precise data to compare this number, it suggests an increase of approximately 10% since 2014, when bishops reported that 81% of the approximately 5,000 parishes that offered Masses in languages other than English celebrated Masses in Spanish.
Additionally, the survey indicates that 2,760 parishes have a Hispanic ministry present but do not offer a Mass in Spanish.
Not included in the survey were the Archdiocese for Military Services, the Diocese of Saint Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands, the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, and Eastern Catholic eparchies in the United States.
The Hispanic access points of the Church
The city with the largest number of parishes offering Masses in Spanish in the United States is Los Angeles. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has 240 parishes—that is, 83% of all parishes in the archdiocese—that offer a Mass in Spanish.
Southern California has an especially high concentration, with 78% (423 of 540) of parishes in the region’s four dioceses offering a Mass in Spanish.
Texas and Florida are also important points for Hispanic ministry.
All but one parish in the dioceses of El Paso and Laredo in South Texas offers a Mass in Spanish. Meanwhile, a Spanish Mass is being offered in all 72 parishes in the Diocese of Brownsville.
In the Archdiocese of Miami, 89 of the 109 (81%) parishes offer a Mass in Spanish. The twenty parishes that do not offer a Mass in Spanish have some type of Hispanic ministry presence.
Why is it important?
According to the Pew Research CenterLatinos represent 33% of the country’s total of 52 million Catholics.
Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez, one of the USCCB’s leaders on Hispanic evangelization, told CNA in an interview earlier this year that the spiritual health of Latino Catholics is vital to the Catholic Church in the United States.
He also shared that the bishops are aware of the danger posed by increasing numbers of Hispanic youth leaving the Church.
José Manuel De Urquidi, founder of a Latino Catholic ministry called Juan Diego Network, told CNA that the survey further demonstrates the need for the entire Church, not just specialized Hispanic ministry offices, to evangelize the Latino community, especially the young ones.
“The vast majority of generations Z and Alpha are Latino,” he noted. “For Latinos to attend weekly Masses, we have to go out and try to understand them in order to evangelize them and form them so that they feel attracted to the sacraments. For this we need to do many things as a Church, not depend on Hispanic ministries that are overwhelmed and have little budget.”
The bishops of the United States They unveiled a pastoral plan late last year to better serve the country’s growing Hispanic Catholic population
The plan aims to be a guiding document to serve the country’s Hispanic population for the next 10 years, until the 500th anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in 2031, and the 2,000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in 2033.
Commenting on the new survey, San José Bishop Oscar Cantú, chair of the USCCB Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs, said in a statement that “surveys like this are vital to understanding and addressing the Church’s response to the needs and aspirations of our Hispanic/Latino communities.”
“There are common obstacles that dioceses face when engaging in Hispanic/Latino ministry, such as bilingual priests or limited resources. In a practical way, this survey helps measure our work and determine how we can continue to serve this thriving part of our Church and the importance of continued ministry to the needs of our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters.”
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.
Peter Pinedo
Peter Pinedo is a Washington DC correspondent for CNA. A graduate of Franciscan University, Peter previously worked for Texas Right to Life. He is a first lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve.