“Being a Hispanic/Latino Catholic who speaks English, Spanish, and even Spanglish means living in a world that isn’t only one way or only needs to be only in one language, rather it is living with a faith that can be experienced and understood for all its richness. It means having a broader perspective and a unique voice, a voice that isn’t heard enough and that needs to speak up and be listened to.”
Armando M. Cervantes, director of Youth and Young Adults, Diocese of Orange
“To be Latina and Catholic has been a journey of learning to make the faith I have received my own while living “on the hyphen.” For second- and third-generation Latinos like me, Catholicism has often been experienced in Spanish, deeply rooted in the old culture we are simultaneously integrating and leaving behind. The challenge and opportunity being held out to our Church today is learning how to deliver the powerful message of the Gospel in ways that can appeal to and draw this group.”
Marilu Del Toro, master’s student, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry
“‘Lord, teach me to be generous.’ The opening line of the Prayer of Generosity, attributed to St. Ignatius, is recited daily at Christo Rey Jesuit High School by our 560 Hispanic students. It’s a request for God to help us learn one of life’s most important lessons — generosity in sharing our time, talent, and love. Our school forms the next generation of Hispanic Catholics, and from my experience I can attest these students are on fire with their faith.”
Antonio Ortiz, president, Christ Rey High School, Chicago (a graduate of the school he now leads)
“I constantly work in a world of both theology and ministry where I am able to be with a variety of communities and highlight the contributions of Latinas in the U.S.A. One out of every five women in the U.S.A. is a Latina. At least one out of every five Catholics is a Latina. When Latinas live a fuller life, the entire Catholic Church benefits!”
Neomi DeAnda, PhD, theologian, University of Dayton
“Pope Francis has called Catholics to be creative and change to adapt to the new contexts in which we must proclaim the Gospel. I cofounded www.ushispanicministry.com, a digital resource for U.S. Hispanic Catholics and those who serve them. The digital continents, or the new techno-barrios, also provide new opportunities to listen to and accompany those in the peripheries who often feel abandoned, judged, or rejected by the Church.”
Patricia Jiménez, DMin, founder of www.ushispanicministry.com
“Hispanic Catholics offer to the Church in the United States the gift of community. To be a young Hispanic Catholic in the United States is to be a bearer of a tradition that transmits the faith in the context of community — accompanying those who most desperately need the Gospel of Jesus Christ — an invitation extended to all in the Church.”
Javier Bustamante, executive director, Cultural Diversity and Outreach, Archdiocese of Washington
“Being ‘other’ — woman, consecrated religious, Cuban-American — has allowed me to grow in the conviction that there is no faith outside of culture… we have an opportunity to continue accompanying young Hispanic Catholics, living ‘in between’ various realities, to embrace their gift as mediators (priests by baptism) of God’s Good News to the growing population of ‘others’ among us.
Hilda Mateo, MGSpS, DMin, director of theological research-Charisma Sacerdotal-
Guadalupano; a member of the Missionaries Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit, Our Lady of Guadalupe Province
“As a Hispanic Catholic woman in the United States I am blessed by the roads and doors which were opened for me because of ‘la lucha’ (the struggle) of the many on whose shoulders I stand in my ministry with and for the universal Church. It is their example that reminds me that my accomplishments are not solely for me but hopefully will serve to animate and form another generation of leaders in the United States.”
Marilyn Santos, director of mission education/coordinator of mission corps, Pontifical Mission Societies of the United States