Longing for More: Young Adult Hispanic Catholics A Documentary (2025)
Longing for More: Young Adult Hispanic Catholics, A Documentary
“Longing for More: Young Adult Hispanic Catholics” (2025) is a three-short documentary that shares the spiritual journeys of young Hispanic Catholics in the United States as they grapple with questions of identity, faith and belonging.
“Longing for More: Young Adult Hispanic Catholics” (2025) is a three-short documentary that shares the spiritual journeys of young Hispanic Catholics in the United States as they grapple with questions of identity, faith and belonging.. More than half of youth and young adult Catholics in the country are Hispanic. Most were born and raised in this land. For many, life unfolds in intimate relationship with immigrant families and friends. Their stories, questions and commitments will be defining the direction of thousands of Catholic faith communities, educational institutions and ministries in the next few decades. Longing for More is an invitation to listen and engage, accompany and embrace.
The Acolytes of the South Bronx
Short #1
In this 20-minute film, we meet Christian De La Cruz, Joseff Rivera and Noemi Meli who passionately speak of their Catholic faith as the driving force of their lives, ministries, and relationships. Their passion is inspired by the conviction that the Holy Spirit is truly at work in the world giving these young adult Catholics the wisdom and strength to navigate life in one of the most complex, busy, urban spaces in the world. It is that same Holy Spirit that empowers them to support one another in the intimacy of their relationships as they discern how to best retain and live creatively their Hispanic Catholic identity.
Public Servant / Public Seeker
Short #2
In this 20-minute film, we meet Judith García, who from a very young age felt called to serve the people of her hometown, Chelsea, Massachusetts. She was elected a city councilor at 23, later a State Representative. Judith is passionate about serving others, especially the most vulnerable in her community, many of them immigrants like her own family. She sincerely discerns how her Catholic upbringing may inform her public service. Judith often struggles to reconcile her commitments as a public servant with a faith tradition that lives deep within her yet she does not always comprehend. She treasures that tradition because of the values it has instilled in her. The institutional church has not always been at her side as she balances what it means to be a young Hispanic public servant and a Christian believer on a quest to spiritual self-understanding. Judith inhabits the edges of religious affiliation, always curious, always hopeful; waiting for an invitation.
Release Day: Monday March 24, 2025
The Liberation of Mauricio Najarro
Short #3
In this 20-minute film, we meet Mauricio Najarro, the son of Salvadoran immigrants. Mauricio’s life is full of paradoxes. He is a highly educated young adult Hispanic, a natural leader, and a devout Catholic. Though successful in many regards, he shares that among the most defining moments on his spiritual journey are experiences of addiction, loneliness and rejection. His identity and his humanity have been questioned many times, even by people who share his own faith convictions. The path of justice and the witness of countless other believers have galvanized his strong resolve to remain Catholic.
The story behind the stories in
Longing for More: Young Adult Hispanic Catholics
In 2018, Professor Hosffman Ospino from Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry, known for his research on Hispanic Catholicism, approached award-winning filmmakers James Rutenbeck and Sabrina Aviles to work together on a project about capturing the stories of young adult Hispanic Catholics. James has made a name for himself directing groundbreaking films that are truly inspiring forays into the depths of the human experience. Sabrina has dedicated her life to lifting up the beauty and complexity of the Hispanic experience through film. A partnership was born with much excitement and hope.
Longing for More: Young Adult Hispanic Catholics was seven years in the making. We met incredible young adult Hispanics along the way. Each of their personal and communal stories is a treasure that gives life to many. Not all their stories are part of this project, yet all remain true sources of inspiration. We visited various cities, conducted numerous interviews, and took copious notes. The project began in the footsteps of the Fifth National Encuentro of Hispanic Ministry (2018), which called for more investment in the pastoral accompaniment of young Hispanics, with particular attention to those who are U.S. born and U.S. raised. In 2019 Pope Francis wrote the apostolic exhortation Christus Vivit (2019), asking Catholics with a sense of urgency to listen to young people. The aims of the project were doubly affirmed. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic brought the project to a full stop. However, in the midst of this challenging time, the pandemic brought to light the stories of many young adult Hispanics living their faith heroically. After the world returned to some form of normalcy, we completed the final part of the project.
During these seven years, we produced a three-part documentary that serendipitously provides glimpses into three different moments of the life of our nation, our Church, and the Hispanic experience. One could well surmise that such moments are decades apart from each other, but they are not. They simply reveal how fast our world is changing in short lengths of time and the complex realities young adults in our time must confront on a day-to-day basis.
Longing for More: Young Adult Hispanic Catholics has no narrators or experts. Judith, Neomi, Christian, Joseff and Mauricio, along with others in this three-film documentary, are witnesses. They share their stories of faith and how they understand life in their own words. The short scenes from their lives are windows into a much larger and awe-inspiring existence. The images, sounds, symbols, movements and spaces in the films persuasively bolster the stories being told, reminding us that what we hear is as important as what we see when witnessing someone’s life.
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Credits
James Rutenbeck
Director/Editor
James Rutenbeck is an Emmy® award-winning filmmaker and a two-time recipient of the Alfred I. duPont Columbia Journalism Award. His notable works include "A Reckoning in Boston" (2021), which aired on PBS's Independent Lens, "Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?" (2008), and "Class of '27," which explores the lives of young children in three rural American communities (2016). His short film, "Nixon's Reversal" (2023), was nominated for a 2024 Emmy®.
Sabrina Avilés
Director/Producer
Sabrina Avilés is an award-winning independent filmmaker, educator and Founder/Executive Director of CineFest Latino Boston. In 2023 she received the Brother Thomas Fellowship. She directed and produced the documentary "Raising the Floor" (2022) and contributed to the PBS series "Latino Americans" (2013). Sabrina is committed to tell in-depth stories, with particular attention to Latinos/as, that require substantive conversations with the community and move beyond the headlines.
Hosffman Ospino, Ph.D.
Executive Producer
Hosffman Ospino, Ph.D. is Professor of Hispanic Ministry and Religious Education at the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry where he is also the chair of the Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry. He has led several national studies on Hispanic Catholics in the United States and is the author/editor of more than 20 books. Hosffman’s work has received multiple recognitions and his research regularly informs conversations about U.S. Catholicism.
Longing for More: Young Adults Hispanic Catholics is a production of Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry in association with Lost Nation Pictures, with generous support from Porticus. Distributed in association with America, The Jesuit Review, AmericaMagazine.org. © 2025 Trustees of Boston College. All Rights Reserved.