Documentary explores lives of young adult Hispanic Catholics
The spiritual journeys of young adult Hispanic Catholics in the United States as they grapple with questions of identity, faith, and belonging are the focus of a new three-part documentary, a project of the Clough School of Theology and Ministry, in association with Lost Nation Pictures.
The film series, Longing for More: Young Adult Hispanic Catholics, documents the experiences and perspectives of several young adult Hispanic Catholics in the U.S., in order to better understand this particular population, highlighting their faith, challenges, and hopes for the future while discerning the meaning of being Catholic in their lives.
“By providing a platform for young Hispanic Catholics to share their stories and perspectives, we hope to foster dialogue and understanding within the Catholic Church,” said Clough School of Theology and Ministry Professor Hosffman Ospino, an expert on the Hispanic Catholic experience in the U.S. who serves as the documentary’s executive producer.
Professor Hosffman Ospino (Photo by Caitlin Cunningham)
Longing for More is an invitation to listen and engage, accompany and embrace, according to the filmmakers. More than half of Catholic youth and young adults in the country are Hispanic, with most having been born and raised in the U.S.
Ospino added: “Life unfolds for them in intimate relationships 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 was envisioned by Ospino as part of his work advancing research and designing initiatives to help the Church better understand the Hispanic Catholic experience. He invited award-winning filmmakers James Rutenbeck and Sabrina Aviles to work with him on the documentary, which was interrupted by the COVID pandemic and took seven years to complete. Ospino calls the documentary "an artistics masterpiece and a powerful pastoral resource for our time."
A professor of Hispanic ministry and religious education, Ospino is an author and a researcher whose work regularly informs conversations about U.S. Catholicism. He has led several national studies on Hispanic Catholics in the U.S. and is the director of Nuevo Momento, a Lilly Endowment-supported project that aims to strengthen the capacity of ministerial organizations dedicated to serving Hispanic Catholics throughout the U.S.
Longing for More director and editor Rutenbeck is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker and a two-time recipient of the Alfred I. duPont Columbia Journalism Award. He has directed groundbreaking films that are inspiring forays into the depths of the human experience, including A Reckoning in Boston; Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?; Class of ‘27; and Nixon’s Reversal.
Avilés, an independent filmmaker and educator, served as director and producer for Longing for More. The founder/executive director of CineFest Latino Boston, she has dedicated her life to lifting up the beauty and complexity of the Hispanic experience through film. She directed and produced the documentary Raising the Floor and contributed to the PBS series Latino Americans.
Filmmakers James Rutenbeck (director/editor) and Sabrina Avilés (director/producer)
Part one of Longing for More is titled “The Acolytes of the South Bronx,” a 20-minute film featuring Christian De La Cruz, Joseff Rivera, and Noemi Meli, whose Catholic faith is the driving force of their lives, ministries, and relationships. They are part of El Centro, the Hispanic Catholic charismatic center of the Archdiocese of New York. These young people live their faith grounded in a spirituality that guides them to experience the Holy Spirit through prayer, song, and service to their peers in a complex, busy, urban space.
Part one also features the Most Rev. Joseph Espaillat, auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of New York, who talks about the challenges facing young people today. He continued the theme of the documentary in an essay he wrote for America magazine about the need to engage Latino young adults who are disaffiliating from the Catholic Church.
Part two, “Public Servant/Public Seeker,” is focused on State Representative Judith García of Chelsea, Mass. García is passionate about serving the most vulnerable in her community, many of them immigrants like her own family. She often struggles to reconcile her commitments as a public servant with a faith tradition that lives deep within her. She feels 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. Her story echoes that of tens of thousands of young adult Hispanic Catholics who often question whether the Church that shaped their childhood is welcoming and affirming enough of their experiences to be their spiritual home throughout their adult lives.
Part three, “The Liberation of Mauricio Najarro,” focuses on Najarro, the son of Salvadoran immigrants, a highly educated young adult Hispanic, a natural leader, and a devout Catholic. Though successful in many regards, he has experienced addiction, loneliness, and rejection. His identity and his humanity have been questioned, 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.
Rutenbeck and Avilés note that while all the subjects of this series were raised Catholic, many have struggled with issues in the institutional Church and not all have remained part of the Catholic Church. Writing in America, the filmmakers say the Catholic Church must accompany young Latino Catholics and “that process begins by making the effort to understand who they are and what is on their minds. They are a treasure to be cherished, supported, and nurtured. Church leaders need to recognize the abundant talent, intelligence, and vitality of a new generation of Latino Catholics.”
The documentary has been generously supported by Porticus and is being distributed in association with America Media.
Learn more about the project and watch the three short films at www.bc.edu/longing-for-more