Cockroach People
Rants and ruminations by a classical liberal with radical Chicano tendencies
I think it would be nice to have a Latino cardinal in the U.S. (specifically, in Los Angeles), but it’s a waste of time to speculate whether or not the Church will pick one. There are not that many people to chose from given the priest scarcity that has been plaguing us for some time now. In addition, the church is not likely to put the race of the candidate above the need to pick someone who can oversee such a large archdiocese–the largest in the United States! Remember the last time we chose a Pope? The news media and even many of my friends went on and on about the probability that a Latino or African would be chosen to replace Pope John Paul II. Well, that did not happen–we got the German, Pope Benedict XVI. Remember all the speculation about getting a Latino Archbishop in New York? Well, they got an Irishman instead. I’m not saying that it’s not important, nor am I saying that there aren’t Latino candidates that are qualified; I’m just 
saying that stories like this one that speculate as to the race of the person who would replace Cardinal Mahoney in Los Angeles are pure BS. As many cardinals reach the mandatory retirement age of 75, including Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George (72), there are sure to be more such fluff pieces. Just remember, the church isn’t the GOP–it’s not going to just pick a leader of a certain color because they think that’s what people want right now.
In any case, the question did get me thinking about the changing demographics of the Church. Here is some information you may or not be familiar with:
Statistics on Hispanic/Latino(a) Catholics
- Hispanics/Latinos(as) are present in practically every diocese of the United States.
- More than 20% of all Catholic parishes in the United States have Hispanic/Latino(a) ministry.
- More than 80% of all (arch)dioceses have diocesan staff coordinating Hispanic/Latino(a) ministry.
- Hispanics/Latinos(as) compose more than 35% of all Catholics in the United States.
- Hispanics/Latinos(as) have contributed 71% of the growth of the Catholic Church in the United States since 1960.
- More than 50% of all Catholics in the United States under age 25 are of Hispanic/Latino(a) descent.
- To date, 40 Hispanic/Latino bishops have been ordained in the United States, 28 of whom are active. They make up 9% of all Catholic bishops in the United States.
- Over the past few years, 15% of all new priests ordained in the United States have been of Hispanic/Latino(a) descent.
- Hispanics/Latinos(as) constitute 25% of all laypeople engaged in diocesan ministry programs.
- More than two-thirds (68%) of all Hispanics/Latinos(as) in the United States consider themselves to be Roman Catholics.
- The estimated Hispanic/Latino(a) population of the United States as of July 2007 is 45.5 million.
- It is projected that Hispanics/Latinos(as) will surpass the 102.6 million mark by the year 2050.
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About this blog
While some people look at cockroaches as disgusting pests, I view them as resilient organisms that predate humans and will likely outlive us as well. People of color, the poor, the downtrodden, and the oppressed, much like cockroaches, are often despised, feared and in some cases have been the objects of extermination.
I started this blog as an attempt to understand the complicated world we live in. Things have changed since the old days of conquest, colonization, and slavery. Anonymous living, consumerism, and mass media have made it difficult to identify the forces that make modern-day oppression possible. Thus, posts here tend to focus on corruption, media, bureaucracy, ethics, economics, law, human rights, etc...in short, I try to take a second-order inquiry into assumptions and systems that some of us take for granted. I also take time to challenge stereotypes that function to place us in a box. Occasionally, I just rant.
Thank your for reading!
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2 Responses to Will the Church Choose a Latino?
Bullfighter
March 31st, 2010 at 4:14 pm
The statistics above are the biggest pack of lies I ever heard from people who claim to be so Catholic. When Hispanics move into a neighborhood, they take over the church and expect the church to feed them. They don’t send their children to the Catholic schools so those schools close.
I live in the now 80% Hispanic Cicero, and I know the average Mexican doesn’t even bother with church. If they did, the churches in the area would not be desperate for funds. I see the average Mexican has money for that $50,000 SUV but not one penny for God’s church. And God IS watching.
I notice how most of the funding from collections like the Catholic Campaign for Human Development somehow always gets funneled to Latino projects that prohibit anybody but Latinos to benefiting. I consider that fraud because the average Latino is anything but Catholic.
Try looking up the annual reports for the last few years for the Collections for the Church in Latin American Countries. Look at the lies printed about Mexico. It lists that over 120 million Catholics live in Mexico. This is truly a miracle because the current population of Mexico is only 105 million.
Please continue the lies because I am recording these to submit to the Archdiocese of Chicago and calling on them to either develop a more diverse method of distributing funds for the poor or to make an announcement so American Catholics can discontinue their contributions to the race that is stealing the Catholic Church.
Opus Dei Comes to LA: Welcome the new, Latino Archbishop - Cockroach People
May 27th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
[...] a previous post, I asked: “Will the Church Choose a Latino?“ Well, it turns out they did back in April. Jose Horacio Gomez originally from Monterrey, [...]