Hispanic Americans and Religious Assimilation
There are some new findings regarding the faith of Hispanic Americans from Barna Research. Basically, they have found that Hispanics are quickly assimilating the faith practices of the larger American culture.
What characterizes our dominant religious culture at the end of the first decade of the 21st century?
As we have noted here before, religious identity in the US is extremely fluid. It has become the cultural norm for young adults to re-evaluate the faith tradition in which they were raised and to deliberately choose a faith of their own.
The Pew US Religious Landscape Survey of 2008 and Faith in Flux (2009) both reveal that the majority of US adults have gone through at least one religious change as an adult. (This includes both those who are left the "faith" - or lack of faith - of their childhood altogether and those who left and later returned.)
And Catholics, as a whole, have lost the largest numbers. 7 in 10 adults who were raised Catholic are no longer practicing Catholics.
Of the approximately 75 million American adults who were raised as Catholics: (Note: this is a different and larger number than those adults who currently consider themselves to be Catholic)
30% are still "practicing" (Practicing is here defined as "attending Mass at least once a month". Slightly over 15% will attend Mass on any given weekend.)
38% still claim a Catholic identity but seldom or never attend Mass
32% no longer regard themselves as Catholics. (Of this group, 15% are now Protestant, 14% are now "unafffiliated", and 3% now below to a non-Protestant religious community.)
And now back to the Barna findings on Hispanic Americans. There's good news and there's bad news.
Barna compared the faith of Hispanics today to their faith profile of 15 years ago. That assessment shows that Hispanics have been rapidly moving toward adopting the mainstream beliefs and practices of all Americans. The study discovered 11 faith dimensions on which there has been substantial change during the past 15 years. Those areas of change include:
Alignment with the Catholic church (down by 25 percentage points)
Being a born again Christian (up by 17 percentage points)
Having made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today (up by 15 percentage points)
Church attendance (up 10 percentage points in an average week)
Claiming that their religious faith is very important in their life (up by 10 percentage points)
Claiming to have a responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others (up 10 percentage points)
Believing that a good person can earn their way into Heaven (down 9 percentage points)
Believing that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe who stills rules the world today (up 8 percentage points)
Believing that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches (up six percentage points)
Attending a church of 500 or more people (down by 6 percentage points)
Reading the Bible during a typical week (up by 5 percentage points)
As Catholics, we would regard 7 of these changes as positive. We want people to have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and to attend church more regularly. We want their religious faith to be more important and for them to be more willing to talk about it. We don't believe that we "earn our way" into heaven and we do want more people to believe that God is all powerful, all knowing and the creator and ruler of the world. We want Americans to read the the Bible more.
The catch is that these positive changes come with a sharp drop in affiliation with the Catholic Church.
George Barna sums up their findings:
"First, Hispanics are becoming a more mainstream population in various ways – politically, economically, relationally, culturally – and this data reveals that they are assimilating in their faith perspectives and practices, as well. The influence of a dominant culture and its traditions has a powerful affect on people’s lives. While Hispanics have indisputably influenced American culture, these figures remind us that such transformation is a two-way street.
“Second,” Barna continued, “the study points out how significant faith is in the lives of Hispanics. Not only do most of them assert that importance, but the fact that so much is changing in their faith perspectives and practices underscores how much energy they devote to their spirituality.
“Third, you cannot help but notice the changing relationship between Hispanics and the Catholic church,” noted Barna. “While many Hispanic immigrants come to the United States with ties to Catholicism, the research shows that many of them eventually connect with a Protestant church. Even more significant is the departure of many second and third generation Hispanics from their Catholic tradition.”
Comments?
posted by Sherry W @ 8:10 AM
7 Comments
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7 Comments:
In my travels with the Institute, I can't help but notice how many parishes I go to are not what I'd call "Spanish-speaking friendly." I have to include myself in that category, since I can scarcely hold a simple conversation in Spanish.
In many of our parishes, if there is a Mass in Spanish, it is at an undesirable time: 7 p.m. on Saturday evening, or 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
I have heard many Anglos speak resentfully of "those people" making demands on parish resources, and using "us/them" language.
I'm told one bishop in a state I won't name said that it's pointless trying to evangelize Latinos, since their faith is purely devotional.
All the while, I see Lutheran churches advertising services in Spanish (more lutefisk tacos, anyone?), and see statistics like Barna's that indicate that some Christians believe Spanish-speaking immigrants can be evangelized - and doing a pretty good job at it, too.
Is this an American phenomenon, a Catholic phenomenon, or an American Catholic phenomenon? Does it mimic what is happening in Central and South America? I seem to remember you saying the evangelical churches were growing rapidly there. What is happening to protestant Hispanics that immigrate to the United States? I assume that is a much smaller population but, are the percentages leaving their original protestant faith for another, similar? I had always thought Hispanics were more deeply committed to the Catholic Church and they are (Hispanics are twice as likely as the aggregate adult base to be aligned with the Catholic church (44% vs. 22%, respectively – Barna), but I’m surprised that they are not as committed to Christianity (Americans, overall, were significantly more likely to claim that they are “absolutely committed” to Christianity (58% vs. 46%, respectively – Barna).
Very interesting.
Eric
Eric:
The Barna figures are from a study of HIspanics in the US only.
Evangelical Protestantism has been growing dramatically in Latin America since the 1970's through Protestants coming to Latin America.
In the case of Hispanic immigrants to the US, they are coming to an essentially Protestant nation.
The Pew Hispanic Center has a study of religious change in US Hispanics that is very interesting and detailed.
http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/75.4.pdf
Per Pew, 43% of Hispanic evangelicals are former Catholics 39% of "secular" Hispanics are former Catholics. 90% of Hispanic converts to evangelicalism said they did so because of a desire "for a more direct, personal experience of God." Only 2% of Hispanic Americans are converts to Catholicism.
English speakers are more likely to convert than those who speak Spanish primarily. The second and third generation Hispanic Americans are more like to convert than the first generation. As they become acculturated to the US and its English language-based religious culture, they seem to be more likely to become evangelicals.
I haven't had time to read the report, just the post but somehow it's not surprising. Forces in favor of assimilation are very strong and since Hispanics have become an attractive market new influences come into play. My local bookstore has an area for books in Spanish but the vast majority of the books in its Religion/Metaphics section are not Catholic, they're Evangelical and New Age. Until recently there were hardly any Catholic Bibles in that section, just the Reina-Valera version. Among other things we have a long ways to catch up in the mass-marketing department.
This statement: "90% of Hispanic converts to evangelicalism said they did so because of a desire 'for a more direct, personal experience of God.' " grabbed my attention because from what I've seen (I'm Hispanic) that is where people are very vulnerable. People want to get closer to God and it seems like when faced with evangelical assumptions & solutions those are taken at face value.
And yet I've also seen people cling to the Church who might not be considered 'regular practitioners' or 'examples of devotion". I think of a saying I once heard, "the road to Rome is the road away from Rome". Maybe an earnest seeking is part of what makes people vulnerable? At the same time I don't want to dismiss the clingers because somehow their tiny mustard seed or widow's mite of faith ( in clinging to the Church even as they don't visibly practice their faith) is at least in one respect stronger than the earnest seeker's. I don't want to dismiss them as 'cultural Catholics' because if it was merely cultural I don't think they'd cling to the Church like that.
I'm sorry I've rambled but this gave me a lot of food for thought. I hope to get a chance to read the report and think it over some more.
- Manny
Mandy:
How do you define "clinging" to the Church? Occasional Mass attendance? Occasional devotions? Occasional prayer? Still thinking of yourself as Catholic?
How do you think "clinging" differs from "cultural Catholicism"?
Sherry,
sorry I couldn't answer sooner. When I wrote "clinging" I was thinking of the relatives, often male, who only occasionally attend Mass or not at all (except for weddings and funerals). They may not step inside a church but will cross themselves when they pass one by, or when they pass by a shrine. They wear religious articles and display them at home. They'll mention devotion this or that Christ or Holy Virgin or saint. Yet if someone mentions that so-and-so has become a Mormon, or a JW, or joined another church they'll express disapproval, sometimes strongly. That's what I was think of when I wrote "clingers".
I think to the extent that these "clingers" know that it's important to be Catholic even if unfortunately they can't define , explain or justify it, then that is something. Maybe it's the virtue of loyalty. I suppose that loyalty wouldn't exist if there wasn't on some level an attraction to the Church, and an attraction to the truth as it's expressed in the devotions they might still practice.
I think "cultural Catholicism" is a bit of a loaded term and rather broad. I'm not even sure it's that helpful of a term because I think it can cover all sorts of people. It can cover those who know little of their faith but sincerely practice what they know (even if all they know are popular devotions). I could also cover more "sophisticated" people who call themselve Catholic but don't pay much attention to Church teaching.
-- Manny
Thanks for the Pew Hispanic reference - very interesting.
Eric
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