Abstract
The American Catholic Church, by many accounts, is slowly dying. However, the ever-growing Latino population offers a significant source of hope and preservation for the Church. In this context, one would expect that churches would be courting Latino Catholics in order to ensure their survival, yet anecdotal evidence demonstrates this is not the case. I compiled a unique data set that includes all Catholic parishes within four regions (Seattle and Yakima, WA; San Antonio, TX; and Manhattan in New York, NY) in order to empirically measure the rate of Catholic church service provision to Latinos. I collected information for every parish in the four regions about the presence and quantity of Spanish masses, any Latino-specific or culturally-relevant service or program, and any Latino priests or deacons that were employed. I used GIS software to join each church to Census data regarding the Latino population so that I could analyze the relationship between Latino population density and the likelihood of service provision, and to see how that relationship changed between 2015 and 2024. I found that churches, overall, are underserving Latinos compared to the rate one would expect given their population size. Descriptive representation (having a Latino priest) significantly increased the likelihood of service provision to Latinos, and the reorganization that has happened with church closures has not improved this relationship. This has significant implications for the future strength and vitality of the Catholic Church and Latino communities in the U.S.
Presenters
Kiku HuckleAssociate Professor, Political Science, California Lutheran University, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
DESCRIPTIVE REPRESENTATION, CONSTITUENCY RESPONSE, CATHOLIC CHURCH, LATINO POLITICS
