Discusses the growing population of Hispanic-Americans worshipping in the Catholic Church in the United States.

Through dozens of original documents ¡Presente! offers readers the story of Latino/Hispanic Catholicism from 1534 to the present. From the first mission encounters in the sixteenth century, to Cesar Chavez and the UFW, to the beginnings of mujerista theology in the 1980s, this collection offers a unique and indispensable look at the community that has become the largest ethnic component in the American Catholic Church today.

Horizons of the Sacred explores the distinctive worldview underlying the faith and lived religion of Catholics of Mexican descent living in the United States. Religious practices, including devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, celebration of the Day of the Dead, the healing tradition of curanderismo, and Good Friday devotions such as the Way of the Cross (Via Crucis), reflect the increasing influence of Mexican traditions in U.S. Catholicism, especially since Mexicans and Mexican Americans are a growing group in most Roman Catholic congregations.In their introduction, Timothy Matovina and Gary Riebe-Estrella analyze the ways Mexican rituals and beliefs pose significant challenges and opportunities for Catholicism in the United States. Original essays by theologians, historians, and ethnographers provide a rich interdisciplinary dialogue on how religious traditions function for Mexican American Catholics, revealing the symbolic world at the heart of their spirituality. The authors speak to the diverse meanings behind these ceremonies, explaining that Mexican American (and other Latino) Catholics use them to express not only religious devotion, but also ethnic identity and patriotism, solidarity, and, in some cases, their condition as exiles. The result is a multilayered vision of Mexican American religion, which touches as well on issues of racism and discrimination, poverty, and the role of women.

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Espanol: En esta version abreviada (y disponible tambien en Ingles) el reconocido autor y academico de Notre Dame, Timothy Matovina nos ofrece un resumen global de la vivencia que los latinos en E.E.U.U. han hecho del catolicismo desde el siglo XVI hasta nuestros dias y comparte, de la misma manera, informacion detallada de como la Iglesia Catolica de E.E.U.U., su creciente mayoria latina y la cultura americana se han ido transformando mutuamente. Catolicismo Latino: La transformacion de la Iglesia en Estados Unidos ha recibido respaldo significativo por parte del Catholic Sentinel, U.S. Catholic, Catholic Press Association y otros medios catolicos. Este libro, de estructura y contenido accesible, representa una lectura indispensable para aquellos que estan involucrados en el ministerio hispano. English: In this abridged version made available in both English and Spanish, renowned author and Notre Dame scholar Timothy Matovina provides a comprehensive overview of the Latino Catholic experience in America from the 16th century to today and offers the most in-depth examination to date of the significant ways the U.S. Catholic Church, its evolving Latino majority, and the American culture are mutually transforming one another. "Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America's Largest Church" has received important endorsements from the Catholic Sentinel, U.S. Catholic, Catholic Press Association and many other Catholic media. This highly accessible edition is a must read for Hispanic Ministries. Bio: English: Dr. Timothy Matovina is professor of theology and the executive director of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. His books include "Guadalupe and Her Faithful: Latino Catholics in San Antonio, from Colonial Origins to the Present" and Horizons of the Sacred: Mexican Traditions in U.S. Catholicism." Spanish: Dr. Timoteo Matovina tiene mas de treinta anos de experiencia sirviendo entre los catolicos hispanos. Ha dado presentaciones sobre temas pastorales y teologicos en numerosos diocesis, institutos pastorales y programas de formacion. Actualmente es Profesor de Teologia y Director Ejecutivo del Instituto de Estudios Latinos en la Universidad de Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.

Today, over one hundred Chicago-area Catholic churches offer Spanish language mass to congregants. How did the city's Mexican population, contained in just two parishes prior to 1960, come to reshape dozens of parishes and neighborhoods? Deborah E. Kanter tells the story of neighborhood change and rebirth in Chicago's Mexican American communities. She unveils a vibrant history of Mexican American and Mexican immigrant relations as remembered by laity and clergy, schoolchildren and their female religious teachers, parish athletes and coaches, European American neighbors, and from the immigrant women who organized as guadalupanas and their husbands who took part in the Holy Name Society. Kanter shows how the newly arrived mixed memories of home into learning the ways of Chicago to create new identities. In an ever-evolving city, Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans’ fierce devotion to their churches transformed neighborhoods such as Pilsen. The first-ever study of Mexican-descent Catholicism in the city, Chicago Católico illuminates a previously unexplored facet of the urban past and provides present-day lessons for American communities undergoing ethnic integration and succession.

Mexican-American Catholics is the third book in the Paulist Press Pastoral Spirituality Series, following Vietnamese-American Catholics by Peter C. Phan and American Eastern Catholics by Fred J. Saato. Author Fr. Fernández presents the history of Christianity in Mexico via Spain, the conditions of Mexican Catholics in America, and the challenges facing Mexican-American Catholics, as well as suggestions on how to meet them. Pastoral strategies for assisting Mexican-American Catholics in becoming more active members of the church are included, as is an extensive bibliography.