Hispanics and the Religious Landscape

For my Meet the Believers assignment, I focused on Catholicism and Nondenominational Christianity. My Catholic interviewee, who I’ll refer to as John, is middle aged and was raised Catholic. My Christian interviewee, who I’ll refer to as Jane, is a young adult and was similarly raised Christian. From my interviews and attendance of worship services of both groups, several themes and concepts came to the forefront: the tensions between fundamentalism and modernism, the important conversation of gender and ethnicity, and the “true” good understood by both believers through their respective religious groups.

Living religious traditions are integrated meaning systems which provide adherents with comprehensive and distinctive answers to the enduring questions of human existence. Religious traditions are ultimately shaped and reformed by the actions of the individuals who practices the faith. In a contemporary Christian environment, prominent practices to have a significant contribution to Christianity as a living religious tradition are Baptism and the works of Pope John XXIII. The significant practice of Baptism, as a central element of Christianity, is an initiation of adherents to a “discipleship” with Christ as well as a reinforcement of the community’s relationship with God. Furthermore, the development and expression of the Christian tradition

Religion is a long-standing social and cultural phenomenon. Religion can play a different role in different societies during different periods. In the modern society, it has an important function due to it promotes social integration and identity. It has a very important impact. Therefore, from my perspective, it is significant to learn about Latino religious practices and know about the religious affiliation of Latino families, so that people can deliver better services to them.

Throughout this semester we have focus on a variety of topics that relate to the Latino community. I found all the topics very interesting but, the one that got my attention the most is religion and sexual orientation within the Latino community. I found really interesting how religion shapes gay men or women in the Latino community. For my final paper for this class, I want to take a different approach, I want to talk about how religion and cultural beliefs affect the life of gay Latino men. In the book “The Rain God” by Arturo Islas, on his book he talks about how it was hard for Miguel Chico to come out the closet to his family because of these catholic church beliefs they have. In the other side there’s the film “La Mission” directed by Peter Bratt who did a great job on showing

What are some major attributes of Latin American Catholicism? Identify and describe at least two distinctions and include how they are distinct from Catholicism elsewhere.

Today, Latinos are immigrants, this factor plays a large part in how they choose to express beliefs’; otherwise uncompromising Pentecostal churches are known to expand on their religious doctrine to focus more on themes such as struggle, displacement and migration2. Many prayers, testimonies and bible readings focus on this theme; stories such as the Exodus from Egypt receive significantly more attention than would be the norm. The Trinity Cathedral is an excellent example of this, the majority of the congregation were immigrants or children of immigrants who spoke little English; the sermon—according to the deacon—included messages about being away from home, finding faith in a unfamiliar place and traveling. St Clare’s was a bit more general in its message, while many in its congregation were immigrants the sermon’s message didn’t linger on any ‘migrant themes’ over any other theme. The use of iconography was also very important, both churches featured statues of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Our Lady of Charity—the patron saints of Mexico and Cuba respectively—which were visited by various churchgoers and their children3. The children’s interaction with the statues was particularly noteworthy, most did not mimic their parents’ exact practices, some children would touch a statue when their parents would have bowed to it, and others would merely contemplate the statues when their parents said

Mexican American Catholics combined socializing with religion to form traditions uniquely to them. Jamaicas, for example, were church bazaars and parish fundraisers that surrounded “parishioners in cooperative work and cultural celebration, creating a sacred-secular space in which they…affirmed a sense of dignity and community” (Goff & Harvey, 2004, p. 186). Similar ethnic and religious celebrations include posadas and pastorelas (community Christmas processions and nativity plays), quinceañeras (rite of passage for fifteen-year-old girls), and baptism parties among many others (Goff & Harvey, 2004, p. 186). The Mexican American Catholics’ sacred space was out in the communities where social and religious traditions

Religion has formed a place in the New World putting everything in more of a perspective was coming together. Even through Europe forced religion on the Native American living in the colonies Christianity as their first religion. The release of the theory of the Word of God through the eyes of the Protestant and Catholics. Franciscan “apostles “encouraged the people of Mexico to relinquish their faith and follow Christianity under the New Jerusalem. Apostles Franciscan realized the coming of Christ and he was known also as the Holy Trinity of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. PFernan Cortez brought a distinctive of hope and life back to the church during the twelfth-century.

How can we minister more effectively to young Latino Catholics and help them increase their participation in the Church? These are key questions that are frequently raised and that must be acknowledged and studied carefully as we consider the future of the Catholic Church as well as her numerical growth. If we bear in mind that 44% of all Catholics under the age of thirty in the U.S. are Hispanics (according to the 2013 Pew Research Center survey of Hispanic adults) it would certainly seem that increasing Hispanic teenagers ' participation in the Church would be beneficial not just for Hispanic families and communities, but also for the future Church in general. To effectively minister to Hispanic teenagers, an understanding of what is happening in their lives is crucial. Indeed, family plays a big part, but what we often neglect is how significantly culture impacts the life of an adolescent.

This past summer, I traveled to New Mexico on a mission trip. For the first time in my life, I witnessed our spiritual battles, as Christians, against the darkness of this world. I could see and feel the darkness and that surrounded the vibrant and beautiful city of Taos, New Mexico, and my heart ached for it. Despite the many obstacles we faced as we shared our through sports camps, I felt God’s presence through it all. Knowing that God never left my side, gave me a rare peace that cannot be found anywhere else. It’s safe to say that New Mexico, not only changed my life, but saved my heart as well.

Manana: Christian Theology From A Hispanic Perspective examines the basic ideas and concepts of Christian theology through the lens of the Hispanic culture. Justo Gonzalez, who writes the book, is a Cuban immigrant who feels as though the world in which he grew up helps him understand not only the Hispanic culture better, but theology and how it relates to Hispanics. Gonzalez explores different divisions within Christian theology in the book such as Biblical theology, reading the Bible in Spanish, Trinitarian theology, theology of creation, anthropology, Christology, and pneumatology. He draws a great picture and idea of

Garcia post a question stating, “How should we be open to the world?” He believes churches must be open to the world because it creates unity among different cultures, and the growth of Latino in the Christian faith. Furthermore, he states when the door is open, the Holy Spirit will bring freshness, and open our hearts and minds, and he believes that the Holy Spirit is a new pattern of Reformation. Dr. Garcia wants people to have Justification by faith, grace, and forgiveness because these are very important to Latino. On the other hand, Dr. Garcia emphasizes about Reformation needed for the church, and he speaks about the difference in other’s perspective in

In a contemporary Christian environment one of the most prominent practices to have a significant contribution to Christianity as a living religious tradition is Baptism. Baptism is of utmost importance for most Christian denominations. It has profound significance for the individual who is baptised and is also important for the Christian community as a whole. As a sacrament of initiation, Baptism calls its adherents to become missionary Disciples of Christ. It is through baptism that one’s faith journey begins and Christians are called to follow and live their lives in the light of Christ.

When it comes to religion, not many people are welcoming to the idea of change, or converting from one religion to another. The Spanish had a particularly difficult time accepting Islam into their country, because they had been predominately Catholic for a long time. The idea of nationalism likely had a part in why the Spanish could not comply with this change. Nationalism is the idea that one's own countries religion, values, and traditions is superior to other countries. The Spanish were devout Catholics, nation-wide, and did not agree that any other religion was "true". However, in Rogozen-Soltar's article about a young Catholic girl converting to Islam, the conversion to Islam is globally on the rise and is the world's fastest growing religion.

The objective of this report is to contrast and compare the culture of the Calvary Church with Catholicism, which is the religion that I practice. A field trip was taken to the Calvary Chapel in Rancho Cucamonga On February 12 of 2013, in which a clear observation of its services was