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What do Hispanic Catholics need? Encuentro wants to know

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It’s a crucial question for the Roman Catholic Church: what are Hispanic parishioners praying for?

On Saturday, about 250 Hispanics from the Diocese of San Diego were invited to campus to share some answers.

Held on the University of San Diego campus, this meeting is part of Encuentro, a national effort to better understand and serve one of the church’s largest communities.

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“Increasingly, the future of the church is Hispanic,” said Aida Bustos, a spokeswoman for the diocese.

Of the 72.4 million Americans who identify as Catholic, 36 to 38 percent are Hispanic. In the Diocese of San Diego, which includes both Imperial and San Diego counties, the figure is closer to 60 percent.

Starting last year, about 60 of the diocese’s 98 parishes convened meetings of Hispanic parishioners. Delegates from these parishes — plus Catholic groups like Marriage Encounter — will attend Saturday’s meeting, which begins with Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert McElroy.

“Delegates will discuss and share the findings that we found at each church,” said Maria Olivia Galván, one of the organizers. “The goal is to discern what are the needs, what are the areas where the parish could flourish and grow.”

On Saturday, the group plans to identify 10 objectives for the diocese. These will be forwarded to an April 2018 regional meeting in Visalia, then to a national gathering in Grapevine, Tex., next September.

U.S. Catholics of Hispanic ancestry trace their roots to numerous nations and regions. Many are immigrants, adjusting to their new home’s religious pluralism — and some are leaving the church.

“The retention rate is declining,” said Mark Gray, a senior research associate at Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. “This is not an unusual process and it’s certainly not happening just among Catholics.”

Galván, the diocesan director for evangelization and catechetical ministry, said Encuentro is “an opportunity for us to hear the voices of the fourth, fifth, sixth generations of Hispanics. And the goal is also to further Hispanic leadership.”

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