Welcome to Our Web Page!!
The Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs welcomes you to its web page. We hope you find it to be user friendly and informative. The web page contains a historical context of Hispanic ministry, current demographics on Hispanics (particularly on Hispanic Catholics), pastoral resources, and other information that might be of interest.
The Catholic Church in the United States established a national office for the Spanish-speaking in 1945 in San Antonio, Texas, under the auspices of the then National Catholic Welfare Council (NCWC). In 1969, the Division for the Spanish Speaking was placed under the auspices of the NCWCs Department of Social Development, in Washington, DC. In 1974, the division was elevated to Secretariat under the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference (NCCB/USCC)
Since 1972, the U.S. bishops have convoked three national gatherings of pastoral leaders involved in Hispanic ministry. These gatherings are called encuentros. The consultation and the dynamic processes used in the encuentros allow Hispanic Catholics, and those who minister among them, input on their pastoral concerns and lived reality. The result of the local, regional and national consultations is the development of pastoral priorities for Hispanic ministry. These priorities become the basis for the U.S. bishops pastoral statements on Hispanic ministry.
In the year 2000, as part of the U.S. Bishops Jubilee Year celebration, Hispanic Catholics hosted Encuentro 2000: Many Faces in Gods House, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. More than 5,000 people representing 157 ethnic, cultural and linguistic Catholic groups from throughout the country celebrated the unity in diversity that exists within the Catholic Church.
We invite you to browse our page and, should you need additional information, please feel free to contact us.
Peace!