USCCB - (Hispanic Affairs)

Demographics

Contents

Hispanic Ministry at a Glance
Demographics
Historical Memory
U.S. Hispanic Facts & Figures
Hispanic Population by Episcopal Regions

Total population of U.S. Hispanics in 2000 Census¹ 35.3 million

Percentage of U.S. population² 12.5%

Percentage of U.S. Hispanic population under age 18³ 37.5%

Percentage of U.S. Hispanic population 18-64⁴ 59.0%

Percentage of U.S. Hispanic population age 65 or more⁵ 5.3%

Percentage of Hispanic population, native born (1980)⁶ 80%

Percentage of Hispanic population, native born (1990)⁷ 64%

Percentage of Hispanic population, foreign born (2000)⁸ 39.1% (60.9% nacidos aquí)

Percentage of U.S. Catholic population growth since 1960
(due to Hispanics)⁹ 71%

Percentage of U.S. Catholics who are Hispanic¹⁰ 39%

Percentage of Hispanics who are Catholic (2002)¹¹ 72.6%

Approximate number of U.S. parishes with Hispanic ministry¹² 4,000

Percentage of U.S. parishes with majority Hispanic presence¹³ 20.6%

Number of Hispanic priests in the United States¹⁴ 2,900

Number of U.S.-born Hispanic priests (approx.)¹⁵ 500

Percentage of Hispanic priests in the United States¹⁶ 6.3%

Catholics per U.S. priest¹⁷ 1,230

Hispanic Catholics per Hispanic priest¹⁸ 9,925

Hispanic percentage of seminarians¹⁹ 13%

Percentage of Hispanic priests ordained in 2002²⁰ 15%

Number of active U.S. bishops²¹ 281

Number of active Hispanic bishops²² 25

Ratio of U.S. bishops to general Catholic population²³ 1:231,000

Ratio of U.S. Hispanic bishops to
U.S. Hispanic Catholic population ²⁴ 1:1 million

Endnotes

Total population of U.S. Hispanics: U.S. Census Bureau, Census Brief, May 2001.
Ibid.
U.S. Census Bureau. The Hispanic Population in the United States: Population Characteristics, March 2001.
Ibid.
Ibid.
USCCB Committee on Hispanic Affairs. Hispanic Ministry at the Turn of the New Millennium, 1999, p.
Study done by Stewart Lawrence of Puentes, Inc.
Ibid.
U.S. Census Bureau. The Hispanic Population in the United States: Population Characteristics, March 2001.
USCCB Committee on Hispanic Affairs. Hispanic Ministry at the Turn of the New Millennium, 1999, p.
Study done by Stewart Lawrence of Puentes, Inc.
USCCB Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs estimate is based on 2000 Census figures of 35.3 million Hispanics, the 2002 Official Catholic Directory's figure of 65.2 million U.S. Catholics and on the percentage of Hispanics who say they are Catholic from a 2002 survey commissioned by The Latino Coalition and conducted by McLaughlin and Associates' Opiniones Latinas, August 2002. (Percentage could be higher as figures used are for 2000 and 2002).
Survey commissioned by the Latino Coalition and conducted by McLauglin and Associates' Opiniones Latinas, Washington, D.C., August 2002.
USCCB Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs. Numbers are based on 1999 information on parishes with a majority Hispanic population and that celebrate at least one Mass in Spanish and use Spanish-language or bilingual catechetical resources.
The Official Catholic Directory for 2002 reports that there are 19,496 parishes in the U.S., and according to the USCCB Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs there are at least 4,000 of these parishes that have a majority Hispanic Catholic population.
Survey on Hispanic priests ministering in the U.S. was conducted by the National Association of Hispanic Priests, 1999.
Ibid.
USCCB Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs. Two-thousand, nine hundred Hispanic priests reported by the National Association of Hispanic Priests and by the approximate 46,000 priests in the United States reported in the 2002 Official Catholic Directory.
USCCB Committee on Hispanic Affairs. Hispanic Ministry at the Turn of the New Millennium, 1999, p. 5. Study done by Stewart Lawrence of Puentes, Inc.
Ibid.
USCCB Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry, The Study of the Impact of Fewer Priests on the Pastoral Ministry, Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Georgetown University, June 2000.
Survey of Priestly Ordinations, Life Cycle Institute, Catholic University of America, 2002.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Ibid.
Total number of Catholics, 64 million, divided by 281 active bishops, including Hispanic bishops equals 231,000.
Total number of Hispanic Catholics, 25 million, divided by 25 active Hispanic bishops equals 1 million.

Demographics

The 2002 Official Catholic Directory lists the U.S. Catholic population at 65,270,444. Catholics represent 22.9 percent of the total population of the United States.

According to the official 2000 Census, there are 35.3 million Hispanics in the United States, or 12.5% of the total population. Since 1990, the nation's Hispanic population has increased 58%, up from a total of 22.4 million in 1990.

According to a recent study, 72.6 percent of Hispanics living in the United States—close to 26 million— are Catholic. Sixty-four percent of all Hispanics attend church services regularly.¹

Seven states had more than one million Hispanic residents in 2000: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. Fifty percent of the Hispanic population in 2000 lived in California and Texas. Forty-two percent of New Mexico's population was Hispanic in 2000, the highest of any state.²

According to the 2000 Census, 16.1 million—slightly more than half—of the nation's 31.1 million foreign-born residents were born in Latin America. Twenty and one-half million Hispanics, or 58 percent, are of Mexican origin. 68 percent of the nation's Hispanics in 2000 were either foreign-born themselves or had at least one parent who was foreign.

States and Cities where Hispanic Live

The Hispanic population growth between 1980 and 2000 in the largest 100 metropolitan areas averaged 145 percent.³

In 2000, more than one-fourth of Hispanics in the United States lived in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Miami. About nine in ten Hispanics lived in metropolitan areas in 2002. Of these, roughly half lived in central cities.⁴

The ten metropolitan areas with the largest Hispanic populations are Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, Houston, Riverside-San Bernardino, Orange County, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Dallas.⁵

Growth

According to Census data, the nation's Hispanic population increased 58 percent between 1990 and 2000, or 13 million. Hispanics accounted for 40 percent of the nation's increase in population during this period.

In the following seven states between 1990 and 2000, the Hispanic population more than tripled: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Many metropolitan areas are experiencing "hyper-growth." Las Vegas, for example, was the fastest-growing city in the nation between 1980 and 2000 with a population increase of 200 percent. During the same 20 years, the Hispanic population increased by 750 percent.⁶

Age

Census data demonstrate that the Hispanic population in the United States is young. In 2000, 35.7 percent of Hispanics were less than eighteen years old, compared with 23.5 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

Only 5.3 percent of Hispanics are over the age of sixty-five years.

The median age of the Hispanic population in 2000 was 25.8, meaning one half were above it and one half were below. The median age for the total U.S. population was 35.3 years. Among Hispanic groups, median ages ranged from 24.3 years for those of Mexican origin to 40.1 years for people of Cuban descent.

Education

Among the nation's population age 25 and over in 2000, 84 percent had completed high school.

In the Hispanic community, 57 percent had at least a high school diploma in 2000. Eleven percent of the population age 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Income

The median income of white households in the United States is $45,904; for Hispanics it is 27 percent less at $33,455.

As of 2000, 41 percent of Hispanic workers were employed in service occupations or as operators and laborers.

Poverty

In 1999, 7.7 percent of non-Hispanic Whites were living in poverty.

In the Hispanic community, the poverty rate is at 21.2 percent, or approximately 7.2 million people. The 2000 rate matches the record lows reached in the 1970s.

Projections

Based on the 2000 Census, the following projections have been made regarding Hispanics:

In 2020, the Hispanic population will be approximately 52.7 million. In 2040, this number will grow to about 80.2 million. In 2050, with a population of approximately 96.5 million, Hispanic Americans are projected to constitute 24.5 percent of the U.S. population.

Endnotes

Survey commissioned by The Latino Coalition and conducted by McLaughlin & Associates' Opiniones Latinas, August 2002.

U.S. Census Bureau Demographic Profiles, 2002.

"Latino Growth in Metropolitan America: Changing Patterns, New Locations," Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy and the Pew Hispanic Center, July, 2002 (www.brookings.edu).

U.S. Census Bureau Basic Facts, 2002.

"Latino Growth in Metropolitan America: Changing Patterns, New Locations," Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy and the Pew Hispanic Center, July, 2002 (www.brookings.edu).

"Latino Growth in Metropolitan America: Changing Patterns, New Locations," Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy and the Pew Hispanic Center, July 2002 (www.brookings.edu).

Historical Memory

1945 Office for the Spanish Speaking is established under the auspices of the National Catholic Welfare Council (NCWC) and promoted by Bishop Robert E. Lucey, Archbishop of San Antonio, Texas.

1969 The National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) establishes the Division for the Spanish Speaking under the auspices of the Department of Social Development.

1970 Archbishop Patrick Flores is named first U.S. Hispanic bishop.

1972 First National Hispanic Encuentro calls for greater participation of the Spanish speaking in leadership and decision-making roles at all levels within the Catholic Church and for the establishment of structures for ministry to be implemented.

1974 The Division for the Spanish Speaking of the Department of Social Development is elevated to the NCCB Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs.

1977 Second National Hispanic Encuentro recommendations express the desire of grassroots Hispanics for a more responsive, multicultural, spiritually alive, united, and creative Church through a process of evangelization.

1982 The Bishops Speak with the Virgin: A Pastoral Letter of the Hispanic Bishops of the United States is published, presenting the message of our pilgrimage through history, our reality, and our role as artisans of a new humanity, courage, and hope.

1983 The U.S. bishops' pastoral letter, The Hispanic Presence: Challenge and Commitment, is published. The U.S. bishops call Hispanic Catholics to raise their prophetic voices again in a Third Encuentro.

1985 Third National Hispanic Encuentro process involves more than half a million Hispanics in a grassroots consultation that led to the development of the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry.

1986 Prophetic Voices is published: The history and process for consultation of the Third National Pastoral Encuentro.

1987 The Catholic bishops unanimously approve the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry. The Plan provides pastoral priorities and action for Hispanic ministry at the diocesan, regional, and parish levels.

1990 Bishop's Committee on Hispanic Affairs statement Leaven for the Kingdom of God is published.

1995 Communion and Mission, a guide on small church communities, is published.

1995 The U.S. Hispanic bishops convoke Hispanic Ministry directors and coordinators to commemorate and celebrate the collaboration and communion of fifty years of a national ministry effort.

1995 Pastoral statement The Hispanic Presence in the New Evangelization in the United States, is published.

1997 Synod of Bishops for America takes place. The U.S. bishops approve the convoking of a fourth national Encuentro.

1998 One Faith, One Church, One America: Symposium with the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) on Catechesis ‘98

1999 Pope John Paul II promulgates Ecclesia in America in Mexico City.

1999 Hispanic Ministry at the Turn of the New Millennium: A Report of the Bishops' Committee on Hispanic Affairs is published.

1999 Many Faces in God's House: A Catholic Vision for the New Millennium, a parish guide to prepare for Encuentro 2000, is published.

2000 Encuentro 2000: Many Faces in God's House is held in Los Angeles, California, with the participation of more than 5,000 church leaders representing 150 dioceses and 157 different ethnic groups and nationalities.

2001 The Bishops' Committee on Hispanic Affairs convokes the leadership in Hispanic Ministry to a National Symposium to refocus Hispanic ministry for the new century.

2002 Encuentro and Mission: A Renewed Pastoral Framework for Hispanic Ministry is published.

U.S. Hispanic Facts & Figures

What is the total number of Hispanic Catholics in the U.S.?

Approximately 39 percent—or 25 million of the nation's 65 million—of U.S. Catholics are Hispanic.¹

What percentage of Hispanics in the U.S. is Catholic?

72.6 percent, according to a recent study.² Other recent studies show similar findings ranging from 70-75 percent. Since 1960, Hispanics have accounted for 71 percent of the Catholic growth in the United States.³

Which ten dioceses have the largest Hispanic populations?

Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Galveston-Houston, San Bernardino, Chicago, Brooklyn, Fresno, San Antonio, and Orange.⁴

What percentage of priests, bishops, and seminarians is Hispanic?

6.3 percent—or 2,900—of the nation's 46,000 priests are Hispanic.⁵ Of these 2,900 Hispanic priests, approximately 500 were born in the U.S.⁶ Fifteen percent of the priests ordained in 2002 were Hispanic.⁷ There are 9,925 Hispanic Catholics per Hispanic priest, while there are 1,230 Catholics per priest in the general Catholic population.⁸ Thirteen percent of current seminarians—or approximately 500—are Hispanic.⁹ Nine percent, or twenty-five of the nation's 281 active bishops, are Hispanic.¹⁰ There is a ratio of one bishop to every 231,000 Catholics in the United States and a ratio of one Hispanic bishop to every one million Hispanic Catholics in the United States.¹¹

How is the Catholic Church meeting the needs of Hispanics?

The Church's response has been guided by a process of consultation that has led to the development of pastoral letters and statements such as Encuentro and Mission: A New Pastoral Framework for Hispanic Ministry (2002). Masses in many parishes are offered in Spanish, and ministries aimed at meeting the social and spiritual needs of Hispanic Catholics are growing. More than 150 dioceses and 4,000 local parishes and Catholic agencies currently serve Hispanic Catholics.¹² In addition, pastoral institutes for the formation and training of Hispanic lay leaders exist at the local diocesan, regional, and national levels. Twenty-five percent of all participants in lay formation programs in the United States are Hispanic. An increasing number of bishops now require their seminarians to learn Spanish as they anticipate the growing Hispanic Catholic population.

How many Hispanics currently reside in the United States?

35.3 million, or 12.5 percent of the total population, according to the 2000 Census. Since 1990, the nation's Hispanic population has grown 58 percent, up from a total of 22.4 million in 1990.¹³

Where do Hispanics live?

As of 2000, more than one-fourth of Hispanics lived in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Miami. About nine in ten Hispanics lived in metropolitan areas in 2002. Of these, roughly half lived in central cities. The ten metropolitan areas with the largest Hispanic populations are: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, Houston, Riverside-San Bernardino, Orange County, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Dallas.¹⁴

Are there particular characteristics of a liturgy for Hispanics?

Certain aspects of religious symbolism are especially important to Hispanics in that they establish a connection with their experience of the Catholic Church in their country of origin. Familiar music is an important element of their Catholic devotion. Traditional expressions of the faith for Hispanics include reenactments of biblical passages that follow the liturgical year, e.g., posadas in Advent, the three kings in the Epiphany procession, the December 12th feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the stations of the cross during Lent. The celebration of Marian feasts is also central to Hispanics' religious practice and expression.

Where did the term "Hispanics" come from, and what does it mean?

The term "Hispanic" was used during the 1970 Census and was adopted by church leadership of the time to help define a people with a common identity, vision, and mission. It has been integral to the historical memory of Hispanic ministry since 1970 and continues to be used in the Church today. In recent years, the term "Latino" has become widely used by church and community leaders, particularly in urban areas. It is a self-identifying term that has emerged from the community and is embraced by the Church.

Endnotes

USCCB Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs estimate is based on 2000 Census figures of 35.3 million Hispanics, the 2002 Official Catholic Directory's figures of 65.2 million Catholics, and on the percentage of Hispanics who are Catholic from a 2002 survey commissioned by the Latino Coalition and conducted by McLaughlin and Associates' Opiniones Latinas, 2002.
Survey commissioned by the Latino Coalition and conducted by McLaughlin and Associates' Opiniones Latinas, August 2002.
USCCB Committee on Hispanic Affairs. Hispanic Ministry at the Turn of the New Millennium, 1999, p. 5. Study done by Stewart Lawrence of Puentes, Inc.
Ruth N. Doyle, Ph.D., Dioceses Ranked by Total Hispanic (All Races) Population, 2002.
A survey on Hispanic priests ministering in the United States, conducted by the National Association of Hispanic Priests, 1999, reports 2,900 Hispanic priests, and the 2002 Official Catholic Directory reports that there are approximately 46,000 priests.
Survey on Hispanic priests ministering in the U.S., conducted by the National Association of Hispanic Priests, 1999.
Survey of Priestly Ordinations, Life Cycle Institute, Catholic University of America, 2002.
USCCB Committee on Hispanic Affairs. Hispanic Ministry at the Turn of the New Millennium, 1999, p. 5. Study done by Stewart Lawrence of Puentes, Inc.
USCCB Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry. The Study of the Impact of Fewer Priests on the Pastoral Ministry was done by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, June 2000.
USCCB Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs, October 2002.
Total number of Catholics, 64 million, divided by 281 active bishops, including Hispanic bishops equals 231,000. Total number of Hispanic Catholics, 25 million, divided by 25 active Hispanic bishops equals 1 million.
Ibid.
U.S. Census Bureau Press Release for Hispanic Heritage Month, 2002.
"Latino Growth in Metropolitan America: Changing Patterns, New Locations," Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy and the Pew Hispanic Center, July 2002 (www.brookings.edu).

Hispanic Ministry at a Glance

Based on a report by Dr. Ruth T. Doyle, Fordham University, for the Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 3211 Fourth Street, N.E.,Washington, D.C. 20017, June 2002.