LATINO PERSPECTIVE-Pope Francis visited the United States on September 22-27 and his trip was without doubt a great success. He went to Washington, New York and Philadelphia. This was the tenth time a pope has made an apostolic journey to the United States, but it was Pope Francis’ first visit ever to our country.
The face of Catholic America is changing. Today, immigrants make up a considerable share of Catholics, and many are Hispanic. At the same time, there has been a regional shift, from the Northeast (long home to a large percentage of the Catholic faithful) and Midwest to the Western and Southern parts of the U.S. This includes Los Angeles.
While his visit was great and energized Catholics all over the country, he disappointed many by not coming to our city. Latinos in Los Angeles take their faith very seriously -- it’s an important part of their lives and they love their Pope.
Let’s also keep in mind that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is numerically the single largest diocese in the United States and one that is growing fast due to immigration from Mexico and Central America. Hispanic Immigrants are the main force preventing a sharp decline in church membership nationwide. Estimates put the U.S. Catholic population at about 72 million.
The Los Angeles Archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, and its present archbishop is José Horacio Gómez. Approximately five million people profess to be members of this Archdiocese.
The first pope from Argentina, who is also the first pope from the American continent, elevated to sainthood an 18th-century Franciscan friar missionary from Spain who brought Catholicism to California. Junipero Serra established nine missions in California and was buried at Carmel Mission.
Pope Francis canonized Junipero Serra during a Mass outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, the first-ever canonization on U.S. soil. The pope had announced in January that Serra would become a saint.
Pope Francis told reporters that a visit to California might not fit into his plans. "I would like to go to California for the canonization of Junipero, but I think t here is the problem of time," Francis said, according to Reuters. "It requires two more days.”
Francis said he would have loved to have entered the U.S. via the Mexican border, saying it would have been a "beautiful thing, as a sign of brotherhood and of help to the immigrants."
"But you know that going to Mexico without going to visit the Madonna (of Guadalupe) would be a drama. A war could break out!" he said, laughing. He said a visit to Mexico would come in the future.
But what about a visit to California and Los Angeles? The percentage of Californians who identify as Catholic has jumped sharply since the 1980s, and most are concentrated here in southern California.
But lately, a growing number of millennials have left the Catholic Church as they enter adulthood -- a problem afflicting nearly all religious groups in the state. California has also seen a sharp decline in the number of non-Hispanic, white residents who identify as Catholic, as well as a shift from Catholicism to Protestantism.
Let’s just hope Pope Francis doesn’t take Catholics in Los Angeles for granted. Let’s hope he comes to visit soon -- a shepherd must tend to his flock.
(Fred Mariscal came to Los Angeles from Mexico City in 1992 to study at the University of Southern California and has been in LA ever since. He is a community leader who serves as Vice Chair of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition and sits on the board of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council representing Larchmont Village. He was a candidate for Los Angeles City Council in District 4. Fred writes Latino Perspective for CityWatch and can be reached at: [email protected]) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 85
Pub: Oct 20, 2015
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