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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHistorical Records - Miscellaneous (136)Special rite seeks to halt Catholic drift Continued from cover rently has only 27 missions (peanu1s compared to the number of Texas con­gregations), but Fann says it may be the new frontier for the Southern Baptist and other non-Catholic churches. • In Tucson alone, Protestant churches offering services in Spanish have, by and large, doubled their His­panic congregations during the past five ' years. Primera Iglesia Bautista, at 4502 S.12th Ave., has grown from 54 co 85members during that period. TemploBautista, at 102 S. Grande Ave., has gonefrom 41 members to 91. The AmericanBaptist -First Mexican Baptist Church at482 S. Scone Ave. now has aboout 50 regu­lar members. Five years ago, it had only22.In each· church, the congregation isoverwhelmingly Mexican-American. The Rev. Vincente Lopez, Catholic vicar for the Spanish-speaking in the Dio­cese of Tucson, cites several reasons for the phenomenon. For one, he says, the Mexican­American is becoming less Mexican and more American. Growth in the Sun Belt has exposed Hispanics more to Anglo cul­ture. The level of their education has risen. Roy Chaboya, a 31-year-old Mexi­can-American who left the Catholic church during his teens, said he was in-. fluenced by his friends, most of whom were Anglo and Protestant. He said most of his Hispanic friends dropped out of high school, while he went on to college and associated with even more Protes­tant Anglos. "Also," he said·, "the• Catholic church was more rigid at that time. My personal opinion was that church tradi­tion had more eminence (in Catholicism) than the Bible itself." The prayer meetings he attended with his Protestant friends placed more emphasis on Scripture, he said. "It made GOO appear more access­ible," he said. "I felt a closeness I didn't feel at Mass." That word, closeness, says the Rev. Lopez, is another reason for the Hispanic flight from Catholicism. "There used to be a commwial sense in the Catholic church," he explained. "But as the population increased, that closeness to the church and church offi­cials was lost." Indeed, in a 1978 Gallup survey of Hispanic Catholics, only 8 percent said they would turn to their parish priest for help in resolving family or personal -problems. But a majority said they would like to see more Hispanic priests. And 78 percent said church services should in­clude more Hispanic culture and tradi­tion. In recent years, Lopez said, the Catholic church has tri_ed to respond to those gripes; however, the modern American Mass has become an offering in English made by Anglo priests. And that has alienated a number of Hispan-ics. Catholicism still claims at least 85 percent of American Hispanics, accord­mg to the Gallup survey. But the Rev. Joe Martinez, who left the Catholic church to become minister to a Hispanic Baptist congregation here, estimates that only about a quarter of that number actually is active ia the church. In the Gallup potl, about a third of the men and a quarter of the women surveyed said they hadn't been to Mass in a month, Taken for granted by the church of their heritage, many Hispanics simply picked up their rosaries and went home. Which is exactly where the Protestant missionaries found them. "We go into their homes," explains Fann at the Southern Baptist Coavention. "We befriend people, cultivate them. We show them that we're interested in more than having their names on a church ros.. ter. "We have done a lot to help people find jobs and get commlltlity services they're entitled to. And all our Hispanic missions are pastored by Hispanic people themselves. We provide preaching and teaching and Scripture in the language of the people. "We pro·,ide that personal touch." That "personal touch," he adds, ex­tends to their view of God. Again and again, non-Catholic Hispanics refer to a "personal relationship with Christ" that they say they were unable to find in the Catholic church of their childhood. That church -which, they stress, has since changed considerably -was a church whose symbols and sacraments kept God in heaven, forever out of reach. Protestant religions, which, at that time, placed more emphasis on the Bible and less on church history and dogma, created a Christ they could identify with as a human being, they say. Now. though, the Catholic church has begun emphasizing the Bible, they note. Scriptures play a greater part in the Mass. Said Ralph 0. Gomez, a Yaqui who joined the Assembly of God after 33 years of devout Catholicism: "I was looking for a real, alive relationship with my Creator. In my case, it happened in a non-Catholic environment. But the Cath­olic church is considerably different tcxlay than it once was. You do not have to leave the Catholic church to have that personal relationship with God.'' Also, said Lopez, the Catholic church is acknowledging Hispanics. It has promoted the four-day Cursillo re­treat, a short course in Christianity that originated among Hispanics. Also sanc­tioned has been the charismatic move­ment, a form of enthusiastic Pentecostal Catholicism that emphasizes the Holy Spirit and Christ as the savior of man­kind. Both movements eniphasize the same enthusiastic, personal Christianity that so many Hispanics say appeals ·to them. "We are a deeply spiritual people," said Gomez. "But these movements are providing more scripture, more song at Mass. They're creating more commu­nity." Counseling sessions on engagement, marriage and the family also are now of­fered in most parishes, Lopez added. And home visitation, a tradition among His­panics, has been revi�ed. It was that type of visit that brought a statue of the Virgin Mary to the home of Margarita Valdez. The statue was borne by the Grupo San Ignacio de Loyola, a group of Catho­lic "Cursillist.as," who decided a year and a half ago to spread the religious enthusiasm they had· acquired at Cursillo retreats. Blanca Alabado, who heads the Grupo, said the statue has been brought to nearly 80 homes since her group or­ganized. At each home, she said, the Vir­gin is carried at the head of a procession, while a hymn is sung in Spanish. Then, after a short prayer, she speaks to the family -and to the houseful of friends they usually have invited -about Jesus Christ. They recite the Rosary and sing some more. Then, at the end of the cere­mony, the statue is left at the host's home for a week. During that time, the family recites the Rosary daily, and the Grupo prays for them. At the week's end, there is another processional and cere­mony, and the statue is borne to another home. Mrs. Alabado said she now has a waiting list of some 75 families who want to host the statue. "We are a bashful people," she said of Mexican-American Catholics. "We are shy to talk abollt our faith. But we can't rely just on the Mass. We have to encour­age ourselves. Other religions do it, why not us? . "People leave the (Catholic) church because they don't have a full under­standing of their own faith," she added. "They see the openness in other reli­gions, and the closed-ness in our own. They say, 'I go to church a stranger and I come out a stranger, stin. Why? "I say, if you want to change reli­gions, fine. But if you took the time to know your own, you wouldn't want to leave it." Breaking tradition Blanca Alabado poses at left with the banner she and her Catholic prayer group carry from home to home. Her group also bears a statue of the Virgin Mary and conducts prayer meetings in an attempt to raise enthusiasm among Hispanic Catholics for their tradi­tional faith. Above, the Rev. Joe Martinez of the Southern Baptist Templo Bautista con­ducts Bible school in Spanish for his predo­minantly Mexican-American congregation. Right, Ralph Gomez of Pascua Village tells why he joined the non-Catholic Assembly of God after being raised in the Yaqui tradition of Catholicism. Citizen Photos by H. Darr Beiser, Dan Tortorell and Peter Weinberger f l_f <l l � .� !'tli.:: .- ' ·, � \i r �\ A couple in search of inner peace When 'Marnia Moreno talks heritage, he talks proudly. And he talks Chicano. 'Mando (Armando) grew up on the South Side of Tucson. He worked with his father as a mason's assistant, and mar. ried Marta Ortiz of Barrio Hollywood, on the West Side. When he was injured on the job and unable to retum to WOJ'.k, he took up social service. He (ou_ght for school deae:g:e,:tion,ethnic equality, political power or the barrios. He chaired the El Pueblo Neigh­bornood Center and joined the Chicano Coosortium (a council of leaders in Tuc­son's Me<ican-American community). His friends say be was the first social wotker that low rider organizations­would trust. And, every Sunday, 'Mando went to Mass. as did his father and his father's father. Then, six years ago, 'Mando defied tradition. He and Marta left the Catholic . church. "We were seeking more guidance and direction," he said. "Some people could have gotten it from the catholic church. But we ventured out." It was a gradual decision, Marta said. They envied their neighbors, whose inner peace was something the Morenos had never found at .Mass. They wanted to learn more about the Bible. They wanted more Scripture and fewer sacraments. "The catholic church then wasn't what it is today," explained Marta. "Now, with the charismatic movement (an enthusiastic style of worship !),at emphasizes the Holy Spirit), the Cathplic church is on fire., But when I went to Mass every week,. all I got out of it was the Eucharist and the Gospel -the Word of God. l hungered for the Scriptures." She also bW1gered for security. "Look at the world {K)W," she said. "It doesn't have much to offer. When I gave blrdt to my first son, I said to my­self, •If I should die, who i$ going to take care of him?" And I wasn't just talking about external needs." 'Mando, meanwhile, wanted a more •�personal" God. "God to me is not an old fogey with white hair and a beard," he said. •�God is a heavy duty dude who can help me deal with anything. I was looking for a church that taught that." For another couple, such a search might have been commonplace. And if it leGto a change in religion, well, that, too, might have been unremarkable. But tor the Morenos, it was a family trauma. 11leir parents, they said, saw their setrch as a slap in tbe face. 'Mando a1ld Marta weren't just changing churches. In their families' eyes, they were reject­ing their heritage. "A lot of people think you have to be Catholic to be Chica.no," said Mando. "Well, culture is very beautiful. But it can be very Ignorant. We all have to look for our own peace of mind. ''I am very much Chicano. l stand up for my culture and work for the issues that affect my people. But we are a new breed. We have to break the stereotypes of the past." Jn time, he said, their families ac­cepted the change. In fact, Marta added, her mother has joined the charismatic movement withjn the Catholic church, and 'Mando's parents have begun asking them where they g,i au that inner peace. Ai the South Side As.sembly of God, where they now are members, they have found the church they were looking for, they say. Not the "right" church or the "only" church, but the church they have chosen by and for themselves. "What's important is that you find your peace of mind. that you get right with God," said 'Mando. "In the end, the Lon:I doesn't know us by our denomina-tion," By Shawn Hubler -