"In Mexico, 98 percent of the missionaries were Catholic. They were Jesuits, they were faithful to the pope. ... It's a more Catholic environment," he said.
KEEPING THE NUMBERS AFLOAT
Today's wave of immigrants is following a path blazed by Italian, Irish and Polish immigrants in the 19th and early 20th century in one important way: they are keeping the Catholic Church's numbers afloat in America.
According to a recent nationwide survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 23.9 percent of the adult U.S. population identifies itself as Catholic. Since the early 1970s the percentage of the U.S. population counting itself as Catholic has remained stable at around 25 percent.
But according to Pew, no other major faith has experienced greater net losses, with 31.4 percent of U.S. adults saying they were raised Catholic and about one in 10 describing themselves as former Catholics.
In the face of these losses to fast-growing evangelical Protestant churches as well as the ranks of the "unaffiliated," the U.S. Church has been propped up by immigration.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops says about 39 percent of U.S. Catholics are Hispanic.
It also estimates that since 1960, 71 percent of U.S. Catholic population growth has been Hispanic and that by the second decade of the 21st century, over 50 percent of U.S. Catholics will likely be Hispanic.
Among other things, this brings a distinctly Latin flavor to U.S. Catholicism.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Phoenix holds daily masses in Spanish, attracting Hispanics who afterward linger to look at the images of the saints, especially the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Francis, who are both revered in Mexico.
"Hispanics are changing U.S. Catholicism but the Church here is also changing Hispanics. Latinos bring a style of festive worship and certain devotions that are very visual, such as re-enactments of the crucifixion," said Matovina.
"In the other direction, U.S. Christianity revolves around the parish. So the idea that your main link to Catholicism is a parish influences Latinos here and transforms what is sometimes a home-based or shrine-based religion into more of a parish-based experience," he said.
But like previous waves of Catholic immigrants, future native-born generations may not stick to the religious traditions of their parents or grandparents.
Some trends are already noticeable.
"What is growing is the number of Hispanics who claim no religious affiliation," said Matovina.
