How Latino Catholics and America are transforming each other

Most histories of Catholicism in the United States focus on the experience of Euro-American Catholics, whose views on social issues have dominated public debates. Latino Catholicism provides a comprehensive overview of the Latino Catholic experience in America from the sixteenth century to today, and offers the most in-depth examination to date of the important ways the U.S. Catholic Church, its evolving Latino majority, and American culture are mutually transforming one another.

In Latino Catholicism, Timothy Matovina highlights the vital contributions of Latinos to American religious and social life, demonstrating in particular how their engagement with the U.S. cultural milieu is the most significant factor behind their ecclesial and societal impact.

"Finely researched, engagingly written, and more comprehensive than any other book on the subject, Timothy Matovina's Latino Catholicism is a scholarly labor of love that does justice to the historic presence of Latino Catholics in America. Matovina brilliantly chronicles the gradual emergence of Latinos as the critical indicators of Catholicism's future prospects in the United States. His book raises the bar for studies of U.S. religion and society."--Allan Figueroa Deck, S.J., Loyola Marymount University

"Meticulously researched, well-reasoned, and crisply written, this timely synthesis provides cutting-edge analysis of some of the most profound social and cultural developments of our time. In this sweeping history, Matovina provides a clear-eyed scholarly assessment of the ongoing challenges and controversies the church hierarchy faces in its efforts to minister to Latino Catholics. This incisive volume will undoubtedly take its place as the standard source on these crucial topics for years to come."--David G. Gutierrez, University of California, San Diego

"This is a first-rate work of scholarship. Matovina is a theologian, and he pays attention to serious religious questions. But he is also a historian, and a very good one, and he turns the Latino story into a genuinely American story, and that is a terrific achievement."--David J. O'Brien, author of From the Heart of the American Church: Catholic Higher Education and American Culture

"For decades, religious historians have sought ways to integrate the Latino experience into narratives of U.S. Catholicism. In this bold and provocative work, Matovina eschews the integration model in favor of a thoroughgoing reinterpretation of U.S. Catholic history, revealing how--from the sixteenth century to today--Latino Catholicism drove a mutually transformative process that yielded an integrally Latino-inspirited church."--James T. Fisher, author of Communion of Immigrants: A History of Catholics in America

Matovina, Timothy