American Catholic Contours and Detours in a Fifty-Percent Hispanic/Latino Church
Hosffman OspinoBoston College
Free and Open to the Public
The familiar expression “American Catholicism” often evokes mainly the presence and heritage of Euro-American Catholics and how this group defines religion, culture and politics in our nation. Though narrow and de facto blind to the contributions of many other groups that have been central to defining the American Catholic experience, this perception finds its ultimate challenge in the fact that nearly 50 percent of Catholics in the U.S. today are Hispanic/Latino. In this lecture Ospino explores key implications for church and society of being American Catholic in a largely Hispanic/Latino church. The lecture proposes a vision for ecclesial and intellectual engagement, a roadmap for American Catholicism in the rest of the century.
Cosponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies, the Religion in the Americas Workshop, and the Theology and Ethics Workshop at the University of Chicago. This event is made possible by a grant from the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.
Dr. Ospino also gave a workshop on Wednesday, March 4th, open by invitation-only, entitled Synodality in the Era of Pope Francis: Principles and Possibilities for Ministry in an Increasingly Hispanic Church.
Hosffman Ospino is an Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Education at Boston College, School of Theology and Ministry where he is also Director of Graduate Programs in Hispanic Ministry. Dr. Ospino was the principal investigator for the National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry (2014) and co-investigator for the National Survey of Catholic Schools Serving Hispanic Families (2015). He is currently advancing a national study on Latino Catholic vocations. He has authored/edited 13 books and dozens of essays. Dr. Ospino serves on the boards of several national organizations and as an officer of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) and the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS).
