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With Mexican Americans composing one of the nation’s largest minority groups, this book examines the legacy and future of these communities and the Catholic Church.
Mexican Americans have a long legacy within the Catholic Church. While not always accepted by the Church, these communities developed rich spiritual traditions that are both deeply Catholic and unique to the people that practice them. In Mexican Americans and the Catholic Church, 1900–1965, three historians examine the religious history of the Church, focusing on Mexican American faith communities. Jay P. Dolan and Gilberto Hinojosa consider modern challenges in the context of the history of Mexican American Catholics across the country. Between Americanization and assimilation, alongside the failings and as well as success of the Catholic church in ministering to Mexican Americans, this book is a record of the resilience and devotion of these communities over sixty years.
“Few historians have studied Mexican-American Catholicism, though many have suggested its importance in Chicano history. Mexian Americans and the Catholic Church is a pioneering effort that begins to redress this long-standing neglect through three essays focused on Texas and the Southwest, California, and the Midwest. . . . In beginning to identify the contours of Mexican-American Catholic history, these essays provide much to contemplate and pursue for those seeking a fuller understanding of Chicano history and the importance of religion in the American experience. . . . An invaluable and long overdue book.” —Western Historical Society
“[This] is an excellent book for anyone who desires to understand the struggles of the Catholic Church in building bridges from a Euro-American culture to a Hispanic culture. . . . a major resource for anyone who desires to know more about how to appreciate another culture and how to build bridges to that culture.” —Missiology
Jay P. Dolan is professor emeritus of history at the University of Notre Dame, where he founded the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism. He is the author of several books, including The American Catholic Experience: A History from Colonial Times to the Present.
Gilberto Hinojosa was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, attended public schools, and was the first in his family to graduate from college. He received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Returning to Texas, he became the managing attorney for the Brownsville office of Texas Rural Legal Aid. Governor Ann Richards appointed Gilberto to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, overseeing the Texas prison and parole system. He has served his fellow Texans as a county, district court, and court of appeals judge in both appointed and elected capacities. Gilberto is currently in private practice in Brownsville. Since 2012, Gilberto has served as the chair of the Texas Democratic Party.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1. Mexican-American Faith Communities in Texas the Southwest
Prologue
1. Antecedents to the Twentieth Century
2. The Immigrant Church, 1910-1965
Summary and Conclusion
Part 2. The Mexican Catholic Community in California
1. Establishing the Mexican Catholic Community in California: A Story of Neglect?
2.\ Catholic Ministry in the Era of the “Mexican Problem,” 1910-1943
3. Spirituality and Clergy
4. A New Era: World War II and After
5. Migrants and Braceros
6. The Mexican-American Catholic Community Comes of Age, 1960-1965
Part 3. The Catholic Church and the Making of Mexican-American Parish Communities in the Midwest
1. Midwestern Catholicism and the Early Mexican Parishes, 1910-1930
2. Depression, Survival, and Fragmented Religiosity, 1930-1945
3. Parish Growth and Barrio Diversity, 1945-1965
Notes
Contributors
Index