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Traces the history of the Claretian Missionaries and their far-reaching influence on Latino Catholics
Pioneers of Latino Ministry tells the story of the Claretian Missionaries, a male Catholic congregation, dedicated to Latin American immigrants and their families on the margins of US society since 1902. The Claretians’ accompaniment of Latinos makes them distinct in American Catholic history. When the first Claretians arrived from Mexico, Spanish speakers were a small, often unrecognized part of Catholic America. Today Latinos constitute half of US Catholics.
The Claretians inaugurated parishes and schools in over fifteen states. Their outreach was felt in wider Catholic America as they published popular magazines, created missions in Central America, and fostered a now wide-spread devotion to St. Jude. They cultivated respect and dignity for Latino people in regions where wider society marginalized the newcomers. Because they encouraged education and leadership within their parishes, many Latinos emerged to lead and enhance US Catholic life as priests, female religious, and lay leaders. Today, the Claretians have circled back to their original mission in the US: committed to new generations of immigrants and their children.
Pioneers of Latino Ministry charts the history of the Claretians and their influence on Latino Catholics in the US, as well as on broader American Catholicism. Filled with compelling stories, the volume offers a vital portrait of unexplored Catholic American history.
— Timothy Matovina, author of Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America's Largest Church
"It is necessary to tell with dignity and respect the stories, struggles, and hopes of Hispanic/Latino Catholic immigrants and Deborah E. Kanter accomplishes that in Pioneers of Latino Ministry. This book provides key insights and pastoral orientations to better minister, serve and accompany Hispanic/Latino Catholic immigrants in the United States. Pioneers of Latino Ministry embraces a missionary spirit and an ethic of bridge building and social responsibility with underserved communities. This book will be treasured by members of the Claretian community as well as historians, pastoral agents, directors and coordinators of Hispanic/Latino ministry, and social justice advocates."
— Yohan Garcia, Loyola University Chicago
"A beautiful and engaging narrative history that brings to life not only the Claretian Missionaries, but the Latino laity whom they served. In telling this vibrant and dynamic story, Deborah E. Kanter has expanded the story of the American Catholic Church and its people."
— Julia G. Young, author of Mexican Exodus: Emigrants, Exiles, and Refugees of the Cristero War
"Well-researched and delightfully-written, Deborah E. Kanter invites her readers to delve into the exciting work and mission of the Claretian Missionaries in the United States and their audacious commitment to accompanying Hispanic Catholics since 1902. Pioneers of Latino Ministry is simultaneously a history of a religious order and a fresh account of the U.S. Catholic experience in which Hispanics play a mission-defining role."
— Hosffman Ospino, Boston College
"An insightful look at an underexplored corner of Catholic American history."
"Kanter gives important insight into how a little known religious congregation did its work and evolved over nearly a century and a quarter in America. She shows how the Claretians and their parishioners worked together to create Mexican America, a community within the broader national society that is rooted in the United States but is enlivened by the cultural traditions and wisdom of the Mexican homeland."
"Kanter reveals how Claretians successfully mediated diocesan preferences for centralization and Americanization and Mexican and Puerto Rican Catholics’ desire to nurture the culture of home."