Print Issue: April 18, 2002

'A Systematic Listening Session' First Archdiocese-Wide Hispanic Survey Reflects Community's Great Needs

By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

ATLANTA- English classes. Legal aid assistance. And the overwhelming need for consistent and reliable communication between priests, staff and the people they serve. These were some of the key targets identified in the results of the first ever survey of Hispanics in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

(L-r) Luis and Victor Gutierrez, and Manuel Sabino play outside following their religious education class at the Lindbergh mission of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, held on Saturday afternoons. Hispanics responding to the survey expressed the need for more religious assistance in the area of Bible study, adult religious education and first Communion and confirmation preparation.

Described as the first systematic "listening session" initiated from "the top down," the study reflects a unique first step by the archdiocese to find out the diverse needs of its Hispanic population. Besides tapping into the actual needs of Hispanics in the area, the study provided an insightful snapshot of attitudes of Hispanics toward Hispanics, as well as anglo attitudes towards this population.

Twenty-seven hundred people - an estimated 10 percent of all participants in 63 Spanish masses in the archdiocese - responded to a random, confidential survey of 51 questions last November. The survey covered demographic, economic, migration and religious information about the individual and his/her household. Topics included education level, birthplace, employment, marital status, languages spoken, children, transportation, housing, family in another country and needs from and participation in the church.

Hispanic identification covers a wide range, according to the survey.

There is an economic and cultural variation within the Hispanic population in north Georgia, from Mexican (predominant) to Guatemalan and Colombian. St. George, Newnan, is 100 percent Colombian, and and St. Paul the Apostle Church, Cleveland, is 96 percent Guatemalan, while St. Benedict Church, Duluth, is 54 percent Colombian. Yet the survey report shows that the percentage may not represent the actual percentage of Hispanic Catholics attending mass. For example, Cubans were represented by less than one percent in the survey, but in 1996 represented 4.6 of all Atlanta area immigrants.

"In the archdiocese, these differences are often represented to us in negative terms, especially with respect to Mexicans, where, in fact, they are an asset and an opportunity," Martha Rees, anthropologist and project organizer, wrote. "Within the Hispanic population itself, there is lots of resentment between people of different social class or national origin, principally directed toward Mexicans."

Regardless of Hispanic nationality, the study shows large holes in social services, communication avenues and areas where Hispanics want to get more involved in the life of the church.

Hispanics attend the 2 p.m. Spanish Mass at Church of the Transfiguration, Marietta. The parish sought to expand its needs to the Hispanic community by the addition of a full-time religious education coordinator last year.

Communication barriers increase the isolation many of these Hispanic Catholics feel. Some 61 percent of those surveyed do not speak any English, and only 6.8 percent take English classes. Many would if they could. Among those surveyed, 35 percent expressed a need for more parish social services, like English classes, legal aid, and help getting a driver's license.

Hispanics not being served

There are up to 25,000 participants in over 60 Spanish masses in the archdiocese in a given week, up from 39 in 1996. That's still a small percentage of 460,000 - the estimated total population of Hispanics in North Georgia. Gonzalo Saldaña, director of the archdiocesan Hispanic Apostolate, said that an estimated 60-65 percent of all U.S. Hispanics are baptized Catholics. (The churches serving the largest numbers at their weekend Masses are St. Michael's, Gainesville, serving over 1,900, St. Thomas the Apostle, Smyrna, with about 1,800 and Our Lady of the Americas Mission, Doraville, with over 2,300. There was incomplete data for St. Joseph's, Dalton.)

According to the survey, and estimates of the Hispanic population, there are vast numbers of Hispanics in north Georgia, and many are not being served by the Catholic church at all.

The church needs to decide what role to play in the lives of the Hispanic minority - a minority soon to be a majority, according to Bishop Arthur N. Tafoya, chair of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Hispanic Affairs.

Stressing the need for parishes which offer few social services to establish Spanish social ministries and improve communication with worshipers, Rees recalled how worshipers even came up to survey takers asking questions like about other Mass locations and the procedure in getting a divorce. One nun who didn't know English asked her about where to refer a woman whose baby had a heart defect but who didn't know to what services the baby was entitled. Among religious needs in Spanish, 29 percent expressed need for religious services including 25 percent seeking more Bible study or adult religious education and 29 percent, first Communion and confirmation. Rees also noted how the survey also reported that while three fourths of surveyed Hispanics have never carried out a religious ministry in the church, it is "overwhelming" that 76 percent would accept a church ministry. In Mexico, volunteerism is much more common than tithing, and even associated with social standing. But for immigrants attending church in this country, "If you feel like it's not yours you sort of don't dedicate as much energy to it," Rees said.

But other denominations are, according to Rees and Saldaña.

Near Our Lady of the Americas Hispanic Mission, in Doraville, which offers many social services, there are at least 10 other churches reaching out to Hispanics. Protestant churches are generally offering more social services. And of 26 free English classes offered in the Atlanta area, 13 are offered in Baptist; just a handful at Catholic churches. "There are job fairs at the Protestant churches, there are English classes, there are health clinics, there is legal assistance. There's a whole lot of stuff going on and I think these sects are evangelizing aggressively and the Catholic church is not," Rees said.

Hispanics at Our Lady of the Americas Mission, Doraville, celebrate during a special Mass last October for the Lord of the Miracles, a Peruvian devotion dating back to the 17th century. The mission serves over 2,000 Hispanics at its weekend Masses.

Only six percent of Hispanics, most of whom attend Mass weekly, have participated in other religions, which may mean that "converts, once they start going to another church, do not return to Mass," states the report. (A 2000 report by the U.S. Bishops Committee on Hispanic Affairs estimated that hundreds of thousands of Latinos leave the U.S. church yearly.)

Saldaña and Rees both linked immigrants hesitancy to get involved with their church with the reality that many are undocumented. Immigrants were not asked their immigration status for the survey, but since 76 percent of Mexicans arrived after 1989 (after the Immigration Reform and Control Act-IRCA, when amnesty was granted to immigrants who could prove they'd lived in the United States) and 75 percent of the total surveyed population is Mexican, this means at least 50 percent of the total Hispanic population surveyed is undocumented.

"They're afraid to stand out, they're afraid to do any kind of thing because if they stand out they could get picked up. Now the church is one place where they do and should feel safe and many of them do feel that the church would never (harm them). So I think that's something I would build on if I were institution building," Rees said.

As lack of tithing goes along with lack of involvement, the survey recommends that wealthier churches be educated and encouraged to give more to these immigrant communities. There was also a desire for deacon training in Spanish.

Saldaña noted increasing involvement and belonging will increase giving. "We have found that it's very hard to develop indigenous leadership," he said.

There is a definite wish for a Catholic education among Hispanics. Saldaña noted that 50 percent of parents surveyed would prefer to give their children parochial education. He believes the archdiocese needs to consider more scholarships for Hispanics and beginning another school like Solidarity School, which specifically targets poor Hispanic immigrants, to create future Latino church leaders.

The church is working hard to catch up to the tremendous influx of Hispanics, Rees said. There are 49 churches now building Hispanic church leaders through Hispanic ministries out of 110 missions and parishes in the archdiocese in fall 2001.

Hispanics from around the archdiocese gather for 2001 Eucharistic Congress at the Georgia International Convention Center, College Park. Statistics reveal the number of Hispanic immigrants in North Georgia has grown over 200 percent since 1990.

Communication is key to helping bridge the Hispanic/anglo gap. Rees recommends in the report that each parish have Spanish e-mail and Web page contact for announcements, services, changes, help and more, and for more intra-institutional contact among diocesan leadership. "Communication is iffy throughout much of the archdiocese. Many of the parishes (priests and/or staff) are not linked to others either socially or professionally. This contact would increase the viability of all the work of the archdiocese. Within parishes, there needs to be increased communication and coordination between Spanish and English clergy, laity and staff," she wrote in the report.

The study recommends focus groups and listening sessions to explore community needs. One cares more "when you hear it from another human voice, not in a newspaper, or from a political diatribe, by relating to that person as a human being," noted Rees. Regarding Hispanic/Anglo relations, it recommends "more thorough pastoral planning with respect to diversity" to increase cross-cultural understanding through things like multicultural religious services, cultural diversity workshops and American cultural orientation of foreign clergy and Religious sisters. An example of celebrating diversity is how Immaculate Heart of Mary Church holds a bilingual Holy Week service.

A Hispanic woman and her son participate in a community health fair at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Atlanta. The survey reflected the need for more social services within the Hispanic community.

To reach the non-practicing it suggests increased advertising through things like billboards and flyers in Latino neighborhoods. Finally, it recommends that, in addition to a re-study every five years of the Hispanic population, a study of the total population of Catholics and Hispanics who attended English Mass, and looking into how other dioceses are serving this population.

Jim Kantner, Secretary of Catholic Charities, stressed the significance of the report calling for more communication. It's important for the Catholic Center and parishes to meet and work together to flesh out the survey and learn what their needs are, he said, "lest it be perceived just that it comes from the chancellery," he said. As the highest need was for social services followed by pastoral ones, "there has to be more communication between Catholic Social Services and religious education," other departments and with the parishes, he said. Churches "need to take ownership of it and be empowered but there hasn't been a game plan established yet" on how to get together.

"One of the big things they said they need is English. That needs to be brought to the forefront and (churches) must call on Anglos in their parishes to step forward," he added. Rees recommended for churches with nascent ministries to first ask the Hispanics what are their needs. Saldaña believes all parishes can somehow apply the report according to their own needs. "This is something that can be used on a continual basis that can be used as a very good collaboration tool to assess the parish."

He noted that churches can use Encuentro 2000 guides which bring ethnic groups together to share stories and pray. "The tools are there for the ministers to use. The structure is there. And actually there is a great emphasis because the church recognizes how diverse it is," he said. Parish leaders "are there, in touch with the people on a weekly basis . . . I think parishes need to look based upon on the study and the finding to try to be able to implement something that will serve the parish as a whole, not only Hispanics but as a whole."

"If we want to cater actively to Hispanics and attract them to the Catholic Church we need to do something to respond to their language and culture and their own needs. That's the purpose of the survey and I'm hoping for the best. We need to do some planning and responding to the challenge," he said.

"It's happening. Hispanics are here and will continue to change (the church) and Masses will continue to be developed, Saldaña added. "This is going to continue snowballing whether we like it or not, so we might as well approach it (the report) as a way we can respond and make them feel a part of the Catholic Church."

In the future, he said, "I'm hoping to continue that process where we perhaps can get together and look at the (issue) based on the finding and to see what actually we need to respond. The church has a tremendous challenge ahead of them and the time is now."