U.S., Latin American bishops say they share evangelization concerns

Published: 2005-06-16

CHICAGO (CNS) -- With more than 40 million Hispanics in the United States, the issues facing the Catholic Church in Latin America are also facing the U.S. church, according to U.S. and Latin American Catholic leaders who came together in advance of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' June 16-18 meeting in Chicago. Seven U.S. bishops and three Latin American prelates met June 14 at the University of St. Mary of the Lake-Mundelein Seminary to plan the fifth general conference of the Latin American bishops' council in 2007. The general conference is expected to last a month and will look at the need for a new evangelization in the region at the start of the third millennium, said Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda of Morelia, Mexico. The church is fighting a culture of globalization and secularization, in which Catholics are leaving for other churches and people who consider themselves Catholic Christians do not live out their faith in their everyday lives, Archbishop Suarez said.

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