Our Church is blessed with incredible diversity, and we are privileged to be experiencing rapid growth in the presence of Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S. Church. In fact:
- Hispanics account for 71% of the growth of the Catholic population since 1960.
- 40% of all Catholics in the U.S. have a Hispanic background.
- Six out of ten Catholics under the age of 18 are of Hispanic background.
- U.S.-born Hispanics make up two-thirds of the Hispanic population.
- On average, parishes with Hispanic ministry have larger numbers of Catholics attending Mass compared to all parishes nationwide.
- Almost half of students currently enrolled in U.S. lay ministry formation programs self-identify as Hispanic.
(source: V Encuentro website)
With that in mind, Loyola Press is eager to respond to the needs of the growing Hispanic population in the U.S. Church. I am personally proud to announce that my most recent book, Preparing Hearts and Minds: 9 Simple Ways for Catechists to Cultivate a Living Faith, is now available in Spanish: Preparar corazones y mentes: 9 ideas sencillas para que los catequistas cultiven una fe viva.
Here is the Spanish description of my book:
Los primeros seguidores de Jesús sabían que su Buena Nueva era realmente única, diferente a cualquier mensaje que hubieran escuchado antes. Sabían que se podía confiar en Jesús y que sus palabras, una vez plantadas en un corazón receptivo, podían transformar la vida de la persona. En Preparar corazones y mentes, Joe Paprocki analiza los métodos de evangelización de la Iglesia de los primeros siglos e identifica nueve estrategias para ayudar tanto a los catequistas como a sus alumnos. Estas son maneras concretas de compartir el Evangelio para que las personas puedan estar más abiertas y preparadas para entablar una amistad con Jesús y luego compartir esa amistad con los demás.
En Preparar corazones y mentes, Joe Paprocki nos muestra cómo compartir la Buena Nueva del Evangelio con energía y positividad.
Please spread the word to those in catechetical ministry who are serving our Hispanic brothers and sisters!
Bravo! That is wonderful! Thank you for doing that and honoring the Hispanic Community with this new tool for the Catechists. Congratulations!
You’re welcome, Maria Elena…it is an honor to serve the Hispanic Community in this fashion!
Hi Joe! I wonder if there’s a guide available for this book?
Hi Douglas! At present, there is no guide for this book, however, there is a webinar available on it. While the webinar is called, “The Evangelizing Catechist” it is drawing totally from the book, Preparing Hearts and Minds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xk47-ZPeOs&t=8s. I hope this helps.