Address Latinos’ Needs, Church Told

CHICAGO —  Evangelization of Latino Roman Catholics is “the most critical challenge for the church,” says Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces, N.M.

He writes in Extension Magazine that Latinos already make up a third of U.S. Catholics, and if the church doesn’t start addressing their needs in a “very serious way,” many will turn to other denominations.

He says the church needs to take on a “missionary mode” toward Latinos to make them feel “welcomed and accepted and shown love.”