In recent years, America has covered extensively the major shifts and trends happening across the Catholic Church in the United States, including the rising presence and influence of Latino Catholics. “Longing For More,” a documentary produced by the authors of this article together with Hosffman Ospino of Boston College, offers a rich contribution to this unfolding story by shining a light on young Latino Catholics as they grapple with questions of identity, faith and belonging. America, in partnership with Boston College and the production team, is publishing segments of the documentary on its YouTube channel throughout March 2025. — Sebastian Gomes, executive editor
James: I met Hosffman Ospino 20 years ago when he was the Hispanic liaison at St. Patrick Parish in Lawrence, Mass. I was spending time at St. Patrick’s documenting demographic change at a traditionally Irish-American institution. Hosffman was a doctoral student at Boston College back then; today he is still at B.C. as professor of Hispanic ministry and religious education and chair of the Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.
When Hosffman called six years ago to talk about a film idea, I was eager to sign on, as I knew Hosffman to be a person of faith who understands the complexities of living that faith in a complicated world. I introduced Hosffman to Sabrina Avilés, a talented filmmaker and producer who was there to offer essential perspectives to our work together.
“Longing for More” is a documentary, produced by Boston College and America, that seeks to capture glimpses of the lives of some young adult Latino Catholics, born and/or raised in the United States. These young Latinos are constantly negotiating who they are as people of faith and as members of our society. Some feel alone, others rejected, others not fully understood. Yet all carry in their lives an element of hope to which the church must pay attention.
Here are four important lessons we learned while documenting their experience..
Catholicism remains a powerful influence shaping the inner lives of many Latinos in the United States.
Sabrina: Catholic formation throughout one’s early years remains an unshakeable part of the identity of many Latinos/as. As the daughter of Dominican and Puerto Rican parents who married in the Catholic Church, being raised Catholic was a given for me. That meant attending Catholic school from elementary through high school and receiving all the sacraments along the way. The church’s teachings served as my moral compass. As I grew older, however, I found myself questioning some practices and teachings, many of which I allowed myself to interpret with more nuance than most church leaders I observed. During my teen years, I drifted away, no longer attending Mass except for the obligatory Christmas and Easter services.
Yet the cultural impact of Catholicism and its values remained deeply ingrained in me. I carried on certain traditions. I was married in the Catholic Church, baptized my children Catholic and enrolled them in Catholic school—even as my personal beliefs did not always match what the institution taught. Along the way, I explored other spiritual practices, but there was one aspect of my Catholic faith that always stayed with me: the stories of the Virgin Mary’s apparitions. Her messages—always filled with compassion and directed toward the most vulnerable and marginalized—reminded me of the values that shaped my sense of justice and empathy. Despite my reservations about the institutional church, Catholicism’s core lessons of kindness and helping others have shaped my values.
First-generation Latinos embrace and find meaning and integrate church teachings into their lives with thoughtfulness and practicality, not blind obedience.
James: Like anyone else, children of immigrants don’t necessarily accept church teachings at face value. Judith García, a state representative in Massachusetts, told me a Catholic priest once told her that a woman’s sole purpose in life is to be a wife and mother. Judith was raised by a single mother who was ostracized by members of her parish community for not being in a traditional family relationship. It was in part incidents like this in churches that led Judith to consider feminist perspectives with regard to women’s bodies and experiences.
Mauricio Najarro, a first-generation Salvadoran-American young Catholic, came to believe that he was going to burn in hell for being gay. He left the Catholic Church during his college years and was a militant atheist. After years of drug and alcohol abuse, Mauricio felt empty inside and in desperate need of reclaiming his spiritual home, yet on his own terms. He earned a Ph.D. in Christian spirituality, completed a second doctorate in medical anthropology, studied Hindu sacred texts and learned to live as a Catholic sustained by hybrid spiritual practices.
For both of these young adult Latinos, the heavy emphasis on certain elements of church doctrine led to shame and psychological pain. Judith ended up leaving Catholicism for an evangelical church. Mauricio has remained a practicing Catholic by creating a liminal space where the saints and mystics he regards as the authentic bearers of Christianity are sources of inspiration.
Young charismatic Catholics defy stereotypes about how Latinos practice their faith.
James: For many Americans, Pentecostal-like or Catholic Charismatic Renewal spiritual expressions are exotic and off-putting. Media portrayals of charismatic spirituality in episodes of “The Simpsons” and documentaries like “Jesus Camp” delve into its many layers. I directed a documentary many years ago about itinerant nondenominational holiness preachers in the Appalachian region, and I understand the intensity of that experience.
When Dr. Hosffman Ospino asked Sabrina and me to work with him making a short film about young Latino charismatic Catholics, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had seen holiness-pentecostal expressions of faith in small independent churches and revival tents, but I wondered how it would find expression within the regulated hierarchical space of a Catholic charismatic center. It was refreshing to meet Noemi, Joseff and Christian, very thoughtful and intelligent young people who were literate in theology and experienced acolytes serving at El Centro, the Hispanic Catholic charismatic center of the Archdiocese of New York in the South Bronx. These young people live their faith grounded in a sincere spirituality that guides them to experience the Holy Spirit through prayer, song and service to their sisters and brothers who are all living in a bustling secular metropolis. They are true believers but not zealots.
Church leaders should not take Latino Catholics for granted.
Sabrina and James: The young adults we developed close relationships with during the making of these films are in very different places in their relationships with the institutional church and the way they have integrated Catholicism into their lives. Like many other young Latinos/as, Judith Garcia has crossed a threshold that has taken her away from the community in which she first encountered Christ into an evangelical church. Mauricio Najarro left the church and came back on his own terms.They all share great gifts and a deep faith. Their church communities, their parents, and their teachers and friends, among others, planted the seeds of that faith, and now the Holy Spirit guides them in their own particular journeys. The church must accompany them, and that process begins by making the effort to understand who they are and what is on their minds. They are a treasure to be cherished, supported and nurtured. Church leaders need to recognize the abundant talent, intelligence and vitality of a new generation of Latino Catholics.
