The number of U.S. Latinos who identify as Catholic continues to decline steadily, with only about 43% now self-identifying as Catholic, according to a new analysis from the Pew Research Center. The percentage of Latinos who are religiously unaffiliated also has grown.

Pew’s study, released on April 13, said the percentage of Hispanic adults identifying as Catholic declined from 67% in 2010 to 43% in 2022. At the same time, U.S. Latinos who identify as religiously unaffiliated (describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”) increased from 10% in 2010 to 30% in 2022.

Hosffman Ospino, a Boston College professor with years of experience examining the role of Hispanic Catholics in the future of the Catholic Church in the U.S., said this decline has been “in the works” for decades and that younger generations of Latinos are less likely to identify as Catholic.

“Something to keep in mind is that the Hispanic population is growing in the United States of America. And the largest source of growth for the Hispanic community is not the immigrant community as it used to be in the ’80s and ’90s,” Ospino said. “Now the largest source of growth of the Latino community is the U.S.-born generation, which is being raised largely by both immigrants and the U.S.-born Latino, Latinas. … It’s a very young population, so the trends that Pew is noticing reflect the larger trends among all young people throughout the United States across different racial, ethnic and cultural groups.”

U.S. Census Bureau data show the U.S. Hispanic population reached 62.6 million in mid-2021, representing 18.9% of the total population. Since the 2000s, the Pew study said, U.S. births have driven U.S. Hispanic population growth, with four in five (79%) of U.S. Latinos ages 18 to 29 being born in the U.S.

The Pew study also indicated that about half (49%) of U.S. Latinos ages 18 to 29 identified as religiously unaffiliated, while 30% identify as Catholic and 15% identify as Protestant. For comparison, only about one in five Latinos ages 50 and older are unaffiliated, with most older Latinos (56%) in this group born outside the U.S.

The survey also pointed out that U.S.-born Latinos, in general, are nearly twice as likely (39%) than foreign-born Latinos (21%) to identify as religiously unaffiliated, with young Latinos driving the trend.

“What this (Pew study) reveals in many ways is that the Catholic Church somehow was banking on the large growth of immigrant Hispanics who are Catholic,” Ospino said. “Now the question is: Are we ready to face the reality that evangelization in the following decades is going to be largely focused on those children and grandchildren of immigrants from Latin America, the U.S.-born generation?”

Despite the 24% decline over the last decade, Catholics remain the largest religious group among Latinos in the United States, the Pew report said.

For Ospino, secularization is the biggest challenge to Catholic Christianity and Protestant Christianity. “The younger generation, particularly, does not feel that organized religion serves a purpose in their lives,” he said.

A recent estimate by the Fifth National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry research team, which the U.S. bishops support, estimated that in 2021, there were 31 million Hispanic Catholics. Ospino called this a “sign of hope,” but — combined with the current Pew analysis — it is also a call to “shift gears.”

“The U.S. Church as a whole, institutionally, at the pastoral level, at all levels should treasure the gift of the Hispanic community” that still self-identifies as Roman Catholic, Ospino said. “That means immigrants, that means young people, that means U.S.-born as well, but we have to treasure and invest in the Hispanic community,” he said.

Ospino suggested trying to increase the number of young Hispanic children enrolled in Catholic schools and investing in youth ministry and parish-level programs designed to serve the U.S.-born Hispanic population and the need for outreach and catechesis that is not only in Spanish but also in English and bilingual programs.

To read the report, go to stlreview.com/3MTc7xR.