Hispanic theology, liturgy and youth ministry were examined at the National Symposium on the Present and Future of Catholic Hispanic Ministry in the U.S. Loyola Marymount University’s Department of Theological Studies hosted the Sept. 16 gathering.

“We are reaching a truly historical time in Church history when serving Hispanic Catholics is no longer an option, it is a necessity,” said Robert Hurteau, director of LMU’s Center for Religion and Spirituality. Michael Lee, S.J., assistant professor of theological studies at LMU, added that Roman Catholic Canon Law says bishops are obliged to provide formation of lay ministers to serve the fastest-growing segment of  American Catholics.

The forum was a follow-up to a June meeting, when more than 60 scholars and clergymen from LMU, Boston College and the Barry University Institute for Hispanic/Latino Theology and Ministry held the first joint symposium on Hispanic ministry. Participants had been involved in a yearlong process to produce working papers on topics including evangelization, social justice and adult lay leadership formation.

September’s meeting was a briefing session for the LMU community on the findings of the first symposium. Hoffsman Ospino, director of the symposium at Boston College, Hurteau, Lee and Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu, professor of theological studies, spoke to the assembly, stressing the importance of Catholic universities’ involvement with Hispanics.

 “We are at the epicenter of this remarkable ‘Latinization’ of the Church,” Lee said. “This is inextricably linked to our mission here at LMU to teach the service of faith and promotion of justice.”