The Nation - News from Aug. 18, 1985

Delegates to a Latino Catholics conference in Washington expressed optimism about what they called an expanding role for their group in the Roman Catholic Church. Latinos “are on the threshold of coming in, and coming back to the church,” Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces, N.M., told a news conference. The third national Encuentro conference will make recommendations to the bishops on increasing the role of Latinos in the church. Latinos are the church’s fastest growing constituency, now accounting for more than 25% of the nation’s 52 million Roman Catholics.