Timothy Matovina

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most revered religious figure in Mexican Catholicism. Devotion to Guadalupe among Mexicans and Mexican Americans has evolved for nearly five centuries into a deeply rooted, multifaceted tradition. Here, religion scholar Timothy Matovina offers a thorough study of this tradition as it has been lived out by the parishioners of San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Texas. He shows how the devotion to Guadalupe sustained this congregation through times of political turmoil, war and peace, and ecclesiastical and social changes over San Antonio's long history, from an agricultural settlement on the northern edge of New Spain to a dynamic U.S. metropolis. Engaging recent scholarly analysis of ritual studies, lived religion, Latino theology and history, transnationalism, and ethnicity, Guadalupe and Her Faithful shows how religious traditions shape and are shaped by a faith community's shifting contexts and power dynamics. This fascinating account reveals the potential force-and the potential limitations-of devotion in people's lives and religious imagination.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most revered religious figure in Mexican Catholicism. Devotion to Guadalupe among Mexicans and Mexican Americans has evolved for nearly five centuries into a deeply rooted, multifaceted tradition. Here, religion scholar Timothy Matovina offers a thorough study of this tradition as it has been lived out by the parishioners of San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Texas. He shows how the devotion to Guadalupe sustained this congregation through times of political turmoil, war and peace, and ecclesiastical and social changes over San Antonio's long history, from an agricultural settlement on the northern edge of New Spain to a dynamic U.S. metropolis. Engaging recent scholarly analysis of ritual studies, lived religion, Latino theology and history, transnationalism, and ethnicity, Guadalupe and Her Faithful shows how religious traditions shape and are shaped by a faith community's shifting contexts and power dynamics. This fascinating account reveals the potential force-and the potential limitations-of devotion in people's lives and religious imagination.

Timothy Matovina and Hosffman Ospino have both spent their academic careers pondering the impact of Hispanic communities on the Church in the United States. They point out that the growth in the church is due to the influx of immigrants from South and Central America, but they also stress that within the Hispanic community, there are different cultures and different traditions. †

Every Spanish-speaking country in Latin America and the Caribbean has its own national representation of the Virgin Mary who is credited with helping to spread Christianity. None of these is more prominent than the Virgin of Guadalupe, patroness of Mexico. According to tradition, the Virgin appeared to a man named Juan Diego on the Hill of Tepeyac, just outside Mexico City, four times in 1531. The local bishop doubted his claim until an image of the Virgin appeared on Juan Diego's cloak. That cloak is now among the most popular religious icons in the Americas, and the Virgin of Guadalupe is among the most widely known of Marian apparitions. Our Lady of Guadalupe is also the only Marian apparition tradition in the Americas- and indeed in all of Roman Catholicism- that has since inspired a sustained series of published theological analyses. In Theologies of Guadalupe, Timothy Matovina explores the way theologians have understood Our Lady of Guadalupe and sought to assess and foster her impact on the lives of her devotees since the seventeenth century. He examines core theological topics in the Guadalupe tradition, developed in response to major events in Mexican history: conquest, attempts to Christianize native peoples, society-building, independence, and the demands for justice for marginalized groups. This book tells how, amidst the plentiful miraculous images of Christ, Mary, and the saints that dotted the sacred landscape of colonial New Spain, the Guadalupe cult rose above all others and was transformed from a local devotion into a regional, national, and then international phenomenon. Matovina traces the development of the theologies of Guadalupe from the colonial era to our own time, revealing how Christian ideas imported from Europe developed in dynamic interaction with the new contexts in which they took root.

Most histories of Catholicism in the United States focus on the experience of Euro-American Catholics, whose views on social issues have dominated public debates. Latino Catholicism provides a comprehensive overview of the Latino Catholic experience in America from the sixteenth century to today, and offers the most in-depth examination to date of the important ways the U.S. Catholic Church, its evolving Latino majority, and American culture are mutually transforming one another. In Latino Catholicism, Timothy Matovina highlights the vital contributions of Latinos to American religious and social life, demonstrating in particular how their engagement with the U.S. cultural milieu is the most significant factor behind their ecclesial and societal impact.

In "Catolicismo Latino," author Timothy Matovina provides a comprehensive overview of the Latino Catholic experience in America from the 16th century to today and offers the most in-depth examination to date of the important ways the U.S. Catholic Church, its evolving Latino majority, and the American culture are mutually transforming one another in this abridged version.

In this abridged version made available in both English and Spanish, renowned author and Notre Dame scholar Timothy Matovina provides a comprehensive overview of the Latino Catholic experience in America from the 16th century to today and offers the most in-depth examination to date of the significant ways the U.S. Catholic Church, its evolving Latino majority, and the American culture are mutually transforming one another. "Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America's Largest Church" has received important endorsements from the Catholic Sentinel, U.S. Catholic, Catholic Press Association and many other Catholic media. This highly accessible edition is a must read for Hispanic Ministries.

Most histories of Catholicism in the United States focus on the experience of Euro-American Catholics, whose views on social issues have dominated public debates. Latino Catholicism provides a comprehensive overview of the Latino Catholic experience in America from the sixteenth century to today, and offers the most in-depth examination to date of the important ways the U.S. Catholic Church, its evolving Latino majority, and American culture are mutually transforming one another. In Latino Catholicism, Timothy Matovina highlights the vital contributions of Latinos to American religious and social life, demonstrating in particular how their engagement with the U.S. cultural milieu is the most significant factor behind their ecclesial and societal impact.