Catolicos: Resistance and Affirmation in Chicano Catholic History

379 Pages·2008·4.33 MB·English

by  Mario T. Garcia

Católicos
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Católicos
d
Resistance and Affi rmation in
Chicano Catholic History
mario t. garcía
university of texas press, austin
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Copyright © 2008 by the
University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2008
Requests for permission to reproduce
material from this work should be
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Austin, TX 78713-7819
www.utexas.edu/utpress/about/
bpermission.html
The paper used in this book meets
the minimum requirements of ansi/
niso z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence
of Paper).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
Publication Data
García, Mario T.
Católicos : resistance and affi rmation
in Chicano Catholic history / Mario T.
García. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references
and index.
isbn 978-0-292-71840-1 (cloth : alk.
paper)
1. Mexican American Catholics—
History—20th century. 2. Mexican
Americans—Religion. 3. Mexican
Americans—History—20th century.
I. Title.
bx1407.m48g37 2008
282'.730896872—dc22
2008000379
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To my mother, Alma García Araiza,
who taught me the meaning of right and wrong
In memory of Father Luis Quihuis, S.J. (1951–2007)
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contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction In Search of Chicano
Catholic History 1
one Fray Angélico Chávez, Religiosity, and New Mexican
Oppositional Historical Narrative 29
two Catholic Social Doctrine and Mexican American
Political Thought 53
three Recording the Sacred
The Federal Writers’ Project and Hispano-Catholic Traditions
in New Mexico, 1935–1939 79
four The U.S. Catholic Church and the Mexican Cultural
Question in Wartime America, 1941–1945 111
five Religion in the Chicano Movement
Católicos Por La Raza 131
six Padres
Chicano Community Priests and the Public Arena 171
seven ¡Presente! Father Luis Olivares and the Sanctuary
Movement in Los Angeles
A Study of Faith, Ethnic Identity, and Ecumenism 207
eight Contemporary Catholic Popular Religiosity and
U.S. Latinos
Expressions of Faith and Ethnicity 251
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viii católicos
Refl ections 277
Notes 289
Bibliography 343
Index 361
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acknowledgments
i want to particularly thank Theresa May of the University of Texas Press
for her enthusiastic support of my project and her professional advice. I want
to also thank the staff at the press that worked on different aspects of the
book. The University of Texas Press is to be congratulated for its commitment
to Chicano history, and I am honored to be publishing my second book with
the press.
Thanks also to those who read the manuscript for the press, including
Richard Griswold del Castillo, a pioneering historian of the Chicano experi-
ence. I appreciate their professional and constructive comments.
There are many others who in one way or another inspired, advised, or as-
sisted me in imagining, plotting, researching, and organizing this book. They
include, in no particular order, Gaston Espinosa, Luis León, Darryl Caterine,
Richard Hecht, Jim Viegh, Magdalena Torres, Tom Chávez, Orlando Romero,
Tomás Jaehn, Hazel Romero, César Caballero, Salvador Guerena, Ed Fields,
Gilda Baeza, Mary Sarbor, Carmen Sacomani, Gerald Poyo, Brother Ed,
Fr. Luis Quihuis, Camilo Cruz, Fr. Mike Kennedy, SJ, Henry Olivares and
the Olivares family, Lydia López, Fr. Richard Estrada, CMF, Patricia Krommer,
Mary Brent Wehrli, Mario Rivas, Arturo López, Fr. Virgilio Elizondo, Tim
Matovina, Raul Ruiz, Pedro Arias, Fr. Juan Romero, Fr. Steve Niskanen, CMF,
the students in Fr. Virgilio Elizondo’s classes at ucsb, Corine García, Monica
García, Colleen Ho, Simon Elliott, Randy Lamb, and Maura Jess.
I want to acknowledge in addition the infl uence of Fr. Virgilio Elizondo,
who encouraged me to pursue research in Chicano Catholic history. His
friendship over the years has been a great comfort and joy.
As I do in my introduction but wish to do here as well, I want to thank Pro-
fessor Gaston Espinosa, who as a graduate student at ucsb working with me
provided the spark that moved me in the direction of researching the role of
religion in the Chicano experience.
I want to also express my gratitude to funding sources that assisted me in
my research. These include the University of California, Santa Barbara (ucsb)
Academic Senate, uc Mexus, and the Center for Chicano Studies at ucsb.
ix
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