With numbers growing in U S , more Hispanics involved in church, community ncronline.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ncronline.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
HOUSTON (CNS) Catholic Church officials say they are not surprised by the 2020 U.S. census showing Hispanics accounted for 51.1% of the country s growth, rising to 18.7%, or about 62.1 million, of the U.S. population.
At the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, there will be a 12:10 p.m. Mass and another at 5 p.m. that will be streamed live. The church will open at 11 a.m.
Church leaders at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in west Houston plan to follow their planned schedule, but were understanding of the circumstances facing parishioners. We will also distribute ashes at the Sunday Mass this coming weekend, the first Sunday of Advent, for those of you who did not receive them Wednesday, Father William Bueche said in a notice on the church s website.
St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church is offering four celebrations Wednesday at 6:45 a.m., 8:05 a.m., 12:10 p.m., and 6 p.m.
Congregations often attend to the physical as well as spiritual health of their members. Local houses of worship â pre-COVID â often served as venues to screen for hypertension and educate those living with diabetes.
Now, most have adopted the need to encourage mask wearing, promoting social distancing and providing remote support for members who no longer feel comfortable at in-person worship.
The new year presents an additional challenge as mass vaccinations, which are at this writing already topping several million doses given, become a new health issue for congregations.
There were some initial objections, nationally, to the first COVID-19 shots, based on some purported association with the use of a cell line from aborted fetuses. But Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese, assured local parishioners that accepting these vaccinations is morally allowed.