Hispanic Apostolate in the Eastern Province of the United States

Steve Grozio, CM wirtes a brief history of the Hispanic Apostolate of the Eastern Province of the Congregation of the Mission in the United States.Before describing the Hispanic apostolate it is necessary to explain what is meant by the word ìHispanic.î¯ It is a term used in the United States to refer to the people (and their descendants) who have come there from Spanish-speaking places.¯ It attempts to group together Spanish-speaking people from Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Spain; and, while no one is comfortable with that effort, the word does express a complex reality.¯ In this light one understands that the Churchís apostolate to Spanish-speaking people in the United States embraces people from every Spanish-speaking nation.¯ It includes the newly immigrated as well as those whose ancestors came to this country several generations ago.¯ And it can even include descendants of ancestors who lived in the Southwestern states before this nation was formed.