Study Indicates Latinos Will Comprise Majority of U.S. Catholics in Near Future

What will the Roman Catholic Church in the United States look like in coming years, when at least 40 percent -- and perhaps even a majority -- of U.S. Catholics are Latino?

According to the Ecumenical News International (ENI) website, the changes occurring now within U.S. Catholicism will eventually be reflected in the wider U.S. culture, a process Luis Lugo, Director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life in Washington, D.C., called "the browning of America."

Although the U.S. remains predominantly white and Protestant, shifting demographics will change that dynamic, Lugo said. He added that by 2050 Latinos will constitute at least a quarter -- and perhaps a third -- of the U.S. population. (Currently, Latinos comprise about 15 percent of the population.)

Lugo noted that one-quarter of newborns in the U.S. are Latino, and more than half of newborns to Catholic families are Latino.