Strides in diversity: Hispanic history in Catholic Church Published Sept. 24, 2007 By Maura Sillas 90th Space Wing Military Equal Opportunity F. E. Warren AFB, Wyo. -- Hispanics comprised 28 percent of the Roman Catholic community in 1980, rising to 35 percent in 1990. Today, Hispanics account for 45 percent of all Catholics under the age of 30 in the United States. The Second Vatican Council that began in the late 1950s through the early 60s provided more room for ethnic diversity within the Catholic Church, especially in liturgical worship. The council helped the church move more toward preserving Latino identity to minimize "Americanizing" new Hispanic church members. Catholic churches became less of a clergy and religious institution to more of a people institution. Other movements such as the Civil Rights movements and the United Farm Workers' strike also drew attention to the faith unique to the Spanish-speaking community in the church. One factor that promoted Hispanic involvement was the introduction of the Cursillo Retreat Movement in 1957. This movement, deeply rooted in Spanish Catholicism, emphasized the translation of cultural Catholicism into an everyday practiced faith. The Cursillo Movement motivated and supported a large number of Hispanic leaders as well as the community toward the faith in parish life. The late Pope John Paul II once said, "The question confronting the church today is no longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the gospel message."