Source: Reuters -- Read Full Story

The few dozen people attending Mass on a Tuesday morning at St. Michael Catholic Church in a Dallas suburb are in some ways a microcosm of the broader faith in the United States. They are mostly but far from exclusively white. Several are Vietnamese and there is a sprinkling of Hispanics among them. "The church is very important for me, it's my life. And this is a very accommodating community," said Margaret Balogun, a Nigerian immigrant, as she emerged from the church. She and other immigrants represent the new face of the Catholic Church in America which will greet Pope Benedict on his visit to the country April 15 to 20th. Once solidly Irish, Italian and Polish, U.S. Catholicism is turning Hispanic and even a bit Vietnamese and African -- and immigration is keeping the church from losing its "market share" in the highly competitive field of faith in America. Some analysts also say Catholic immigrants, especially Hispanics, may even be more in tune with official Vatican stances than native-born American members of the flock. They are conservative on issues of conscience like abortion and gay marriage, which the Church opposes, and prefer the more traditional devotions favored by Pope Benedict. At the same time, they take a more left-leaning outlook on social affairs such as helping the sick and the poor.