La Milagrosa in Philadlephia closing

As some of us may know, La Milagrosa, Philadelphia’s oldest church serving the regions Latino community is about to close its doors forever. It was just in September 2012 when the church was also sold. The news of the closing has caused the Latino community in Philadelphia to take a stance as they always do.

In order to help save the church, its supporters are holding for a miracle. “¿La Ultima Misa? (The Last Mass) will be held Sunday, April 21 , 2013 at 11:30 AM outside the church at 1903 Spring Garden Street (19130) to rally the community to protest the closure. Supporters are also asked to sign the online petition. 

For over 100 years La Milagrosa has served as a beacon of hope for Latinos immigrating to the Philadelphia region. The church was founded by Mother Sol Quintana who was of Mexican and Spanish descent and arrived in Philadelphia to support the early growing Spanish community. She originally used her home as a place to prepare Latino children for Holy Communion. As the Latino population grew, Mother Quintana in partnership with Mother Drexel, 150 Latinos of African descent and many other Latino groups founded La Milagrosa. The official Archdiocese records establish La Milagrosa as the location where the first Spanish mass was held in the Philadelphia Region.

Is the Pope Latino?

First let's ask, "Does it matter if he's Latino or not?" Yes it does matter because with the estimated 45 million Latino Catholics living in the U.S., you're going to need a reason to make him Latino. There are various news outlets, like the Huffington Post's Latino Voices, calling him Latino in the headline.

BeingLatino raised the question on Facebook and of course there are mixed reactions and even people attempting to identify what is a Latino. One person comments, "Argentinians don't claim Latino. They claim European," while another writes, "He's a Latino without a doubt. He was born in Argentina, which is in South America and where Spanish is the official language." So what is the definition of a Latino? Although a dictionary might say one thing, as a people we could easily say something else. 

An article in BeingLatino states, "The election of a Latin American is being celebrated by the 480 million Catholics living in Latin America, not to mention the estimated 45 million Latino Catholics in the United States. The Argentine-born son of Italian immigrants, Papa Francisco is already hailed as a 'Pope for the People,' like some ecclesiastical Obama." What should matter is that this new Pope is indeed the first from South America and he speaks Spanish. Should it matter if he's considered Latino?  Maybe this is just a ploy in the church seeking more Catholics which of course leads to more $$. Egh.