Frontiers of Hispanic Theology in the United States

With the emerging vitality of the Hispanic church in the United States, the voices of Hispanic theology raise a new and vital challenge. A bridge between the North American church and the liberation theology of Latin America, Hispanic theology reflects on the experience of faith rooted in the cultures, histories, and hopes of the Hispanic people here in the U.S. Frontiers of Hispanic Theology in the United States draws on the key figures and explores the central themes of Hispanic theology, including such issues as popular religion, spirituality, liturgy, Hispanic feminist perspectives, and the meaning of ""mestizaje"" as a source of theological reflection. What emerges is a truly contextual theology, rooted in the unique cultures and tradition of Hispanic Catholics, a theology which also issues a wider challenge to the Anglo church and the world theological community. Jesuit Father Allan Figueroa Deck is Distinguished Scholar of Pastoral Theology and Latino Studies at Loyola Marymount University where he also serves as Rector of the Jesuit Community. He earned doctorates in Theology at the Gregorian University and in Latin American Studies at Saint Louis University. He is the author or editor of nine books and more than sixty articles and chapters on Pastoral Theology, Latino Theology, Faith and Culture, Intercultural Competence and Spirituality. He is co-founder and first president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS), and founder and first director of the Instituto Hispano of Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University as well as of the Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, CA. From 2008-2012 he served as first executive director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.