Catholic Hispanic Deacons and Hispanic Parishes

Abstract

Hispanic deacons (n = 156) from across the United States completed measures on personal leadership style and their perceived sense of parish community along with demographic items. Most deacons (n = 91) were assisting at Hispanic parishes, while many assisted at predominately non-Hispanic parishes (n = 65). Results found no significant difference between Hispanic deacons at Hispanic or non-Hispanic parishes on their leadership style or parish sense of community (controlling for the total number of families in a parish). However, at Hispanic parishes only, Hispanic deacons perceived that the more fellow deacons, the significantly less sense of community was experienced in the parish. There was no significant relationship between the number of priests and perceived sense of parish community. Implications for staffing and the nature of Hispanic parishes are presented.

Keywords

Hispanic deacons Hispanic parishes leadership styles sense of community

For the first 1,000 years of the Christian faith, the deacon was a vital and active member of the clergy (see Keating, 2006, for more details on the history and role of deacons in the Catholic Church). After an absence of almost another 1,000 years, the Roman Catholic faith renewed and reinstated these ordained male clergy, identified now as a permanent deacon because he does not continue formation toward becoming a presbyter (Ditewig, 2004, 2007). Deacons traditionally serve in ministries of “word, sacrament, and charity” (Ditewig & Tkacik, 2010). The ministry of word means reading the Gospels (Holy Scripture) at the Catholic Mass and affirming the role of teaching and engaging in the study of Scripture. Sacramental ministry may include baptizing members into the Church, witnessing over weddings, wake services and funerals, blessings of people, objects, and places, and distribution of Holy Eucharist.

Above all, the deacon is a ministry of charity. A permanent deacon is not a “mini-,” “partial-,” or “substitute priest,” nor a “super lay-person.” Deacons are a sacred ministry, an unpaid cleric focusing on social justice, charity, and the communal need. He stands between the Church and the world, with his feet solidly rooted in the liturgical and his hands squarely in the service of others (Ferrari, 2013, 2014a ). When mass ends, the priest returns to the rectory; the deacon returns to the community where he lives (Ferrari). In short, today the deacon is deeply embedded in the world, yet not of the world—He is a bridge between the liturgical Church and the needs of the world.

Deacons are assigned to their parish community by their Bishop. Today, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has 195 arch/diocese and eparchies members. A recent demographic profile study (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate [CARA], 2013) reported 177 U.S. dioceses with permanent diaconate programs, numbering in the United States at about 18,000 men. Catholic dioceses were clustered into 13 different geographic regions designated for the United States and Canada (for the sake of the present study, Canada and the United States will not be differentiated because they are grouped together by the bishop conference).

Until recently, only a few small sample size studies examined the characteristics of Catholic permanent deacons, and none examined leadership attributes and sense of parish community within the Hispanic Catholic Church. Kobal (2005), in an unpublished dissertation, interviewed five Pennsylvania deacons on their ministry experiences, reporting that these men felt understood as clergy by the laity. Gamino, Sewell, Mason, and Crostley (2007) examined archival records on psychiatric adjustment measures for 139 men in Texas either selected or not to enter the first year of diaconal studies. Results found selected candidates to be mature men, successful in careers and marriage, free of disabling neurosis, addictions, anger, interpersonal problems, and possessing solid ego strength. Ashworth and Dilks (2012), in a conference presentation of 17 men residing in Oklahoma entering the diaconate, reported the respondents to be generally rigid and moralistic—desiring to appear perfectionistic. These studies, however, provided very limited information as they focused mostly on men applying to be deacons, who lived in select geographic U.S. regions.

Ferrari and colleagues conducted a wider, national assessment with a larger sample size of already ordained permanent deacons (n = 1,997) living in 1 of 172 dioceses across the United States and Canada. Relevant to the present study, Ferrari and Vaclavik (2014) categorized these participants by ordination year and geographic region, and found no significant differences in self-reported servant leadership (a style oriented toward leading by example of service) or transformational leadership (a style focused on moving others to greater personal potential) styles, even based on their chronological age or time spent in the parish. Ferrari and Dosen (2014) assessed the deacon’s perception of the sense of parish community, with or without a local Catholic elementary school. There were no significant differences between the presence and absence of a Catholic school on the parish sense of community (P-SOC). Furthermore, there was no significant difference among parishes with a Catholic school if the principal was a woman or man, religious or layperson.

The present study, using this large Catholic deacon data set, examined U.S. Hispanic deacons from across the country assigned either to a predominately Hispanic or a non-Hispanic parish. CARA (2014) reported that about 40% of the country’s 78 million Catholics are Hispanic, particularly among U.S. Catholics under the age of 30. Ospino (2014) recently compiled a research report on 4,368 U.S. parishes with Hispanic ministries and estimated that there are 2,250 Hispanic deacons in parishes across the country. Primarily demographic information, Ospino’s report found that most U.S. Hispanic deacons claimed they were ordained since 2000, earned at a college degree (80%), and only 36% were born in the United States, yet often fluent in Spanish and English (66%). Most Hispanic deacons noted they now serve as ministers in the parish where they were a community member (71%), much fewer now work for that parish (25%), yet they preach at Mass on a regular basis (79%).

CARA’s (2014) report mentioned that the parish pastor, a priest, determined the level of commitment and investment of resources the serving the community’s parish life. But the deacon, the minister of charity to the community, seems to be an important agent of change within the local parish community also having direct contact with the parishioners. No study examined the leadership style of Hispanic deacons, specifically as servant leaders and transformational leaders. Servant leaders place the needs of others before themselves (Keith, 2008; Sipe & Frick, 2009). Transformational leaders work toward helping others “transform” to be the most fulfilled and best person he or she may become (Sun, 2014; Zhu, 2014). Consequently, the present study examined the servant and transformational leadership style of Hispanic deacons from within the large national data set collected by Ferrari. More specifically, the present study examined whether these leadership styles by Hispanic deacons might differ depending on whether the parish community was predominately Hispanic or not. There were no expected significant style differences as previous assessments (Ferrari & Dosen, 2014) found that deacons, in general, regardless of years as a deacon or geographic region, are all called to serve and transform their community. Still, no evaluation based on ethnicity was performed and it is important to explore whether cultural differences emerge across community settings.

In addition, the present study examined the P-SOC, between Hispanic and non-Hispanic parishes, as perceived by these Hispanic deacon participants. Previous studies found no significant differences in P-SOC between deacons based on their years of service (Ferrari & Vaclavik, 2014), but it is not known whether cultural differences in the community or symmetry between deacons might yield significant P-SOC differences. Relatedly, it is not known if the Hispanic parishes would differ significantly in P-SOC depending on the number of clergy in the parish (deacons and priests). Therefore, the present study was exploratory on the characteristics and perceptions of U.S. Hispanic deacons and parishes.

Method

Participants

From the nationwide survey data set by Ferrari on the characteristics of 1,997 U.S. deacons, there were 226 U.S. parishes identified by participants as “Hispanic parishes” and a total of 156 self-identified Hispanic deacons (see Ferrari, 2014; Ferrari & Dosen, 2014; Ferrari & Vaclavik, 2014, for project details). Among the 156 self-identified Hispanic permanent deacons (M age = 42.3 years old, SD = 8.25), most participants (51.6%) reported they earned at least a bachelor’s degree. Nearly all participants (96.7%) reported they were married, with an average of 3 children (SD = 2.01). In terms of paid employment outside of a parish, most Hispanic deacons (93.4%) worked either full-or part-time. These men reported they lived an average of 18.03 years in their current parish (SD = 11.13). On average, these deacons reported they assist at Sunday mass at least on a monthly basis (81.3%), usually preach once a month (52.8%), and engage in sacraments such as baptism (87.9%), marriage prep (65.9%), and bereavement ministries (51.6%).

Psychometric Measures

Servant leadership questionnaire

Participants completed Barbuto and Wheeler’s (2006) Servant Leadership scale, a 23-item measure each rated on a 4-point scale (1 = strongly disagree; 4 = strongly agree) that assessed 11 characteristics of servant leaders across five dimensions. Respondents answered each item from their self-point of view. One dimension style was labeled altruistic calling (4 items: author’s α = .82), a belief that one does all he can to serve others and sacrifices own goals for others (sample items: “I put the best interests of others ahead of myself” and “I go above and beyond the call of duty to meet other’s needs”). The second style dimension is called emotional healing (4 items: author’s α = .91), claiming one is someone who others turn to if there is a personal trauma and is good at helping others with emotional issues (sample items: “I have talent at helping others to heal emotionally” and “I am someone who can help others mend hard feelings”). The third style dimension is called wisdom (5 items: author’s α = .92), a belief that one has great awareness of what is happening around him and is good at anticipating the consequences of decisions (sample items: “I seem alert to what’s happening” and “I am in touch with what is happening”). The fourth style dimension is labeled persuasive mapping (5 items: author’s α = .87), a belief that one offers compelling reasons to get others to act and is overall persuasive at getting others to “dream big” (sample items: “I am very persuasive” and “I am good at convincing others to do things”). The fifth style dimension is called organizational stewardship (5 items: author’s α = .89), claiming one’s parish needs to play a moral role in society, function as a community, and display a community spirit to others (sample items: “I see the parish for its potential to contribute to society” and “I prepare the parish to make a positive difference in the future”).

Vincentian Leadership Assessment—Self (VL) Scale

In addition, participants completed the revised VL scale, originally created by Tavanti (2007). Tavanti created this instrument based on logical categories across to assess 12 leadership competency skills across four styles of value-focused leadership from a transformational perspective. Ten items measured each competency; each rated on a 10-point scale (1 = almost never; 10 = almost always), yielding a total of 40 items. Maier (2014) found that scores on the VL Scale were predictive of varied employment perceptions among 276 young hospitality industry leaders. Moreover, Fernandes (2009), using over 1,700 participants from varied settings, conducted a factor analysis of the original instrument and reduced the total number of items to 36, across five reliable leadership competency styles. The present study used the revised 36-item VL scale to assess transformational leadership among Hispanic deacons as ministers of social justice and charity, reflective of Vincentianism.

One style is called promoting positive values (nine items: author’s α = .79), a striving for excellence motivated by values of honesty and integrity that include all members regardless of their individual difference. Individuals who score high on this leadership style also encourage independent and teamwork in others and are open to criticism and challenges from others (sample item: “I am driven by values of honesty and integrity” and “I serve others regardless of their race, gender, religion or position”). A second style is called building a sustainable organization (seven items: author’s α = .77), possessing organizational skills to base judgments and decisions on facts, and staying focused on a task until completion (sample items: “I base my judgments on facts” and “I stay involved with a task until it is finished.”).The third style is called empowering and developing people (seven items: author’s α = .81), setting clear and realistic goals, directing people to achieve objectives, and communicating expectancies and delegates responsibilities. This leadership style also creates environments for others to learn to become better leaders themselves (sample items: “I set clear and realistic goals” and “I rely on communication to motivate people”). The fourth style is called leadership as service (four items: author’s α = .84), servicing others by working for social justice and challenging situations of injustice (sample items: “I practice leadership more as a responsibility to serve than a position of power” and “work for social justice”). The fifth style is called developing and implementing mission (nine items: author’s α = .72), offering new perspectives and innovative ideas, welcomes change and ideas from others, and looks outside the current organizational boundaries (sample items: “I view conflict as an opportunity to grow” and “I articulate directions for the future”).

Sense of Community Index–2 (SCI-2)

All participants completed the 24 items SCI-2, created by Chavis, Lee, and Acosta (2008). Respondents rated each item along a 4-point scale (1 = not at all; 4 = completely) across four dimensions of a sense of community based on the model by McMillan and Chavis (see Chavis et al for details). One subscale is termed Reinforcement of Needs (6 items: author’s coefficient α = .83), assessing a reciprocal relationship of cooperation and assistance between members (sample items: “I get important needs of mine met because I am part of this community.” “This community has been successful in getting the needs of its members met.”). Another subscale is Membership (6 items: author’s coefficient α = .79), believing they belong to a group that is inclusive and familiar with them (sample items: “I can trust people in this community.” “I can recognize most of the members of this community.”). A third subscale is called Influence (6 items: author’s coefficient α = .83), believing they have some impact on the lives of each other in this community (sample items: “I have influence over what this community is like.” “If there is a problem in this community, members can get it solved.”). The final subscale is called Shared Emotional Connection (6 items: author’s coefficient α = .86), stating they share events and have affection for each other (sample items: “Members of this community have shared important events together, such as holidays, celebrations, or disasters.” “Members of this community care about each other.”). Chavis et al. reported that an overall sum score on the SCI-2 has strong internal consistency with community samples (author’s coefficient α = .94).

Demographic information

In addition, all participants were asked their age, marital status and number of children, employment status, and educational level. Also, participants were asked their Sunday liturgy commitment, ministry duties, and length of time living in their current parish. In addition, participants were asked whether the parish was predominately Hispanic or not, the number of parish families within their parish, the socioeconomic status of the parish, number of deacons assigned including themselves, and the number of priests working in the parish.

Procedure

Recruitment

To recruit a national large sample size that was representative of varied U.S. regions, a number of recruitment methods were needed. Primarily a top-down approach for recruitment was used, such that emails and a reminder phone call were sent directly to each diocese diaconate program director from the contact information provided to the author. A total of 172 of 177 directors representing dioceses from across 13 regions were contacted and informed about the study. Although only direct contact information (email address and phone number) from 6 regions were provided to the author, they represented nearly all the large diocese across the east, west, north, and south of the country. Directors were asked to pass along to their deacons an email statement about the study’s purpose (approved by the national deacon director’s office) and respondents were instructed to log onto a secure website to complete the survey. In addition, an ad was posted for two continuous months in the Deacon Digest, a national magazine available to U.S. Deacons, explaining the study and providing the website link to the survey. Also, about 3 months after the start of data collection, a short story on the study in the National Catholic Reporter, a high circulation, faith-based U.S. newspaper, appeared about the project and included a link to the online survey study. Recruitment spanned between 4 and 5 months.

Data collection

Prior to agreeing to complete the online questionnaire, respondents were informed on the website that their participation was voluntary. To protect their anonymity, there was no link to individual responses. Consent to participate was signaled by completing the questionnaire. The online survey took an average of 30 minutes to complete all measures. To encourage participation, a drawing for 100 US$5 coffee gift cards was used. On completion of the study, participants were prompted to link to a different website (accessible only after all survey items were completed) where they voluntarily entered their email address for the gift card drawing. Therefore, this contact information was separate from the main survey to protect anonymity.

Results and Discussion

The 156 Hispanic deacons reported they were assigned to a Hispanic parish (n = 91) or non-Hispanic parish (n = 65). Hispanic deacons reported that the parish socioeconomic status was predominantly working class (24.2%), lower class (31.9%), or middle class (42.9%), with an average parish size of 1,885.87 families (SD = 3,015.42). Also, across parishes Hispanic deacons reported that they most often had one priest who served as pastor (52.2%) and on average 2.45 (SD = 1.59) permanent deacons including themselves.

There was no significant difference between Hispanic and non-Hispanic parishes in the number of reported priests, p< .15. Subsequently, analysis turned solely to the deacons’ leadership style and parish community. Table 1 presents the mean sum score by Hispanic deacons on their self-reported servant and transformational leadership styles. One-way ANCOVA, controlling for parish size (i.e., number of families), found no significant differences in either servant or Vincentian-transformational leadership style between Hispanic deacons assigned to non-Hispanic or Hispanic parishes. These current mean scores by Hispanic deacons were similar to those leadership skills with a wider national sample of U.S. deacons reported by Ferrari and Vaclavik (2014).

Table 1.

Mean Sum Scores on Self-Reported Leadership Styles by Hispanic Deacons at Hispanic or Non-Hispanic Parishes.

	Hispanic deacon
	Non-Hispanic parish (n = 65)	Hispanic parish (n = 91)
Servant leadership
Altruistic calling	10.07 (1.51)	9.68 (1.39)
Emotional healing	13.26 (2.11)	12.76 (1.94)
Wisdom	15.69 (2.75)	15.62 (2.05)
Persuasive mapping	15.12 (2.64)	14.93 (2.33)
Organizational steward	17.89 (1.94)	17.64 (1.99)
Vincentian-transformational leadership
Promoting positive values	79.79 (8.02)	78.32 (7.72)
Building organizations	62.15 (5.98)	60.62 (6.25)
Empowering people	61.46 (6.22)	60.60 (6.69)
Leadership as service	34.26 (4.70)	34.59 (4.40)
Implementing mission	71.87 (6.33)	71.01 (6.10)

Note. Values in parentheses are standard deviations.

Table 2 presents the mean sum scores by the current sample of Hispanic deacons on their perceived sense of parish community. One-way ANCOVA, controlling for parish size, again found no significant differences between deacons at Hispanic or non-Hispanic parishes. Overall, the Hispanic deacons reported similar rates on indices of a sense of community in the parish. These results are similar to those reported by Ferrari and Dosen (2014) with deacons at many parishes with and without a Catholic elementary school.

Table 2.

Mean Sum Scores on Perceived Sense of Parish Community by Hispanic Deacons at Hispanic or Non-Hispanic Parishes.

	Hispanic deacon
	Non-Hispanic parish (n = 65)	Hispanic parish (n = 91)
Parish sense of community (SCI-2) dimensions
Reinforcement of needs	15.26 (2.37)	15.21 (2.12)
Membership	16.94 (2.49)	17.04 (2.12)
Influence	16.48 (2.89)	17.07 (2.87)
Shared emotional connection	18.81 (3.36)	18.68 (2.69)

Note. Values in parentheses are standard deviations. SCI = sense of community.

The psychological concept of “machismo” is said to be prominent among Hispanic men (Diaz, Miville, & Gil, 2013; Gutmann, 2007), characterized as aggressive, self-sufficient, and toughness. Alternatively, Hispanic men may reflect more of a “caballerismo” style, acting as a gentleman who works for proper, respectful manners of others focusing on social justice—a noble and humble hero, like the fictional character Don Quixote (Arciniega, Anderson, Tovar-Blank, & Tracey, 2008). Bordas (2007) noted that among the Hispanic community such other-oriented leadership styles must be fostered to increase stewardship of the people’s needs. Moreover, because Hispanic males place religion as essential to a well balanced life (Diaz et al., 2013), it is possible that the Hispanic deacons believed their P-SOC was unaffected by the ethnic background of the parishioners as it reflects inclusion and cooperation among members. Taken together, the present study suggests that Hispanic deacons, regardless of the ethnic background of the parish community they assist, seem more caballeros over machos.

Next, an assessment examined the relationship between deacon leadership style and the P-SOC. Here, examining the number of Hispanic deacons and priests, separately for non-Hispanic and Hispanic parishes, was the focus. Because in the current study there were no significant differences in the personal leadership styles of Hispanic deacons or in P-SOC of the parish, it was thought that the number of clergy (priests and deacons) might not affect the sense of belonging among predominately Hispanic or non-Hispanic parishes. If Hispanic deacons were expressing more caballeros over machismo tendencies, it might not matter that there were other Hispanic deacons in their parish; cooperation over competition. Perhaps, more priests and/or deacons would reflect higher community feelings among parish members. Alternatively, if there were at least some elements of machismo tendencies among the sample of Hispanic deacons, the great number of clergy (deacons and/or priests) might yield to a lower sense of community given possible competition or conflicts among clergy.

Partial correlates (controlling for parish size) between the number of Hispanic deacons and priests on the servant and transformational leadership style of Hispanic deacons separately at the 65 non-Hispanic and 91 Hispanic parishes yield no significant relationships. Furthermore, there were no significant relations between P-SOC and the number of Hispanic deacons or priests at the 65 non-Hispanic parishes. In other words, not only do Hispanic deacons at Hispanic and non-Hispanic parishes not differ significantly in leadership styles, but also the leadership style does not seem to be related to the number of fellow deacons or the number of presbyters working there. Also, at non-Hispanic parishes, the P-SOC does not seem to be related to the parishioner’s ethnic background.

There also was no significant relationship between the number of priests and P-SOC at Hispanic parishes only. There was a significant relationship, however, between the number of Hispanic deacons and the perception of P-SOC at Hispanic parishes. Table 3 presents the partial correlates between the number of Hispanic deacons and priests on perceived P-SOC, based on the SCI-2, at the Hispanic parishes only. It seems, through the eyes of these Hispanic deacons in Hispanic parishes, that it does not matter how many priests are present for a sense of belonging, and the assignment of many deacons was not related to the number of priests in that parish. However, as noted from Table 3, the Hispanic deacons reported a significantly lower sense of community (on all four indices) at their Hispanic parishes as the number of fellow deacons increased.

Table 3.

Partial Correlates (Controlling for Parish Family Size) on the Number of Deacons and Priests on Perceived Sense of Parish Community at Hispanic Parishes Only.

	Number of Hispanic deacons	Number of priests
Number of priests	−.076
Parish sense of community (SCI-2) dimensions
Reinforcement of needs	−.282**	−.014
Membership	−.263**	.123
Influence	−.360**	−.025
Shared emotional connection	−.246*	.165

Note. n = 91 Hispanic deacon participants.

p< .01. **p< .001.

The negative relationship between the number of Hispanic deacons and P-SOC in Hispanic parishes raises interesting questions requiring further investigation. While the present sample of deacons reported moderate levels of leadership style in their community, there was no assessment here of their personality. At first look, it seemed they were reflecting a “caballerismo” male gender role, working for social justice and the needs of everyone. However, there seems to be some machismo attitudes, as they prefer not to have more peers assisting. They did not seem to see any impact of more priests in the parish, but more fellow deacons would lead to lower P-SOC. Perhaps, these Hispanic deacons wanted to be the only “caballero” on the plain. Maybe, there were still some reflections of machismo role display, needing to be the sole diaconate authority in the community. These explanations are highly speculative, but they raise interesting avenues for future research. Future studies of Hispanic religious leaders like deacons might focus on personality traits, gender role identity, and factors around ethnicity and masculinity. The present study was exploratory, in that no expected outcomes were proposed. The next step, now that there are some lines of research in the Catholic diaconate, is to include more Hispanic and other multicultural religious leaders and assess deeper their sense of identity and community.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Todd Bottom for creating the online survey, Danielle Vaclavik for data assistance, and Hosffman Ospino for insights into the Hispanic Catholic community.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was funded in part through a DePaul University 2013-2014 Research Council Grant. Gratitude is expressed to Deacons Gerald Dupont, John Freund, and other directors of National Association of Diaconate Directors (NADD) who supported the participation of their deacons and candidates in this project.

Author Biography

Joseph R. Ferrari, PhD, is professor of psychology and St. Vincent dePaul distinguished professor at DePaul University, Chicago, IL. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon for the Diocese of Joliet, IL, in August 2013 and joined the faculty of DePaul in 1994. He is a social-personality-community psychologist (from Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, in experimental social/personality psychology), and editor of the Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community since 1995 (Taylor & Francis). At DePaul, he founded the MS in general psychology and PhD in community psychology programs, and received the 2001 Spirit of Inquiry award for research and 2009 Excellence in Public Service award. He is a fellow in American Psychological Association (APA), Association for Psychological Science (APS), Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA), Eastern Psychological Association (EPA), and Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA).

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