The pledge of allegiance seems like a fading dream now days. 'And justice for all' has become, at best, a desperate plea not the bold proclamation it was designed to be. Yet, despite all of the faults of government, to date the far worst perpetrator of injustice is organized religion. Religions the world over have used and abused their power to instill fear and perpetual dependence in the hearts of their followers. Thus, religions have managed to afford themselves a seemingly permanent position in the cycle of the world's demand. Religions throughout time have left permanent scars on their own people by refusing to take a stand against time-honored traditions. Catholicism is one of the larger, older and more visible ones. Injustices are suffered within the church body itself. The plight of the African-American and Latino-American is one still being sung in dirge today. The dynamics of North-American Catholicism are still being played out even on a global stage. What does the Roman papacy mean for North American's Latino and African descended followers? What challenges do they face? What is the sense of groundedness, comfort, and community that bonds them?
The end of the fifteenth and start of the sixteenth centuries ushered in the introduction of Christian-Trinitarian-monotheism to the Americans. Preachers and friars of Spain evangelized the scriptures and sacraments to the indigenous peoples. Yet, the central theme of Christ and the Trinity, the very foundation upon which Catholicism sits was the largest obstacle to its reception in sixteenth century Mexico and the Americas. The Christians, who were now frontrunners marching in the trampling of America were reassigning her religion and demanding her to defy her culture. The Platonic and Aristotelian philosophies and cultural concepts that aided the European Christians in understanding the idea of Trinitarian-monotheism were unknown to the indigenous peoples. How could God be one yet triune? How did Christ fall into this trinity and how did God remain all-powerful while divided within himself? The burden of enculturation was on those trying to procure a country through a deception that rode on the heels of religion and wore a mask of self-imagined pity. But, the burden was bore and successfully so. The Americas now belonged to Christianity and the Acumen of Catholicism weighed heavily in the mix.
The religious triamuerate of Protestant-Catholic-Jew in North American offers considerable prestige and social importance. Identification with Catholicism generally benefited the Latino Community by lending some of its clout and social visibility. The Parish would even aid in obtaining favors for its parishioners from the political establishment. The role of the Catholic Church in politics was celebrated in the Hispanic community by clerical presence at public parades, dedications and festivals. Furthermore, this meditating function worked to link the local Latino leadership to the Euro-American establishment. This cultural Catholicism bled over into a sort of pan-American pan-Latino feeling during the 1930's and 1940's. Many contemporary Latino scholars have termed this 'cultural citizenship'. This cultural citizenship allowed many Latinos to fall seamlessly into the American tapestry and be Latino without doing Latino things. Now Latinos had a cultural citizenship through their church membership.

The Black African presence in Catholicism dates back to Biblical times. In the 'Song of Solomon' there are references to the Queen of Sheba representing the Universal church [the term 'catholic' ...