Arlington, Va., Jun 20, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The Diocese of Arlington is among the five fastest-growing dioceses in the United States thanks to a huge influx of Hispanics, immigrants and others from Northeastern states in the last 10 years.
"It's a very hope-filled time for the Church," Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington told the Associated Press.
The growth of the diocese is directly related with the general population growth in northern Virginia. People are moving into the region for work reasons.
Since many of the new arrivals are Catholic, the northern Virginia diocese has has seen a 42 percent increase of registered Catholics over the past decade, for a total of about 400,000. More than 12,000 Catholics reportedly join the diocese each year, officials said.
Nearly one-third of Catholics in the diocese are Hispanic. The diocese has responded with the creation of a new parish, two new missions and Spanish-language masses in more than 30 of its 67 parishes.