Religion and Immigration in Comparative Perspective: Catholic and Evangelical Salvadorans in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Phoenix

Abstract

This study examines Salvadoran immigrants' views of both their participation in the church and the role the church plays in their lives. The focus is on Catholic and Evangelical churches among Salvadoran immigrants in three locations — San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Phoenix, an approach that allows the examination of the effects of receiving communities on the role religious institutions play in immigrant life. Data come from qualitative field research conducted in the 1990s and 100 in-depth interviews, complemented with interviews of religious leaders and community workers. Catholic and Evangelical churches, following distinct religious teachings, provide different avenues for immigrants to achieve their goals — collective and individual — and enrich the immigrants' lives and their surrounding communities, an outcome that seems independent of the specific receiving community. Although both churches provide assistance, the approach they take (and the religious teachings that shape how assistance is provided) may influence the immigrants' long-term integration.

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