The author of “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us” has said that 60% of Catholic Mass goers under 30 in the United States are Latinos.

David Campbell said, “It’s an interesting story because having diverse ethnic groups within the Catholic Church — that’s nothing new. The Catholics have welcomed immigrants from around the world for generations. What’s new is that it used to be the Poles, the Lithuanians, the Italians and the Irish.”

Campbell spoke to “Catholic San Francisco” about the phenomenon, and said the number of Latinos entering U.S. Catholic life was “sudden” and “dramatic.” He said it highlights the shifting of the U.S. religious landscape.

He continued, “Of those Catholics under 30 who were at Mass last weekend -- pick any weekend -- but last weekend, 60% of them were Latino. Sixty percent. And that group is only going to grow.”