The Boston College report, "Catholic Schools in an Increasingly Hispanic Church," looks at the disparity between the number of school-age children who are Hispanic - 12.4 million - and the number of these students enrolled in Catholic schools - 296,203 or 2.3 percent.

Of the total 12.4 million Hispanic students, about 8 million are Catholic.

"The numbers are without a doubt sobering," the report says, pointing out that even with stronger efforts by Catholic leaders and school communities to recruit Hispanic students, "the total enrollment of Hispanic children in Catholic schools remains almost stagnant."

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