Parish registration, for certain. Doesn't mean they go to church every week, but does mean they probably at least go for Christmas and Easter.
I agree with much of your assessment, Though, from personal experience, many pastors will inflate the figures to make themselves look better to their chancery offices.
Assuming they are telling the truth, the white & black Catholic polulation is decreasing in proportion due to the vast growth off illegal Hispanic Catholics here. But - you are very correct to say that not all of them go to mass. Many are hardly devout, in any real sense of the word. Through Marxist influence in their homelands, they are "baptize, marry, and bury" Catholics - if that!
Many Catholic immigrants - from all countries - come here for freedom FROM religion. They are only cultural catholics back home, and are just here for the $$$. Filipinos are notable excpetions, as a group.
Traditionalism among recent immigrants is squashed by apostate priests, who purposely make Spanish masses into "alleluia ministry" with the maximum amoutn of noise, screaming, gross disrespect, etc. If you query these priests, they will tell you that "this is what the people like/expect". Well, of course - when that is the only menu offered to them!!!
Whatever genuine, orthodox, real Catholicism may exist in the hearts of recent immigrants, is being weaned away from them. So that they will fall away from the faith, and their children will follow suit. Voting? Well, that is obvious: do just what HolaMTV tells you to do!!!
Where do you get the idea that "traditionalism" (at least the kind that is expressed on this forum) is widespread in Latin American countries?
It's practically non-existent.
**I agree with much of your assessment, Though, from personal experience, many pastors will inflate the figures to make themselves look better to their chancery offices.**
Why would they inflate these numbers when they have to pay stewardship on them?