[Tax-chick]

many Catholics don't support their parishes because they still have the immigrant mentality ...

I don't get the reasoning behind that description. Immigrants built the Catholic Church (and the Catholic churhes and cathedrals and schools) in the United States. Immigrants with big families in little houses.

[SuziQ]

The immigrant mentality refers to their attitudes about money. They still believe that they don't have enough to share with the Church; they have too many expenses in order to do that.

You're right that the immigrants built the churches and schools, and they sacrificed to do it. In THAT regard, their children and grand-children don't resemble them, it's just that they want to identify with their forefathers in the INCOME category. Not true, of course, it's an excuse to not support their parishes so they can spend that money on something for themselves or their children.