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Cultural Catholics: Who They Are, How to Respond
Over half of self-identified Catholics are regularly absent from the pews on Sunday. How do these cultural Catholics practice their faith and how can we better minister to them?
Who are “cultural Catholics” and how do we connect with them? Written by award-winning sociologist and professor of religion Maureen K. Day, Cultural Catholics tells the story of those who consider themselves Catholic, but infrequently attend Mass. This accessible book examines cultural Catholics on a range of topics, allowing readers to come to a better understanding of this group, and offers ministerial insights for connecting with and accompanying them on their spiritual journeys.
Cultural Catholics comprise just over half of self-identified Catholics in the United States. Typical efforts or questions of outreach come from parishes, but because most cultural Catholics are loosely tethered to parish life, the standard avenues of Catholic ministry do not reach them in any reliable way. Using a nationally representative survey of more than 1,500 American Catholics as well as insights from ministry leaders, this book allows readers to see the differences and similarities in how cultural Catholics relate to their faith compared to Catholics in the pews. It also explores cultural Catholics' religious beliefs and practices, political and civic commitments, parish experiences, and concludes with concrete, evidence-based pastoral approaches.
Who are “cultural Catholics” and how do we connect with them? Written by award-winning sociologist and professor of religion Maureen K. Day, Cultural Catholics tells the story of those who consider themselves Catholic, but infrequently attend Mass. This accessible book examines cultural Catholics on a range of topics, allowing readers to come to a better understanding of this group, and offers ministerial insights for connecting with and accompanying them on their spiritual journeys.
Cultural Catholics comprise just over half of self-identified Catholics in the United States. Typical efforts or questions of outreach come from parishes, but because most cultural Catholics are loosely tethered to parish life, the standard avenues of Catholic ministry do not reach them in any reliable way. Using a nationally representative survey of more than 1,500 American Catholics as well as insights from ministry leaders, this book allows readers to see the differences and similarities in how cultural Catholics relate to their faith compared to Catholics in the pews. It also explores cultural Catholics' religious beliefs and practices, political and civic commitments, parish experiences, and concludes with concrete, evidence-based pastoral approaches.
168 pages, Paperback
Published October 6, 2024
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February 21, 2026
Cultural Catholics is a book designed to share some survey data to help define what a “Cultural Catholic” is and the variety of what that looks like.
Overall, the data itself is well presented. Nothing in it surprised me all that much, meaning I think a lot of people do have a good inherent sense for what a Cultural Catholic is. There’s a lot of interesting data that is important to know, especially considering over 50% of the people mentioned in the book are in the pews every Sunday and many more aren’t in them at all.
My big issue with this book is with the authors opinion. There’s a lot of good, quantitative data, but the author often speaks about her own thoughts without a lot of data to support her ideas of solution. I’m not even saying I disagree with her on that much, but it’s odd that she writes her solution to it all at the end without really showing if her ideas would work or not. I also wasn’t a big fan with the made up mini-stories to help establish an emotional click with the people she identifies.
Overall, it’s fine. It’s for a niche group of people. I think the data itself is good for having a pastoral outlook but the opinion stuff isn’t very useful. 2.5 stars
Overall, the data itself is well presented. Nothing in it surprised me all that much, meaning I think a lot of people do have a good inherent sense for what a Cultural Catholic is. There’s a lot of interesting data that is important to know, especially considering over 50% of the people mentioned in the book are in the pews every Sunday and many more aren’t in them at all.
My big issue with this book is with the authors opinion. There’s a lot of good, quantitative data, but the author often speaks about her own thoughts without a lot of data to support her ideas of solution. I’m not even saying I disagree with her on that much, but it’s odd that she writes her solution to it all at the end without really showing if her ideas would work or not. I also wasn’t a big fan with the made up mini-stories to help establish an emotional click with the people she identifies.
Overall, it’s fine. It’s for a niche group of people. I think the data itself is good for having a pastoral outlook but the opinion stuff isn’t very useful. 2.5 stars
Displaying 1 of 1 review