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The De-Romanization of the American Catholic Church
This collaboration between a priest-sociologist and a journalist-author trained in sociology is a natural history of the Roman Catholic Church in America. The view of American Catholicism is all-inclusive--from classroom to church pew, from dinner table to ballot box, from civil rights picket line to chancery office.
318 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1970
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September 23, 2024
A 1966 BOOK ALREADY NOTING THE DIVERGENCE OF U.S. CATHOLICS FROM THE ROMAN HIERARCHY
This book was first published in 1966, and was updated for this edition in 1970. The original Preface stated, "the authors have set out to present American Catholicism in the perspective of the available data, without a supernatural reference point. Here are the particular and general patterns of people living within institutionalized forms in patterns of people living within institutionalized forms in specific settings. The dimensions include the social, cultural, economic, political, and intellectual. The Catholic Church is both an institution and a people; in depicting both, our intention is to convey understanding rather than to evaluate---either negatively or positively." [NOTE: page numbers refer to 336-page paperback edition.]
They note, "A Catholic Digest survey found that about half of the Catholics did not accept their church's teaching on the morality of contraceptive practices. The finding was startling. It is one thing to violate a rule but acknowledge its validity; it is another thing to reject the rule outright." (Pg. 53-54)
They state, "Like other middle-class Americans, the Catholic priest usually dreams of a parish in the suburbs where the need to belong provides him with a loyal, homogeneous, generous, better-educated parishioners. The suburb is clearly the comfortable new frontier that makes parish life over to fit the setting, even in the churches being built. High spires in cramped city quarters are giving way to friendly ranch-type churches with ample parking space and one-level schools with large windows." (Pg. 116)
They observe, "Women religious have been trying to establish a modernized role in contemporary society within restrictions imposed on them by a traditional Church society where men have always dominated. It is a hazardous accommodation precisely because women are second-class citizens in the Catholic Church... The Vatican Council itself dramatized their secondary status by excluding them from its deliberations, thus ignoring thousands of nuns and millions of laywomen. Only belatedly a handful of voteless women auditors, both lay and religious, were added. Moreover, the Sacred Congregation of Religious... did not even have a nun as an adviser." (Pg. 172)
They argue, "The McCarthy era spotlighted core attitudes evident in American Catholicism---defensiveness and inflexibility... It also glorified an oversimplified response to the challenge of communism, negative in tone and indiscriminate in its application. The McCarthy Association became a natural prelude to the John Birch Society, whose founder, Robert H. Welch, Jr., once claimed that 40 percent of its membership was Catholic. Catholic spokesmen and publications did little to dispel the unfavorable image... Cardinal Cushing contributed two public letters of support for Welch, 'a fellow fighter against communism.' In Los Angeles Cardinal McIntyre became known as 'the Archbishop of the John Birch Society.'" (Pg. 221)
They suggest, "The Knights of Columbus have likewise undertaken some soul-searching... the organization has exemplified the disappointing Catholic record in civil rights. For years racial discrimination within local K of C councils was ignored as they operated under a rule which allowed five bigoted members to bar any Negro applicant. Finally, several bishops criticized the K of C, and members began to resign in protest against the practice of bias." (Pg. 256)
Although it has been nearly sixty years since the first edition of this book was published, it is instructive to see that many of the issues it raised back then are still "hot button" issues today. This book may still interest liberals and progressives interested in the history of dissent within the Catholic Church.
This book was first published in 1966, and was updated for this edition in 1970. The original Preface stated, "the authors have set out to present American Catholicism in the perspective of the available data, without a supernatural reference point. Here are the particular and general patterns of people living within institutionalized forms in patterns of people living within institutionalized forms in specific settings. The dimensions include the social, cultural, economic, political, and intellectual. The Catholic Church is both an institution and a people; in depicting both, our intention is to convey understanding rather than to evaluate---either negatively or positively." [NOTE: page numbers refer to 336-page paperback edition.]
They note, "A Catholic Digest survey found that about half of the Catholics did not accept their church's teaching on the morality of contraceptive practices. The finding was startling. It is one thing to violate a rule but acknowledge its validity; it is another thing to reject the rule outright." (Pg. 53-54)
They state, "Like other middle-class Americans, the Catholic priest usually dreams of a parish in the suburbs where the need to belong provides him with a loyal, homogeneous, generous, better-educated parishioners. The suburb is clearly the comfortable new frontier that makes parish life over to fit the setting, even in the churches being built. High spires in cramped city quarters are giving way to friendly ranch-type churches with ample parking space and one-level schools with large windows." (Pg. 116)
They observe, "Women religious have been trying to establish a modernized role in contemporary society within restrictions imposed on them by a traditional Church society where men have always dominated. It is a hazardous accommodation precisely because women are second-class citizens in the Catholic Church... The Vatican Council itself dramatized their secondary status by excluding them from its deliberations, thus ignoring thousands of nuns and millions of laywomen. Only belatedly a handful of voteless women auditors, both lay and religious, were added. Moreover, the Sacred Congregation of Religious... did not even have a nun as an adviser." (Pg. 172)
They argue, "The McCarthy era spotlighted core attitudes evident in American Catholicism---defensiveness and inflexibility... It also glorified an oversimplified response to the challenge of communism, negative in tone and indiscriminate in its application. The McCarthy Association became a natural prelude to the John Birch Society, whose founder, Robert H. Welch, Jr., once claimed that 40 percent of its membership was Catholic. Catholic spokesmen and publications did little to dispel the unfavorable image... Cardinal Cushing contributed two public letters of support for Welch, 'a fellow fighter against communism.' In Los Angeles Cardinal McIntyre became known as 'the Archbishop of the John Birch Society.'" (Pg. 221)
They suggest, "The Knights of Columbus have likewise undertaken some soul-searching... the organization has exemplified the disappointing Catholic record in civil rights. For years racial discrimination within local K of C councils was ignored as they operated under a rule which allowed five bigoted members to bar any Negro applicant. Finally, several bishops criticized the K of C, and members began to resign in protest against the practice of bias." (Pg. 256)
Although it has been nearly sixty years since the first edition of this book was published, it is instructive to see that many of the issues it raised back then are still "hot button" issues today. This book may still interest liberals and progressives interested in the history of dissent within the Catholic Church.
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