Abstract
Successor to a collection on American Catholic Traditions published by the College Theology Society in 1997, the present book reflects a more ominous context, with the divisions in our civil community. It is divided into three sections: reassessing American Catholicism, its opportunities and challenges, and resources for renewal. In the first part Timothy Matovina seeks to correct the traditional narrative on US history by including Catholic Spain and France, as well as pointing out that more than half of US Catholics today are not of Euro-American origin. Paul Monson sees the fact that so many Catholic young people lack a religious background as a resource rather than an impasse. Three authors explore William Portier’s contributions to the study of American Catholicism. Patricia Wittberg profiles the different generations in today’s parishes, calling on them to strike a balance between assimilation and pluralism. William Clarke studies the changing profiles of these parishes, many of them evolving into regional communities.
In the second part, Katherine Mahon explores an overly intellectual, didactic approach to liturgy. Mary Doak critiques an individualism that treats Catholic social thought as peripheral to Catholic life, while Anthony Godzieba analyzes an anti-incarnationalism present even in some bishops that prevents Catholics from recognizing God’s grace in unexpected places. Jessica Coblentz faults an ignorance of racial issues and black theology, and Dana Dillon argues that Catholic universities must analyze those cultural values contrary to the Gospel. Mary Doyle Roche calls for paying greater attention to LGBTQ voices, Nicholas Mayrand wants to see the “nones” more positively than some social profiles, and John Sheveland calls for attention not just on prevention but also on communal pastoral care for survivors of abuse.
In part 3, Bishop Stephen Blaire wants college theology teachers to be attentive to Pope Francis’s call in Laudato Si’ and his example in listening to the popular movements. Michael Baxter argues that in the Age of Trump both political parties have lost moral plausibility, along the critique of Catholic radicalism. Alison Downie writes discovering grace through the “life writings” of Nancy Mairs and Mary Karr. Steven Harmon tells the story of a group of Baptist theologians who joined the CTS in 1996 as a program unit. Daniel Horan unpacks Merton’s writing on structural racism, Laura Taylor offers a feminist interpretation of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Matthew Verghese examines several documents on the environment produced by bishops for their regions. The quality of the essays is uneven; most are quite good, some abstract and less focused. As a commentary on American Catholicism today, the book points to significant issues.