Catholicism at a Crossroads - by Maureen K Day & James C Cavendish & Paul M Perl & Michele Dillon & Mary L Gautier & William V D'Antonio

About the Book

"Examining survey and interview data through the themes of church, authority, race, citizenship, sex and family, and trends, this book uncovers the challenges and possibilities facing Catholicism, exploring thoughts on both the flourishing or demise of the largest religious body in the United States"--

Book Synopsis

Offers a big picture analysis of American Catholicism

The Catholic Church is at a crossroads. In the United States alone there are many challenges facing the church that are both internal and external to the institution. With the rise of the growing Gen Z population and the diminishing of the pre-Vatican II generation, gone are the days of a patriarchal, "father knows best" religious obedience. Indeed, as issues of gender, race, reproductive rights, and non-nuclear families have risen in prominence, the Catholic Church has had to adapt to keep pace with the times.

The latest in a series of important sociological overviews drawing on nation-wide surveys administered every six years, Catholicism at a Crossroads charts this new era of Catholic worship, belonging, and identity in America today. Augmenting the survey data for the first time with over fifty interviews with lay and ordained US Catholic leaders, the book illustrates how the church has adapted to Pope Francis's modern papacy, the rise of religious non-affiliation, and various demographic changes including an increasing Hispanic population. Addressing how the church is responding to recent cultural challenges presented by political polarization, racial unrest, and threats to democracy, Catholicism at a Crossroads offers an up-to-date, nuanced, and definitive portrait of American Catholicism in the twenty-first century while also providing discussions of how the findings may be relevant for the study of American religion more broadly.

Review Quotes

"Deeply realistic, deeply thoughtful, deeply hopeful, Catholicism at a Crossroads offers the best insight available into the state of Catholicism in the US today--and where it may go in the future. It should be read by every religious sister, priest, and bishop; every Catholic teacher and organizational leader; every professor at a Catholic college; and every thinking Catholic. Even just reading the "Implications" section that concludes each chapter will be rewarding. This will likely be the smartest Catholic book you read this year--and may even change how you relate to Catholicism."--Richard L. Wood, President, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies

"U.S. Catholicism is, indeed, at a crossroads. At our own peril, the faithful, ministry leaders, and scholars alike ignore the importance of people of color in the U.S. Catholic Church and increasing religious disaffiliation. If dioceses and parishes as well as Catholic schools and universities are going to survive and thrive in the middle and decades of the 21st century, we must understand where the U.S. Church is and where it is going. The data and analyses presented by Day, Cavendish, Perl, Dillon, Gautier, and D'Antonio provide a much needed roadmap for creating plans to ensure the U.S. Catholic Church's future."--Tia Noelle Pratt, Villanova University

"With a deft use of survey data, excerpts from interviews, a keen grasp of important trends and an unfailing generosity of spirit, this research team tells a detailed and engagingly written story of the Catholic community within the United States today. This book finds a deservedly broad readership among Church leaders, rank-and-file Catholics, sociologists and other religion scholars, as well as among any readers interested in a compelling account of how a longstanding religious tradition, marked by both constancy and change, continues to anchor a people's faith."--Jerome Baggett, author of The Varieties of Religious Experience: Atheism in American Culture

About the Author

Maureen K. Day (Author)
Maureen K. Day is a Research Affiliate at the University of Southern California's Center for Religion and Civic Culture and Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies and author of Catholic Activism Today: Individual Transformation and the Struggle for Social Justice.

James C. Cavendish (Author)
James C. Cavendish is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of South Florida and past President and past Executive Officer of the Association for the Sociology of Religion.

Paul M. Perl (Author)
Paul M. Perl is Sociologist at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University and coauthor of Same Call, Different Men.

Michele Dillon (Author)
Michele Dillon is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and the Class of 1944 Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire and the author of Postsecular Catholicism: Relevance and Renewal.

Mary L. Gautier (Author)
Mary L. Gautier is Senior Research Associate Emerita at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University and coauthor of God's Call is Everywhere: A Global Analysis of Contemporary Religious Vocations for Women.

William V. D'Antonio (Author)
William V. D'Antonio is Professor Emeritus at the Catholic University of America and coauthor of American Catholics in Transition.