American Catholics in Transition

D'Antonio, Dillon, and Gautier have written a report on the fifth survey (administered in 2010) in a series of opinion polls of the American Catholic laity that started in 1987. Responses were analyzed by generation, gender, and ethnicity, with attention to the increasing impact of Hispanic Catholics. Many trends established in the earlier studies have stayed on the same trajectory, with a few changes. Core beliefs remain strong, the magisterium carries relatively little weight with the laity, and certain areas (the importance of the sacraments, Mary the Mother of God, and helping the poor) continue to differentiate Catholics from others. On the other hand, a decreasing commitment on the part of American women to the church is evident. Hispanics often are more traditional in their responses, but the authors do not discuss whether this will change with economic and cultural assimilation. The study is clear and readable. The authors clearly have a bias toward what one might call the 'progressive' direction in American Catholicism. At times one can see that a different grouping of the data would present a different picture. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty. * CHOICE * DAntonio (sociology, Catholic Univ. of America), Michele Dillon (sociology, Univ. of New Hampshire), and Mary Gautier (Ctr. for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown Univ.) report on 25 years of surveys (19872011) of American Catholics that the authors undertook at six-year intervals. DAntonio and colleagues have reported cumulatively on these surveys previously (e.g., American Catholics Today in 2007). They begin here with a description of the surveys over the years. Since the first one, Catholics have remained at about 25 percent of the countrys population, but this is because of the influx of Hispanic immigrants. At the same time, 16 million to 20 million people born Catholic no longer identify as such. Faith in the fundamentals has remained strong, but the view of the churchs moral authority has changed, and women are less committed to the church. VERDICT A well-written study that makes no judgments but does interpret the data to give a telling portrait of the state of the Catholic Church in America, this volume will appeal to those who like to be given the facts and come to their own conclusions. * Library Journal * Catholic leaders and rank-and-file members alike could learn much from this book about the internal life of the church. Readers who are not Catholic but wish to know more about the makeup and trajectory of the largest religious denomination in the country will also find the discussion accessible. . . . The authors are careful to emphasize which beliefs have remained largely consistent throughout this time of major generational and demographic change. Although most Catholics in the United States do not see a commitment to priestly celibacy or opposition to same-sex marriage and birth control as very important aspects of their religious faith, there is widespread agreement on certain core tenets of theological belief: the Resurrection, the special status of Mary as the mother of God and the obligation to aid the poor. In an era of growing divisiveness over policy issues and church governance, this finding will no doubt be reassuring to American Catholics of all generations and ethnic backgrounds. * America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture * American Catholics in Transition presents findings from the most recent Catholics performed by sociologist William V. D'Antonio and collaborators. . . . The results of this latest survey, couples with those from previous surveys, provide a rich database that allows the reader to follow the faith experience of U.S. Catholics. . . . D'Antonio's work provides a great service to Catholics in the United States, for he not only reminds the reader of the strong doctrinal support for lay leadership, but more imp

William V. DAntonio is research professor of sociology at The Catholic University of America and a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies. He is the co-author or co-editor of fifteen books, including American Catholics Today. Michele Dillon is professor and chair in the Department of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire, and President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. She is the author of a number of books including Catholic Identity: Balancing Reason, Faith, and Power, and In the Course of a Lifetime: Tracing Religious Belief, Practice, and Change (co-author Paul Wink). In 2012, she was the JE and Lillian Byrne Tipton Distinguished Visiting Professor in Catholic Studies, at the University of California Santa Barbara. Mary L. Gautier is senior research associate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. She is coauthor of a number of books, most recently Same Call, Different Men: The Evolution of the Priesthood Since Vatican II.

Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction: 25 Years of Observing Catholic Life Chapter 1: The legacy of Pre-Vatican II Catholics Chapter 2: Catholics in the United States: A Quarter Century of Change Chapter 3: Catholic Identity and Commitment Chapter 4: American Catholics and Church Authority Chapter 5: Catholic Women: Commitment and Change Chapter 6: Generational Changes in Catholic Practice Chapter 7: Religion and Party Politics Chapter 8: Millennial Catholics Chapter 9: Conclusions: Continuities and changes in American Catholicism Appendix: 2011 Survey References Index About the Authors