Cultural Catholics: Who They Are, How to Respond
by Maureen Day
Who should read this book?
Cultural Catholics is for readers who want to know more about those who attend Mass less frequently than once per month. It will be especially useful for readers with backgrounds in sociology and statistics, since it contains numerous reports of polls. The polling was conducted in April 2017, which is on one scale fairly recent. However, the polling obviously does not include the impact of the COVID pandemic on religious practices.
Main point:
A point that sticks with me is the author’s contention that there are many cases in which evangelization of cultural Catholics should not lead off with an invitation to attend Mass. Rather, parishes or other Catholic institutions should assess the needs in their areas. For example, could a parish offer free classes in debt management? Or perhaps arrange childcare so that busy parents can go out on dates? Activities such as these, which prioritize the building of relationships, may become steppingstones to engagement in liturgy.
Why does it matter? The author reports (p. 4) that “more than half (53%) of self-identifying Catholics qualify as cultural Catholics” by the definition used in the book. If that figure is at all accurate, we are talking about 41 million Catholics. The author reports that “one fourth of those attending [Mass] a few times a year and nearly 40% of those who attend seldom or never do not find it important that future generations are Catholic” (97). For demographic reasons alone, this book is worth reading.
What intrigued me? When asked whether they would consider leaving the Catholic Church entirely, “we see a higher likelihood of staying among those who attend Mass a few times a year” (99) compared with those who seldom or never attend Mass. One might assume that the “seldom or never attend Mass” folks, with less to lose, would be more likely to continue their affiliation with the Catholic Church. Instead, it is those who “attend Mass a few times a year,” and thus have *some* measure of effort involved in their affiliation with the church, who are more likely to retain that affiliation. Something apparently keeps this group (marginally) connected. What might that be?
Pushing back. I find a number of lacunae in the text.
- In the Introduction, discussion of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults implies that some cultural Catholics joined the church as adults, but did *not* go through the RCIA. Were these individuals already baptized in another Christian tradition? The text is silent.
- In Chapter 1 and elsewhere, discussion of whether Catholics can “disagree with church teaching and still remain loyal to the church” does not always distinguish clearly between teaching that is “merely” doctrine and teaching that is dogmatic.
- In Chapter 1 and elsewhere, discussion of the resources to which people turn when facing a moral decision includes options such as close family and papal documents but omits Scripture.
- In Chapter 2, discussion of the Catholic vote in the election of 2016 does not engage findings from the Pew Research Center or the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, both of which report figures different from the ones the author employs.
- In Chapter 3, the author writes about a homily whose approach to same-sex relationships “seemed to be informed only by church teaching on same-sex relationships, void of anything from Amoris Laetitia, Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination, or Always Our Children” (62). Each of these documents *is* church teaching and each document has at least something to say about same-sex relationships.
- In Chapter 3 and elsewhere, the author raises concerns about cultural Catholics who do not consider themselves religious. That there are such persons “points to a profound failing of their Catholic experience in not pushing them to ask these existential questions” (69). Perhaps for the author the term “cultural Catholics” excludes those who identify as “spiritual but not religious,” but this point is never made clear in the text.
Implications. Each chapter, including the introduction, ends with “concluding questions.” These questions invite personal / professional / pastoral reflection. The implications for each reader will be different; I found these questions quite engaging.
Maureen Day, Cultural Catholics: Who They Are, How to Respond. Liturgical Press, 2024. 149. ISBN 9798400800702
REVIEWER: Timothy Brunk
Dr. Timothy Brunk is Associate Professor of Liturgical and Sacramental Theology in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University. He holds a doctorate from Marquette University, a Master of Arts degree in pastoral studies from Seattle University, a Master of Arts in theology from Boston College, and a Bachelor’s degree from Amherst College. He is the author of fifteen journal articles and two books, including The Sacraments and Consumer Culture (Liturgical Press, 2020), which the Catholic Media Association recognized at its annual meeting as the first-place winner in the category of books on the sacraments.