{"id":66350,"date":"2025-02-13T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=66350"},"modified":"2025-02-11T14:17:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T20:17:01","slug":"brief-book-review-cultural-catholics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/13\/brief-book-review-cultural-catholics\/","title":{"rendered":"Brief Book Review: Cultural Catholics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cultural Catholics: Who They Are, How to Respond<\/em>
by Maureen Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who should read this book?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultural Catholics<\/em>\u00a0is for readers who want to know more about those who attend Mass less frequently than once per month.\u00a0\u00a0It will be especially useful for readers with backgrounds in sociology and statistics, since it contains numerous reports of polls.\u00a0\u00a0The polling was conducted in April 2017, which is on one scale fairly recent.\u00a0\u00a0However, the polling obviously does not include the impact of the COVID pandemic on religious practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main point:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A point that sticks with me is the author\u2019s contention that there are many cases in which evangelization of cultural Catholics should not lead off with an invitation to attend Mass.\u00a0\u00a0Rather, parishes or other Catholic institutions should assess the needs in their areas.\u00a0\u00a0For example, could a parish offer free classes in debt management?\u00a0\u00a0Or perhaps arrange childcare so that busy parents can go out on dates?\u00a0\u00a0Activities such as these, which prioritize the building of relationships, may become steppingstones to engagement in liturgy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why does it matter?\u00a0<\/strong>The author reports (p. 4) that \u201cmore than half (53%) of self-identifying Catholics qualify as cultural Catholics\u201d by the definition used in the book.\u00a0\u00a0If that figure is at all accurate, we are talking about 41 million Catholics.\u00a0\u00a0The author reports that \u201cone 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\u201d (97).\u00a0\u00a0For demographic reasons alone, this book is worth reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What intrigued me?<\/strong>\u00a0When asked whether they would consider leaving the Catholic Church entirely, \u201cwe see a higher likelihood of staying among those who attend Mass a few times a year\u201d (99) compared with those who seldom or never attend Mass.\u00a0\u00a0One might assume that the \u201cseldom or never attend Mass\u201d folks, with less to lose, would be more likely to continue their affiliation with the Catholic Church.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, it is those who \u201cattend Mass a few times a year,\u201d and thus have *some* measure of effort involved in their affiliation with the church, who are more likely to retain that affiliation.\u00a0\u00a0Something apparently keeps this group (marginally) connected.\u00a0\u00a0What might that be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pushing back.<\/strong>  I find a number of lacunae in the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n