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American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America Kindle Edition
Has the Americanization of American Catholics-their cultural assimilation, that is-been a blessing or a curse for the Church in the United States? Or has it been a bit of both?
In American Church Russell Shaw takes a searching look at that question and reaches a disturbing conclusion. Cultural assimilation, which was ardently championed by churchmen like the great Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore around the turn of the last century, has undoubtedly conferred many benefits on Catholics. Their absorption into the secular culture of America, however, now threatens the Catholic identity of millions of faithful and of their institutions, such as schools, universities, and hospitals.
Shaw does not offer this conclusion as an unsupported generalization. American Church is a richly documented analysis of a process extending over two centuries. Colorful characters and dramatic incidents abound, including the nineteenth-century intellectual feud between Orestes Brownson and the Transcendentalist convert to Catholicism Isaac Hecker, Pope Leo XIII's condemnation of Americanism, the anti-Catholicism that greeted the presidential campaigns of Al Smith and John F. Kennedy, and the numerous intra-Church conflicts that have divided American Catholics since the Second Vatican Council.
In concluding his study, Shaw offers a number of thought-provoking suggestions about what the Church in America needs to do now in the face of an ongoing decline that is sapping its strength and may threaten its very survival.
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherIgnatius Press
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Publication dateFebruary 22, 2013
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File size507 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Russell Shaw's American Church is a piercing and essential meditation on the past, present, and future of Catholicism in these United States. It should be required reading for all -- secular, devout, and otherwise -- and is beautifully narrated to boot." ---Mary Eberstadt, author, Adam and Eve After the Pill
"Russell Shaw marshals a good deal of evidence on behalf of his provocative thesis about the problems of American Catholicism. Even those who do not fully subscribe to that thesis will find the book informative and suggestive." ---James Hitchcock, Professor of History, St. Louis University, author of History of The Catholic Church
About the Author
Russell Shaw is a widely published author and journalist who has written over twenty books, including American Church and Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication, and Communion in the Catholic Church. For 18 years, Shaw directed media relations for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference. From 1987 to 1997 he oversaw media relations for the Knights of Columbus.
Product details
- ASIN : B00CD9F0FG
- Publisher : Ignatius Press; First edition (February 22, 2013)
- Publication date : February 22, 2013
- Language : English
- File size : 507 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 229 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,719,935 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,023 in Roman Catholicism (Kindle Store)
- #1,844 in Christian Church History (Kindle Store)
- #7,137 in Art (Kindle Store)
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(This is an interesting note for the present and future production of books--the printed and electronic editions can be different: it's much easier to address changes and even corrections in the electronic version. Which one is the official version? Does the Library of Congress decide?)
I presume Ignatius and Shaw changed the title because of concern no one knows who "Gibbons" was--James Cardinal Gibbons, the ninth Archbishop of Baltimore (from 1877 to 1921). Shaw's book comes at a time when others are writing about the renewal of Catholic culture in the U.S., including George Weigel and Ryan N. S. Topping. I have not read those books, so I cannot compare them, but Shaw's book traces the path of assimilation of Catholics in American culture--and as that culture became more and more secularized, then Catholics on that path became more and more secularized. Then he addresses, often from personal experiences, the effects of the implementation of the "spirit of Vatican II", changes in Catholic higher education, reform movements in the episcopacy--and he uses his personal recollections well, without falling into the trap of becoming anecdotal.
On the other hand, I did not think another thread Shaw weaves through the narrative was that effective: he uses the story of The Cardinal, a 1950 novel by Henry Morton Robinson, usually thought to be based on the life of Cardinal Spellman, the Archbishop of New York, as an example of trends and issues in the Catholic Church in America in the early twentienth century. Shaw uses scenes from The Cardinal to exemplify certain changes and events--if you are interested, TCM will be showing the movie based on the novel this summer.
Overall, the story Shaw tells is sad--how the Church lost its influence on American culture because it tried to assimilate too much into American culture. Shaw's hope for the restoration of that influence is in the development of a Catholic subculture, which I think exists--EWTN, Catholic bloggers, the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, the youthful pro-life movement--and I think will remain small. Primarily, I think Shaw is correct that it is the formation of the laity, as inspired by the documents of the Second Vatican Council that is most important--instead of pursuing "ministries" inside the Church, we should be working to influence our culture--exactly through the sub-culture Shaw outlines. Perhaps the institutional Church should not aspire to the great influence of former days as it may come at the same cost of assimilation or accomodation. Thought-provoking, to say the least.
I am 62 years old now and it feels as though I have lived through it all. I was attending a Catholic high school in Rhode Island during the years 1965-1969, a tumultuous period that roughly coincided with the Second Vatican Council. Winds of change would quickly evolve into a violent storm. As the title of this book suggests the downfall of the Roman Catholic Church in America over the next 50 years would prove to be nothing short of breathtaking. In his riveting new book "American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America" author Russell Shaw succinctly and methodically depicts the century long clash of philosophies that would eventually lead to the sharp and potentially irreconcilable divisions within the Catholic Church in America. Shaw firmly believes that if the American Church is ever going to recover it is imperative that committed Catholics fully understand the reasons behind the precipitous decline of the American Church and equip themselves with a plan of action to create a new Catholic subculture in America. Much of what Shaw presents in his book was brand new to me. I simply could not put this one down.
Central to the presentation made by Russell Shaw in "American Church" is the term "Americanism". What is this? "Americanism" is the notion that the Roman Catholic Church in the United States should adapt itself to the values of the modern American republic. In the pages of "American Church" you will meet a number of the major proponents of this way of thinking including Cardinal James Gibbons and Isaac Hecker, founder of the Paulist Fathers. Meanwhile, you will also be introduced to some of those with a markedly different point of view including Orestes Brownson and Fr. John Hugo, a vocal parish priest who in the 1940's warned that assimilation of American Catholics into the popular culture could only lead to "a watering down of Catholic identity". Shaw also quotes Hugo's diatribe on the evils of birth control that appears to be every bit as relevant today as it was back in the 1940's. The debate over "Americanism" is a tug-of war that has been raging within the Church for decades and continues even to this day.
Fast forward now to the 1960's and to the Second Vatican Council. Russell Shaw reveals how and why Vatican II unleashed forces that would fundamentally transform the Catholic Church in America. The growing number of Progressives within the church would frequently point to "the spirit of Vatican II" when promoting their radical left-wing agenda. Traditional groups like the Legion of Mary, Holy Name Societies and the Knights of Columbus were marginalized and many Catholic colleges and universities began to foster a culture that actually drove students away from their faith. The laity experienced the disheartening phenomenon of priests and nuns leaving ministry in droves while traditional rites and devotions gradually disappeared. And now under the administration of Barack Obama the attacks on the Catholic Church have only intensified. Committed Catholics across America are casting about trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces and begin to rebuild their torn and tattered Church.
In the final chapter of "American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America" offers some common sense suggestions on how to go about doing just that. He opines that the solution is the creation of a new Catholic subculture with an emphasis on the new evangelization that Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have been talking about. There is reason to be hopeful because as Shaw points out: "Recent converts to Catholicism not infrequently report that they were repelled by the growing depravity of secular culture and attracted to Catholicism as the only serious response to it." Touche! I found much food for thought in "American Church". This is an extremely well-written book that is well worth your time and attention. Very highly recommended!