Catholicism is generally over-institutionalized and over-centralized in comparison to other religions. However, it finds itself in an increasingly interrelated and globalized world and is therefore immersed in a great plurality of social realities. The Changing Faces of Catholicism assembles an international cast of contributors to explore the consequent decline of powerful Catholic organisations as well as to address the responses and resistance efforts that specific countries have taken to counteract the secularization crisis in both Europe and the Americas. It reveals some of the strategies of the Catholic Church as a whole, and of the Vatican centre in particular, to address problems of the global era through the dissemination of spiritually progressive writing, World Youth Days, and the transformation of Catholic education to become a forum for intercultural and interreligious dialogue. The volume also reflects on the adaptation of Catholic institutions and missions as sponsored by religious communities and monastic orders.
Solange Lefebvre, Université de Montréal, is Professor of Religious Studies. Her publications include the edited volume Public Commissions on Cultural and Religious Diversity: Analysis, Reception and Challenges (Routledge, 2017).
Alfonso Pérez-Agote, Complutense University of Madrid, is Professor of Sociology. His publications include Cambio religioso en España: los avatares de la secularización (Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, Madrid, 2012), The Intimate, Polity and the Catholic Church (coedited with Karel Dobbelaere, Leuven University Press, 2015) and Religion in the Public Sphere: Canadian Case Studies (University of Toronto Press, 2014).
Contributors are: Kevin Ahern, Andrea Althoff, Valérie Aubourg, Tricia C. Bruce, Karel Dobbelaere, Alejandro Gabriel Emiliano Flores, Paul L. Gareau, Ramiro Gómez-Arzápalo, Isabelle Jonveaux, Jean-François Laniel, Andrew P. Lynch, Sławomir Mandes, Graham P. McDonough, Wojciech Sadłoń, Jesús Antonio Serrano Sánchez, Barbora Spalová, Jakob Egeris Thorsen, Helena Vilaça, Liliane Voyé
Notes on Contributors
Introduction to The Changing Faces of Catholicism Solange Lefebvre and Alfonso Pérez-Agote
Part 1: Catholicism in Both Catholic and Pluralistic Societies
1 Religion and National Identity in Catholic Societies: The Quarrel between Religion and Culture Jean-François Laniel
2 Popular Religiosity and Value Changes in Mexico City Youth Jesús Antonio Serrano Sánchez, Ramiro Gómez-Arzápalo and Alejandro Gabriel Emiliano Flores
3 From a Place of Popular Religiosity to a Transnational Space of Multiple Meanings and Religious Interactions Helena Vilaça
4 Cultural Catholics in the United States Tricia C. Bruce
Part 2: Strategies within Specific Countries to Counteract the Secularization Crisis
5 Occupying the Margins of Society: Operationalizing Minority Identity Politics among Youth within the Catholic New Evangelization Paul L. Gareau
6 Catholic Reconquest: The Case of the Sainte Blandine Megachurch in Lyon Valérie Aubourg
7 The Catholic Charismatic Renewal (
ccr
) in the Americas Andrea Althoff and Jakob Egeris Thorsen
8 Religious Practices, Beliefs and Commitments on the Margins of the Catholic Church in Belgium Karel Dobbelaere and Liliane Voyé
Part 3: Strategies and General Attitudes of the Catholic Church, and of the Vatican Centre in Particular,in Relation to Problems of the Global Era
9 Catholicism and Eastern Religions: Spiritual Innovators and Interreligious Dialogue (de Mello and Merton) Andrew P. Lynch
10 Religion in a Globalized Culture: Institutional Innovation and Continuity of Catholicism—The Case of World Youth Day Sławomir Mandes and Wojciech Sadłoń
11 The Joy of Dialogue in an Intercultural World: Educational Implications from Evangelii Gaudium Graham P. McDonough
Part 4: Changes in Specific Catholic Institutions
12 Navigating the Fault Lines of Catholic Institutional Identity Kevin Ahern
13 The Economy of Stability in Catholic Monasteries in the Czech Republic and Austria Barbora Spalová and Isabelle Jonveaux Index
All interested in the sociology of religion, in contemporary Catholicism, and anyone concerned with religious institutions and religiosity.