{"title":"Religious Renewal in the Context of Secularism","authors":"J. Chinnici","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780197573006.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197573006.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"When public identity focuses on the convergence between Catholicism and the American way of life, markers of Catholic identity migrate to unique religious practices: popular devotions, sacramental attendance, obedience to disciplinary laws. Episcopal statements and the reflections of clerical and lay leaders note the growing split between religion and daily life. “Secularism” within the Church is identified in the analysis of John Courtney Murray, the Grail Movement, and in the pages of Catholic Action. In response to this “schizoid culture,” significant leaders network with affinity movements throughout the world. International congresses of the laity set the stage for the Council. Movements of Specialized Catholic Action join with the mainstreaming of scripture reading, catechetical reform, participative political processes, and the liturgical movement to foster a reconfiguration of clergy-lay relations. The bishops themselves begin to sponsor both liturgical change and Specialized Catholic Action even before the Council begins.","PeriodicalId":102666,"journal":{"name":"American Catholicism Transformed","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127138743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From World War II to Cold War Catholicism","authors":"J. Chinnici","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780197573006.003.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197573006.003.0001","url":null,"abstract":"The wartime struggle of Pius XII against totalitarianism focuses the identity of the Church on the defense of rights and the important connection between internal national developments and international stability. The American bishops’ adoption of the papal program moves the description of public Catholic identity in ambivalent directions. On the one hand, anti-communism shapes an organic presentation of the Judeo-Christian tradition united to the American way of life as the opposite of an atheistic and totalitarian “system of belief.” The sovereignty of God, obedience to lawfully constituted authority, and the unity between divine, natural, and positive law become dominant characteristics of the faith. On the other hand, this same rapprochement with American political values emphasizes equality, democratic participation, and individual rights. These ambivalences manifest themselves in different ways in the Catholic approach to family life and nuclear warfare.","PeriodicalId":102666,"journal":{"name":"American Catholicism Transformed","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132912328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Word in the World, 1964–1965","authors":"J. Chinnici","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780197573006.003.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197573006.003.0009","url":null,"abstract":"The centrality of scripture and the Church’s mission to identify with the world’s “joys . . . and griefs” furthered the teaching of Lumen Gentium and the “bridge” documents. The laity’s participation in the prophetic teaching of Christ joined the people of God with the social changes occurring in American society. Participants argued for the dignity of the person and a commitment to the alleviation of world poverty. A deductive methodology of doctrine clashed repeatedly with an inductive methodology focused on the “signs of the times.” Even as the Cold War inheritance shaped a cautious American approach to the condemnation of nuclear war, the leadership of Archbishop Dearden worked toward a new vision of marriage and the family. These distinct approaches and the convergence between conciliar language and social practice created tense relationships between the bishops and the laity’s reception of their teaching. Similar difficulties would run through the post-conciliar world.","PeriodicalId":102666,"journal":{"name":"American Catholicism Transformed","volume":"303 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115874116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}