A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America

by Peter Steinfels

In this widely acclaimed book that will long remain an indispensable work on American religion and the Catholic Church, one of its most influential laymen in the United States says that the Roman Catholic Church in America must either reform profoundly or lapse into irreversible decline.
In addition to providing a spiritual identity for over 60 million Americans, the church is the nation's largest nongovernmental provider of education and social services, as well as the largest not-for-profit provider of health care. But even before the recent revelations about sex abuse by priests, American Catholicism was already heading for a major crisis, with its traditional leadership depleted by the decline in religious vocations and paralyzed by "theological gridlock."
Catholicism in the United States confronts hard choices among contrasting visions for the future, choices with huge implications for American life. Analyzing these choices in ways that escape all the familiar labels of conservative or liberal, Steinfels points to the directions the church must take to survive.

Genres: Religion, History, Christian, Catholic

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Peter F. Steinfels (born in 1941) is an American journalist and educator best known for his writings on religious topics.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, and a lifelong Roman Catholic, Steinfels earned his Ph.D from Columbia University and joined the staff of the journal Commonweal in 1964. He served as a visiting professor at Notre Dame in 1994-95 and then as visiting professor at Georgetown University from 1997 to 2001. He currently writes a biweekly column, called "Beliefs", for the religion section of the New York Times.

He is a professor at Fordham University and co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture. Steinfels has also written several books, including The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (ISBN 0-671-41384-8) and A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America (ISBN 0-684-83663-7).

Reviews

[Damon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably the single best journalistic analysis of the current state of Roman Catholic institutions in America. Steinfels is the most intelligent and temperate reporter on all things Catholic in America that I have come across. He was editor in cheif for Commonweal for a long time and religion editor in chief for NY Times for a long time as well. I especially like his analysis of the polarization in the church from right to left. These really are entrenched. The different groups work very independently of one another and are very suspicious of each other. The first thing that a theology dept. tries to sniff out when you apply for a job is where your loyalties lie, since no one wants to give power to a rival faction in their institution. The neat thing, though, is that this does not result in schism, at least it has not resulted in serious schism yet. But contemporary habits of alienation and demonization cannot but result in the inflicting of serious wounds, and I expect serious turmoil to come. The transition from a European-centralized Church to a global and more polycentric Church means sifting out what was local to the previous model and what is enduring, and there is massive disagreement about this, as there is in Christianity more generally.

[Marguerite Hargreaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful look at the American Catholic Church and its relationship to Rome and the modern world. Peter Steinfels tiptoes through a polemical minefield in his analysis and makes a convincing case for change throughout the ranks. Then-Cardinal Ratzinger got a fair amount of ink in Steinfels' book. An epilogue/update that takes the new pope (and new American president) into account would be useful. But I regularly see the dynamics about which Steinfels writes and experience the frustrations weekly. I read this with two other, similar books: Garry Wills' Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit and James Carroll's Toward a New Catholic Church: The Promise of Reform.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE RELIGIOUS JOURNALIST LOOKS AT THE CURRENT STATE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Peter F. Steinfels (born 1941) is an American journalist and educator, former editor of Commonweal, religion columnist for the New York Times, and has been a visiting professor at Notre Dame and Georgetown University. He also wrote 'The Neoconservatives: The Origins of a Movement.' [NOTE: page numbers refer to the 392-page hardcover edition.]

He said in the "Author's Note" to this 2003 book, "As senior religion correspondent for the New York Times since 1988, I had, of course, covered American Catholicism extensively, from papal visits to abortion politics. I had come to the paper from the editorship of Commonweal, a liberal journal published by Catholic laypeople... My parents were also intellectuals and artists... In our home, the heritage of Catholic Christianity, its liturgy, theology, and history, was the stuff of everyday life... This faith was obviously serious but never beyond critical examination and discussion."

He notes, "by the middle of the twentieth century, Roman Catholicism, the once alien creed, had become virtually identified with Americanism. In the 1940s and 1950s, there was scarcely a more reliable indicator of being patriotic, it seemed, than being Catholic. It would not be long before the last barrier fell: in 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected president." (Pg. 4)

He observes that after the 1978 election of Pope John Paul II, "He fired warning shots across the bows of those groups in the church that challenged Vatican leadership. Religious orders were put on notice... Theologians were warned with official disavowals of a few leading dissenters. National conferences of bishops were reined in. Some... were summoned to Rome for papal review. All were... gradually reshaped by the pope's power to appoint men to his liking as bishops retired or died.

"A steady stream of encyclicals from the pope and doctrinal injunctions from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith gave official cues to interpreting the work of Vatican II. A revised Code of Canon Law (1983) and a comprehensive Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) codified the Council's actions, integrated them into past teachings, and signaled that the period of open-ended interpretation was being brought to a close." (Pg. 33)

He points out, "when asked, 'Regardless of your own views on abortion, do you think that abortion should be legal?' two-thirds of the Catholics said yes... one conclusion is firm... Catholics are far from morally comfortable with a great number of the abortions that do occur; but unlike evangelical Protestants, a majority of Catholics have withstood their leaders' identification with the pro-life movement and its goal of restoring legal bars to abortion." (Pg. 96)

He laments the "hypertrendiness that those still disconsolate with Vatican II blame for every liturgical failure... congregations of graying survivors of the sixties that seem mainly to be celebrating themselves and their superiority to morally benighted church authorities. The watchword is 'inclusivity'---and yet the strictest left-wing unanimity is presumed in prayers and homilies." (Pg. 180-181)

He adds, "Music is perhaps the weakest link in Catholic worship today... The problem is that the worshippers don't sing, and... the result is worse than if they had never been expected to. Imagine a birthday celebration where two or three out of ten family members actually sang 'Happy Birthday' and the rest stood silent or barely moving their lips. What would be the message?" (Pg. 188)

He summarizes, "it is a major premise of this book that without drastic changes in ordained or vowed life, none of these trends [of decline], whether for diocesan priests, priests in religious orders, nuns, or brothers, will be reversed. Recruit as energetically as possible, define the priesthood or religious life in whatever unambiguous, privileged, or heroic terms one chooses, and still the most that can be expected is a leveling off of the declining numbers, primarily of priests and men's religious orders, but with no possibility of catching up with the Catholic population growth or restoring the old near monopoly on leadership." (Pg. 327)

He adds, “The feminine character of this development is clear. More than 80 percent of the lay parish ministers are women. Questions and tensions about women’s roles in the church are clearly not going to subside… Understanding and empathy count more than authority; and a relational style of working is increasingly a hallmark of parish staffs, adopted by priests and other males.” (Pg. 332)

This is an insightful and thought-provoking book, that will be of keen interest to anyone concerned with contemporary Catholicism.

[Gilbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This helped my class get a perspective of the big picture....and all the tensions that are involved in the current American Catholic Church.

What I didn't fancy was the subtle "pro-liberal" commentary. I was hoping for a presentation that was more indifferent, and it seemed that there was a good chunk of commentary that was not based on anything else but opinion. This hurts the good work of the book because a person with a more traditional view of Catholicism will have a hard time reading some of the material....possibly not wanting to engage on some points that do need to be thoroughly thought-out and discussed openly.

The author's style is easy to read. There are great references to sources that can credibly speak about the politics of the Catholic Church, which is good for others who need to do research on the topic.

[Louellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing look at the church now and how it is struggling to be relevant and livable after the too-large ruddered church hit the iceburg

[Rachel Lustig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great work on the Church!