Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Book Review: Here Comes Everybody!

Book Review: Here Comes Everybody!

Last updated on: October 23, 2016 at 5:28 pm by Jeannine Pitas

Book Review: Here Comes Everybody! 2016-10-23T17:28:54-05:00 Jeannine Pitas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Polarization in the US Catholic Church: Naming the Wounds, Beginning to Heal.

Edited by Mary Ellen Konieczny, Charles C. Camosy and Tricia C. Bruce
Liturgical Press, 2016

Universality – that is, small ¨c¨ catholicity – and, therefore, unity amid diversity are fundamental to Roman Catholicism. But in recent years, divisions around issues that are by now all too familiar – perhaps most notably, issues of gender, sexuality and authority – have rent the Catholic Church in the United States.

– Mary Ellen Konieczny, from the Introduction, page ix

Few Americans would dispute that we currently live in a polarized sociopolitical climate. Almost anyone who has suffered through watching the 2016 US presidential debates would probably agree that divisions between the ¨red tribe¨ and ¨blue tribe¨ are starker than ever. This book, Polarization in the US Catholic Church, poses a question to this divided society we live in. How can the US Catholic Church – whose teachings do not at all split neatly along political party lines – transcend these ideological differences? How can we respond with faith, humility and mercy to the divisions in our country and our world?

Coming out of the Polarization in the US Catholic Church conference held at the University of Notre Dame in April 2015, this volume contains articles by some of the foremost Catholic leaders, writers and scholars in the US today, like Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins, National Catholic Reporter journalist Michael Sean Winters, Christian ethics professor Julie Hanlon Rubio and religion professor Nichole M. Flores. The book begins with an introductory section that asks a question: is the US Catholic Church as polarized as it seems?

For some of the contributors, both in this introductory section and the book as a whole, the answer is ¨no.¨ Mary Ellen Konieczny, the volume´s editor, argues that 80 to 90% of Americans actually hold moderate positions on most ¨culture war¨ issues; however, because these ¨wars¨ are generally fought by elites in the public sphere, we can come to feel like we inhabit a more polarized world than we actually do. Hosffman Ospino describes the growing number of Hispanic Catholics as an ¨unheeded middle¨ whose (generally moderate) voices go unheard in debates about polarization. Speaking of millennial young Catholics and their current 50% attrition rate, Christian Smith argues that the problem is not polarization, but indifference and disengagement.

On the other hand, many of the contributors argue that we do indeed struggle with division. ¨I am a casualty of two Catholic culture war skirmishes – one in the ´60s, the other in the ´80s – and I have the scars to prove it,¨ says social worker Michael McGillicuddy. Likewise, Fr. Jenkins admits that at times, the language of the Church mimics the language of broader US culture in binding like-minded people together in opposition to a perceived threat or enemy: ¨The issue may be abortion, the plight of the poor, the nature of marriage, or the centrality of the family. In these and other cases, religion generally, and Catholicism in particular, gives a rich, moral framework to motivate te like-minded and to portray opponents as misguided people, threatening all we hold dear¨ (9). While Jenkins believes that religious leaders should be engaged in the world and speak to political issues, they must be cautious about how they do so: ¨Religious leaders…should think in terms of the cycle of salvation history and be concerned with building a church that witnesses to Christ as we wait for his return.¨

The second part of the volume, ¨Naming the Wounds,¨ includes four essays that seek to examine the roots of this polarization – whether real of perceived. In ¨Polarized Preferences, Polarized Pews,¨ Tricia C. Bruce examines the rise of ¨personal¨ or ¨ideological parishes. In the past, parishes were determined by geographical boundaries; one was expected to attend the parish in his or her area. Today, however, many parishes represent ¨elective affinities¨; they are formed by people who have come together due to a common liturgical preference, like the traditional Latin Mass, or an ideological stance, like liberation theology.

For Bruce, this is not necessarily a negative thing; she suggests that these parishes provide a home for Catholics who might otherwise be marginalized and add to the ¨rich mosaic¨ of the Church. At the same time, she does raise the point – which Michael Peppard echoes at the end of the volume – that by binding like-minded Catholics together, such parishes foster the same kind of divisions that Internet news ¨echo chambers¨ do: instead of forcing us to encounter those who are different, they allow us to isolate ourselves among the like-minded.

Similarly, in another essay in this section, Holly Taylor Coolman suggests that a lack of encounter with ¨the other¨ leads to a ¨loss of certain practices and skills: precise, measured debate; hearing and weighing the concern of the other; considering carefully arguments against one´s own position; imaginatively and creatively seeking strategies that break through a perceived impasse¨ (71). She insists that these skills are needed now more than ever: ¨We…lose the ability to argue with one another well…Our engagements become superficial and compative. Good conflict, after all, requires at leastwo things: that we are present to one anoher, and that we know that what unites us is greater than what divides us¨ (73).

The next section, ¨Assessing the Problem,¨ suggests some possible solutions for the issue of polarization. For me, the most interesting essay here is Nichole M. Flores´ ¨When Discourse Breaks Down,¨ which examines an issue that is often left out of the culture war debates in the Catholic Church: race and racism. Reminding us that ¨racism is latent in human hearts and social structures¨ and that ¨eradicating it thus requires confronting painful histories,¨(102) Flores calls for the creation of inclusive communities through what she calls ¨aesthetic solidarity¨: ¨engagement with aesthetic forms – broadly defined as symbols, art, narratives and performance – as a means of fostering communities committed to practical action in pursuit of justice and the common good (103).

Flores sees a link between liturgy and social protest as spaces where aesthetic solidarity can occur – not to ¨solve¨ racism but rather to increase empathy and build inclusive communities. This focus on aesthetics struck me as particularly original and rare in debates about polarization, and it reminded me of celebrated Israeli musician Daniel Barenboim in his collaboration with Palestinian-American cultural theorist Edward Said to build peace in the Middle East through the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which brings young Arab and Israeli musicians together. Perhaps this article appeals to my personal bias that beauty, more than truth or goodness, is what holds the most power to change the world for the better.

The final section, ¨Looking to the Future,¨ examines ways in which we might strive for greater unity in the Church. An essay by Elizabeth Tenety takes up an issue that is a running thread throughout the volume: the place of millennials in this polarized Church. Several authors comment that millennials largely demonstrated a lack of trust or interest in organized religion, a lack of knowledge of Church teachings, and a moral relativism that prevents them from taking a firm stance on issues. However, what millennials do respond to is Pope Francis´s call to show mercy. Earlier in the volume, Amy Uelmen remarks,

The pressure that young adults feel to keep a tight sense of control over all the elements of their lives seems to leave very little space for recognizing and processing the reality of suffering – illness, death, fears about violence in the world, or even more daily and mundane disappointments and failures. But in many ways, the capacity to look to this face of Christ can provide a deep source of perspective, hope, and deep connection with others (95).

Similarly, Tenety looks at millennials with compassion, tracing their skepticism of religion, distrust of authority, and reluctance to take a strong moral stance to a variety of phenomena the experienced growing up: the breakdown of families (they are children of peak divorce rates in the early 1980s), the trauma of 9-11, the priest sexual abuse scandal, and the era of mass shootings. Pope Francis has been well received by millennials because he sees the brokenness of the world and urges us to respond with mercy. According to Tenety, ¨The church can move forward when it learns from the life experience of Millennials instead of blaming them for not living up to some pristine ideal. They inherited a broken world, and they´ve learned to deal with complexities with compassion. For this generation, nonjudgmental solidarity is a way of life¨ (118).

Building on this issue of millennials in the Church, another great essay in this section tackles one of the most contentious issues: the pro-life causet. Many authors in this volume suggest that polarization in the Church will be transcended when we see parish respect life committees and social justice committees frequented by the same people, when concern for the undocumented meets concern for the unborn. In ¨Polarization and Abortion: Living Out Our Pro-Life Beliefs,¨ Erin Stoyell-Mulholland argues that the pro-life cause must be pursued not with judgment, anger and fear, but with mercy and kindness. ¨When speaking out against abortion turns into an ´us versus them´ mentality, you lose the interest of young people…But when we talk about supporting and loving a pregnant woman and her child, young people want to get involved. When the message is a message of love, not a message of judgment, people are drawn to the pro-life movement¨(124).

On the whole, this is a very insightful and hopeful volume, truly relevant to the concerns facing the Church today. It calls us to remember that our similarities are greater than our differences, that as Catholics we truly are a big-tent organization in which, as James Joyce put it, ¨Here comes everybody.¨ I commend the conference organizers for starting this dialogue, and as a reader, I hope to see it continue.

If this work is to be taken further – and I hope it will be – I could see it going in two directions. For me, as comprehensive and thought-provoking as this volume is, it still seems to be a book by and for elites – nearly all the contributors are high-profile clergy, priests or journalists. I would love to hear some voices from the pews – voices of parish trustees, for example, or church musicians, or parishioners who devote their time to serving on parish councils and leading committees. Moreover, I would like more exploration as to ways in which the Catholic Church can respond not only to the polarization within its own membership, but in the wider world. I would truly appreciate a follow-up volume on such issues as interfaith dialogue, or the Church´s response to a greater ¨culture war¨ that seems to be developing between religiosity as a whole and secularism.

As an older millennial, I found the discussion about those Catholics in my age group to be quite accurate. I have often felt discouraged when faced with the absence of Catholics in my age group, but the discussions in this book give me hope that the Church does have a future renewal ahead. Meanwhile, as the political polarization in the US continues to divide so many, I take comfort in these words by David P. Gushee, a scholar who was raised Catholic, became a Southern Baptist, and then eventually found his way back to Catholicism:

Scanning the entire Christian landscape, I find in the Roman Catholic Church one of my only sources of hope. Catholicism has a long historical memory, so it knows better than to identify current circumstances with eternal truth. It is international, so it has resources for getting beyond parochially American categories and patterns. It has resources in Catholic theology and ethics that challenge simple left/right binaries. And it appears impervious to a full-blown institutional left/right split as might happen with a Protestant congregation or denomination. This means that those American Catholics leaning left, leaning right, and leaning center must continue to relate to each other, as sisters and brothers in Christ, like it or not. As they do, they have the broader resources of the Catholic tradition available to point them to a path of Christian integrity and unity (87).

Previous Post

October 19, 2016

How Should a Catholic Vote? Holding One's Nose

Next Post

November 2, 2016 Interview: Usama Nicola, one Catholic in Action for Peace

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2019 A Consistent Ethic of Life Aaron Weldon Abortion absurdity Abuse Scandal Academics Adoption Advent Africa agreement/disagreement with Church teaching Alexander Schmemann Alexham Alterity America Amnesty International Anarchism angels Anglicanism Animals Annual Statistics Anthony Anxietas Apocalyptic Apophatic Appalachia Aquinas Art Atheism Atonement Augustine Authority Baptism Beauty Bible biblical criticism biblical scholarship Bioethics Bishops Black Catholics Black Theology Blackadder Blogs Books Breastfeeding Brett Salkeld Buddhism Bush administration Byzantine Catholic Calvinism Canada Canon Law Capital Punishment Capitalism Caryll Houselander Catholic Blog Awards Catholic Blogging Catholic League Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Worker Movement Catholicity CFL Charity Children Chris West Christ and Culture Christian Democracy Christian Unity Christmas Christology Church Church Doctrine Church History Climate Change Cohabitation Colbert Collegiality Communion Communism Comparative Theology Competition Conferences conscience conscience rights Consequentialism Consistent Life Ethics Consumerism Contraception Contrition Conversion Converts Coptic COVID-19 Creation Critical Thinking Cross Cuba Culture Culture of Death Culture of Life Darfur David Cruz-Uribe David Wheeler-Reed Death Death Penalty Democracy Demons Desert Fathers Devil Dialogue dignity Disability Disarmament discernment Discipleship discrimination Dissent Distributism Division Doctrine Domestic Church Dorothy Day Double Effect Doubt Down syndrome Driving Early Church Easter Eastern Churches Ecclesiology Economics Economy Ecumenism Education El Salvador Election Election 2020 Ellul Embryonic Stem Cell Research Empire Energy Enlighenment Environmentalism Ephraim Radner Episcopal Church epistemology Equality Eschatology Ethics Eucharist Europe Euthanasia Evangelization Evil Evolution Excommunication F.X. Durrwell Facism Facts Fair Trade Faith Family Fashion Feddie Feminism Feminist theology Fertility Fetal Rights Fiction Film Finances First Things flags Folk Religion Food Foreign Affairs Forgiveness Frank Sheed Free Speech Freedom gay & lesbian persons Genocide George W. Bush George Weigel Gerald L. Campbell Girard/Mimetic Theory Global Warming Globalization Gnosticism Good Friday Grace Gratitude Greed Grey Cup 2009 Guadalupe Guest Post Guest Posts Gun Control Gustave Martelet Habitat for Humanity Hans Urs von Balthasar Harry Potter Hate Speech Health Health Care Healthcare Heather King Hebrew Bible Henri de Lubac Henry Karlson Herbert McCabe Heresy HHS Mandate Controversy History Holidays Holiness Holy Spirit Homiletics Homily Homosexuality Hope Hospitality How Far Can We Go? How Far Can We Go? Human Person Human Rights Humanae Vitae Humility Humor Hunger Hunting Identity Idolatry Ignacio Ellacuría Imagination Immigration In Memoriam Income Inequality Inculturation Indigenous People Individualism Inklings Intellect Interdependence Internet Interpretation Interviews Introduction Iraq War Islam Israel Jain James Alison James Martin Jazz Jesus Christ Jews Joe Biden Joe Hargrave Johann Baptist Metz John Allen John Henry Newman John Paul II John the Baptist John XXIII Jonathan Josef Pieper Joseph (the husband of Mary) Joseph Bernardin Joseph Ratzinger Josh Brumfield Journals Joy Judgment Just War Justice Kari Lundgren Karl Rahner Katerina Ivanovna Kenya Keynes Kingdom of God Kyle R. Cupp Labor Language Latin America Law Leanne Ogasawara Legion of Christ Leisure Lent Liberalism Liberation Theology Libertarianism Libya Lies Life life & dignity & responsibility of the human person Literature Little Way Liturgical music Liturgical Year Liturgy Living Simply Living Wage Local Church Lombard Lord of the Rings Louis Dupre Love M.Z. Magic Magisterium Mark DeFrancisis Mark Gordon Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Jr. Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masculinity Matt Talbot Matthew Fish Matthew Levering McCain Media Memorial Day Mennonites Mental Illness mercy Michael Iafrate Middle East militarism Miroslav Volf Mitt Romney Modesty Moral Theology Morality Mormonism Morning's Minion Mother Teresa Music Muslims Natalie Nate Wildermuth Nationalism Native Americans Nature Nazis Neuhaus New Evangelization New York City News NFP nihilism Nonviolence Not Abortion Nova's Ordo Nuclear weapons Nuns Obama Occult Old Age Opus Dei Ordination ordination of women original sin Orthodoxy Oscar Romero Other Voices Pacifism Palestine Palin Papacy Papal Peace Messages Papal Social Encyclicals Particular Affections Partisanship Patriotism Paul Paul Ryan Paul VI Peace Pentimento persecution Personalism Phantastes Philosophy PKD Planned Parenthood Pluralism Poetry Policraticus Politcal Apathy Politics Poll Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope Leo XIV Population Postcolonialsim Poverty Power Prayer Preaching Predictions Predictions for 2012 President Barack Obama priestly formation & discernment Pro-Life Progress Prophetic Witness Proportionalism Public Diplomacy Public Policy Question Quotes Rachel Maddow Racism Radical Catholic Mom Radical Catholicism Raymund Schwager Real Catholic TV Real Presence Reconciliation Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Religion religious freedom Responsibility Ressourcement Resurrection Rick Garnett Ridiculous Crap You Never Thought You'd See Robert Barron Roe v. Wade Roman Curia Rome Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation History Sam Harris Sam Rocha Same-sex Marriage Saskatchewan Roughriders Satire School of the Americas Science Scripture Seamless Garment Second Vatican Council Seeing Sex sexual violence Sexuality Sia Sin social justice Social Security Socialism Society of Jesus Sofia Loves Wisdom Solidarity Sophia soteriology Soutenus Spirituality Sports St. Dismas St. Joseph Stanley Hauerwas Statistics Stimulus Suffering Sunday Reflections Supernatural Supreme Court Symbolism Syria Taxing Technology Terrorism The State The Tea Party The Trump Administration Theological Anthropology Theology Theotokos Thomas Merton Throwaway Culture Tim Muldoon Tim Riley Tim Tebow Time Titian Tolkien Torture Toys Trade Traditionalism Transgender Transportation Transubstantiation Trinity Truth TV U.S. Affairs Uncategorized Unions unity among people who disagree US Catholicism USCCB Usury Utilitarianism Utopia Valentine's Day Vatican Vatican II Veterans Vicarious Suffering Video Violence Virgin Mary Vocations Voluntary Associations Voluntary Poverty Voting Vox Nova vox nova blog war War and Peace War Strategy Wealth Weirdness Welfare state Women Women Priests Work Woundedness Youth

Select a Month June 2026 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 July 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 July 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 November 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which city did Paul describe as "a city filled with idols"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jerusalem Corinth Athens Rome