Catholic Activism Today

Maureen K. Day

Maureen K. Day

Catholic Activism Today

Individual Transformation and the Struggle for Social Justice

In: Religion and Social Transformation, 11

New York University Press | 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18574/9781479821419

Overview
Contents

About this book

Uncovers why Catholic organizations fail to foster civic activism

The American Catholic Church boasts a long history of teaching and activism on issues of social justice. In the face of declining religious and community involvement in the twenty-first century, many modern-day Catholic groups aspire to revive the faith as well as their connections to the larger world. Yet while thousands attend weekly meetings designed to instill religiosity and a commitment to civic engagement, these programs often fail to achieve their more large-scale goals.

In Catholic Activism Today, Maureen K. Day sheds light on the impediments to successfully enacting social change. She argues that popular organizations such as JustFaith Ministries have embraced an approach to civic engagement that focuses on mobilizing Catholics as individuals rather than as collectives. There is reason to think this approach is effective—these organizations experience robust participation in their programs and garner reports of having had a transformative effect on their participants’ lives. Yet, Day shows that this approach encourages participants to make personal lifestyle changes rather than contend with structural social inequalities, thus failing to make real inroads in the pursuit of social justice. Moreover, the focus on the individual serves to undermine the institutional authority of the Catholic Church itself, shifting American Catholics’ perceptions of the Church from a hierarchy that controls the laity to one that simply influences it as they pursue their individual paths.

Drawing on three years of interview, survey, and participant observation data, Catholic Activism Today offers a compelling new take on contemporary dynamics of Catholic civic engagement and its potential effect on the Church at large.

Author information

Day Maureen K. :

Maureen K. Day is Assistant Professor of Religion and Society at the Franciscan School of Theology and a Research Fellow at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). She is the editor of Young Adult American Catholics: Explaining Vocation in Their Own Words.Maureen K. Day is Assistant Professor of Religion and Society at the Franciscan School of Theology and a Research Fellow at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). She is the editor of Young Adult American Catholics: Explaining Vocation in Their Own Words.

Reviews

Michele Dillon, Dean, College of Liberal Arts, University of New Hampshire:
With empathic sensitivity to the twists and turns in individuals’ lives and their spiritual journeys, Maureen Day illuminates the centrality of Catholic faith and purposeful community in cultivating impactful civic engagement notwithstanding the structural forces that foster economic and social inequality. Using thoughtful interview and observation data, her gentle, yet rigorous, narrative persuades us that individuals’ everyday decisions and actions have a ripple effect in the crafting of a better, more morally authoritative, society.

Tricia C. Bruce, author of Parish and Place: Making Room for Diversity in the American Catholic Church:
Masterfully captures the contemporary relocation of Catholic activism from institution-building to personal transformation. Catholic Activism Today offers vital lessons for modern religious practice, the public role of Catholicism, and the dilemmas of individualism for enacting justice.

Jerome P. Baggett, author of Sense of the Faithful: How American Catholics Live Their Faith:
The hope among the leadership at JustFaith Ministries is that the caring and activism learned therein will ’ripple outward’ amid the everyday lives of its participants. Interestingly, it is just this sort of rippling that is so abundantly evident in Maureen Day’s thoughtful and engaging study. Flowing from her analysis of this discipleship-style organization come ever-widening insights regarding contemporary American Catholicism, the strategies and dilemmas associated with grassroots activism, and, undulating still further, the prospects of living meaningful, generative lives at a time when possibilities for doing so seem to be constricting. I hope this important book will find a readership proportionate to the impressively broad scope of its concerns.

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	vii
Introduction Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
1 JustFaith Ministries and the Discipleship Style Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	9
2 The Culture of Catholic Civic Engagement Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	41
3 From Private Belief to Public Call Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	67
4 Christ- Centered Discipleship Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	101
5 Transforming Community Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	133
6 The State, the Market, and Poverty Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	163
7 Compassion Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	201
Conclusion: JustFaith Ministries and the American Catholic Landscape Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	229
Acknowledgments Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	241
Appendix A: Detailed Methods Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	245
Appendix B: Overview of JustFaith Ministries Programs Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	247
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	255
Bibliography Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	287
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	297
About the Author Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	311

Catholic Activism Today

Individual Transformation and the Struggle for Social Justice

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