In Search of an American Catholicism A History of Religion and Culture in Tension

For more than two hundred years, writes eminent Catholic historian Jay P.Dolan, Catholics have struggled to reconcile two sets of values, as Americansand as Catholics. In this incisive, elegantly written account, Dolan exploreshow Catholics have met the challenges they have faced as New World followers ofan Old World faith.The ideals of democracy--and American culture in general--have deeplyshaped Catholicism in the United States, Dolan argues, even as far back as 1789,when the nation's first bishop was elected by the clergy (and the pope acceptedtheir choice). Dolan follows the tension between American democratic values andCatholic doctrine, from the conservative reaction after the fall of Napoleon, tothe modernist movement of the late nineteenth century, to the impact of theSecond Vatican Council. Dolan explores grassroots devotional life; the struggleagainst successive waves of nativism, from nineteenth-century Know-Nothings tothe Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s; the impact--and often, collision--of differentimmigrant groups and their traditions; and the disputed issue of gender. Heshows throughout that influences have flowed in both directions; belief andchurch traditions have shaped Catholics' sense of citizenship, community, andpublic advocacy.Today, the author writes, the tensions remain, as we see signs of both aresurgent traditionalism in the church in response to the liberalizing trendlaunched by John XXIII, and a resistance to the conservatism of John Paul II. Inthis lucidly written account, the unfinished story of Catholicism in Americaemerges clearly and compellingly, illuminating the inner life of the church andof the nation.

Jay P. Dolan is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of several books on the history of American Catholicism, including his best known work, The American Catholic Experience: A History from Colonial Times to the Present. He has served as President of both the American Catholic Historical Association and the American Society of Church History.