American Catholicism faces a host of challenges, not least of which is maintaining its relevance in the face of an increasingly secularized society. On social issues ranging from sexuality and reproductive rights, to gender equality and expression, to economic policy and social welfare, the secularized American Catholic Church and the Roman hierarchy are often seen as conflicting parties. In Postsecular Catholicism, Michele Dillon argues that the Church's relevance is increasingly contingent on its ability to accept secular experiences and expectations as resources for articulating the Church's teachings.
Informed by the postsecular notion that religious and secular actors should engage in respectful dialogue, Dillon examines how secular realities and cotrinal concepts intersect in American Catholics's practical understanding of Catholicism and the hierarchy's theoretical approach to it. Dillon shows that the Church's 21st-century commitment to institutional renewal, begun by Pope Benedict XVI, has been amplified by Pope Francis's public vision of Catholicism and his accessible language and intellectual humility. With a rigorous examination of Francis's statements on economic inequality, climate change, LGBT rights, women's ordination, the recent expansive Vatican Synod on the Family, and the US bisonps's religious freedom campaign, Postsecular Catholicism highlights the initiatives and strategies meant to strengthen the Church's relevance in the contemporary world.
Industry Reviews
"A revelatory, insightful and challenging perspective on American Catholicism ... it is an important contribution to the life of the Church and of the society in which the Church lives." -- Ray Temmerman, Marriage, Families & Spirituality
"A much needed contribution to the understanding not only of contemporary Catholicism in postsecularity in the United States but also of the Western world more generally and of the modern papacy DL Pope Francis and his two predecessors DL in particular." -- Journal of Religion
"Dillon provides a rich account of contemporary American Catholicism, formulating profound arguments based on extensive quantitative and qualitative data. This work can thus be considered an important contribution to the body of scholarly literature on religion, secularism, and postsecularism..." -- Eline Huygens, Ghent University, Religion and Gender
"I hope others will read and learn from this excellent book and join her in directly tackling these thorny issues." -- Brian Starks, Review of Religious Research
"An ambitious consideration of how religion -- and Catholicism in particular -- maintains relevance amidst 'secularization.' ... Postsecular Catholicism presents a rich theoretical engagement with extant quantitative data on Catholics (American Catholics, in particular) ... Postsecular Catholicism is an important and well-executed book that makes a strong case for seeing intrachurch and extrachurch processes not as separate but as
intertwined." -- Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
"Academic activism can take a variety of forms. In Postsecular Catholicism, Michele Dillon articulates her vision for the future of Roman Catholicism via an intriguing dialectic between sociological theories, papal statements, and surveys of Catholic life in the United States." -- Brian Clites, Reading Religion
"Postsecular Catholicism is a masterwork. Michele Dillon asks if Catholicism has the 'human, doctrinal, and institutional resources' to forge a more inclusive church and contribute to a more inclusive society. She makes us doubt it as she reviews the research by others, but when she leads us through the 2015 Synod on the Family, she shows Catholicism's potential to include, organize, and inspire despite differences. No forecast can be sure, but Dillon
argues for cautious optimism and optimistic activism."--Michael Hout, Professor of Sociology, New York University
"Rather than being necessarily inimical to religious commitment and discourse, Michele Dillon's deft analysis of contemporary American Catholicism demonstrates how modernity constrains, transforms and opens up new possibilities for both the Church's self-understanding and its engagement within the public sphere. Never settling for such hidebound polarities as religious or secular, tradition or modernity, and the like, Dillon offers a relentlessly nuanced and
truly indispensable portrayal of the American Church."--Jerome P. Baggett, author of Sense of the Faithful: How American Catholics Live Their Faith
"Michele Dillon's Postsecular Catholicism brilliantly analyzes the ways Catholicism engages our current social world. Her writing is accessible and clear, without missing the complexities and tensions inherent in the work that Catholics are undertaking...Dillon's familiarity with both a postsecular landscape and her fluency in Catholic concerns and interests allow her to cogently illustrate the overlap between Catholicism and the broader social world
as well as the tensions that are inherent to a postsecular Catholicism. This is a must-read for academics who study religion or civic engagement as well as involved Catholics and their leaders." -- Maureen K.
Day, America Magazine
"Dillon's thesis is compelling. The analysis of Pope Francis' discourse would be of particular interest to the social theory audience." -- Sarah Louise MacMillen, Catholic Books Review
