Young Adult Catholics: Religion in the Culture of Choice - Hardcover

Hoge, Dean R.; Dinges, William D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0268044759 ISBN 13: 9780268044756

Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001

Synopsis

Leaders of the American Catholic community want to and need to reach out to young adults. But effective ministry to young adults means that church leaders have to understand the attitudes and the needs of the current generation of Catholics in their 20s and 30s. This is why Dean Hoge, William Dinges, Mary Johnson, and Juan Gonzales began their study of young adult Catholics. How do both European-American and Latino Catholics actually live their Catholicism? Are they alienated from the Church? Are they cynical about the Church's moral teachings? Do they take the Pope's statements seriously? Do they attend Mass? Have significant numbers left for other churches? Do they want Catholic education for their children? Seeking answers to these and other questions, Dean Hoge and his colleagues conducted a national survey in 1997, supplemented by a telephone survey and then by personal interviews with over 800 men and women across the country. The interviews put a human face on the information provided, and they form a compelling part of this timely narrative. The authors underscore observations that include the strength and tenacity of Catholic identity in spite of many challenges, the high level of personal decision-making among those interviewed and surveyed, and the readiness of young Catholics for institutional reforms.

About this title

About the Author:

DEAN R. HOGE is professor of Sociology at Catholic University of America. He is the author of Converts, Dropouts, Returnees: A Study of Religious Change Among Catholics, and co-author of Laity, American and Catholic: Transforming the Church. WILLIAM D. DINGES is associate professor of Religious Studies at Catholic University of America. He has published several scholarly articles, and is currently writing a book on the experience of the Mass among American Catholics. MARY JOHNSON, SND de N, is associate professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at Emmanuel College. She is the author of several scholarly articles. JUAN L. GONZALES, JR., is professor of Sociology at California State University, Hayward. He is the author of Racial and Ethnic Groups in America and the forthcoming The Sociology of the Mexican-American Family.

Review:

"By far the most comprehensive and insightful study ever done of young adult Catholics ages 20 to 39, this book compares Latino and non-Latino Catholics (differences are generally small) on a wide array of beliefs, attitudes, and practices. Most like being Catholic and cannot imagine being otherwise but beyond Mass attendance, connections to parish life and with the Church's sacramentalism are tenuous. The authors' ten concluding recommendations, embedded in a penetrating analysis of 'the culture of choice,' are invaluable." - Patrick H. McNamara, author of Conscience First, Tradition Second: A Study of Young Catholics

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0268044759
• ISBN 13: 9780268044756
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 296