Roman Catholics in England: Studies in Social Structure Since the Second World War

Hornsby-Smith, Michael P.

ISBN 10: 0521303133 / ISBN 13: 9780521303132

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1987

About this Item

Your purchase helps support Sri Lankan Children's Charity 'The Rainbow Centre'. Ex-library, so some stamps and wear, but in good overall condition. Our donations to The Rainbow Centre have helped provide an education and a safe haven to hundreds of children who live in appalling conditions.

Seller Inventory # Z1-R-019-01863

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Roman Catholics in England: Studies in Social Structure Since the Second World War
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521303133
• ISBN 13: 9780521303132
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

This book is about change in the Roman Catholic community in England and Wales. It argues that in the post-war years of economic growth and expanded educational opportunities, Catholics born in Great Britain achieved rates of upward social mobility comparable to those of the general population. In so doing there arose a 'new Catholic middle class', likely to be crucial for the future of Roman Catholicism in England and Wales. However, since one quarter of English Catholics were first-generation immigrants who had experienced some downward mobility, it could not be said that English Catholics generally had experienced a 'mobility momentum' relative to the rest of the population. Apart from the effects of social change, post-war Catholicism was also transformed as a result of the religious reforms legitimated by the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s. The net effect of these social and religious forces on English Catholicism was the dissolution of the boundaries which had formerly defended a 'fortress' church in a hostile world. The book identifies this, inter alia, in the widespread heterodoxy of belief and practice, and in the decline of marital endogamy and communal involvement.

Book Description

This book is about change in the Roman Catholic community in England and Wales. It argues that in the post-war years of economic growth and expanded educational opportunities, Catholics born in Great Britain achieved rates of upward social mobility comparable to those of the general population.