General Description:

David Carlin

The Roots of the crisis that's rocked the pulpits and emptied the pews

Many Catholics blame Vatican II for the decline of the Church in America these past 30 years: traditionalists say it caused too many changes, liberals say too few.

In this groundbreaking book, sociologist David Carlin shows that although Vatican II was the flashpoint for change in the Church, the roots of today's crisis go deeper than anything that happened during the Council.

Basing his conclusions on sociological analysis rather than on the theology or Church teachings, Carlin shows that in the 1960's the triumph of tolerance as an American virtue led Catholics to downplay their uniquely Catholic beliefs for the sake of national unity. At the same time, the weakened Church was being battered by a culture that, seemingly overnight, had become boldly secularist and morally libertine.

Called by Vatican II to engage the culture in order to evangelize it, while pressed by the culture to downplay its Catholicity in the name of tolerance, the Church in America lost its way.

The result? A widespread loss of Catholic identity; weakening of fidelity to Church teachings; Catholics abandoning their faith; and a diminishment of the Church's role as a moral voice in American society.

Carlin's analysis has uncovered a problem that's older and even more dangerous for the future of Catholicism than the deeds that have lately thrust the Church into the front pages. Indeed, says Carlin, the scandals are merely symptoms of this deeper problem that will continue to drain the Church's vitality long after the scandals are forgotten.

The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America: essential reading for all who seek to understand the decline of their beloved Church and who hope to devise effective ways to restore her.

Audience:

• All those who live the Church and want to understand - and reverse - its decline in America
• Persons seeking a nonideological explanation of Catholicism in American life these past 30 years

David Carlin is a professor of sociology and philosophy at the Community College of Rhode Island and served twelve years in the Rhode Island state senate.

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