Catholic Culture in the USA: In and Out of Church

by John Portmann

Overview

This study of Catholicism articulates how theological teachings trickle down from the Vatican and influence decisions about food, marriage, sex, community celebrations, and medical care.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441163592
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/10/2010
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

John Portmann is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Who are Cultural Catholics?
2. European Origins
3. Weddings, Baptisms and Funerals
4. A Brief History of Catholic Dissent in the US
5. A Pope's Apology6. What Would the Virgin Mary Do? 7. Family RomancesPostscriptNotesIndex

Editorial Reviews

'... creative and often thought-provoking.'

"The sociological approach to Roman Catholicism used to favor regular church attendance and doctrinal conformity as the two most relevant benchmarks of the alleged religious involvement of the faithful. Exploring the composite nebula of the "cultural Catholics", who claim to a Catholic identity without conforming themselves to the ecclesiastical standards, John Portmann's book offers a vivid and renewed overview of the internal plurality of Roman Catholicism, and enlarges the sociological approach to its normative system." - Professor Danièle Hervieu-Léger, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France, and author of Religion as a Chain of Memory
Catholic Herald

'An important avenue of inquiry. ... [Portman's] questions are excellent and his accommodating tone is admirable.' Catholic Herald

Reviewed in the Church Times.
Catholic News Service

From the Publisher