A Question of Authority: Friction in the Catholic Family Life Movement, 1948-1962

A QUESTION OF AUTHORITY: FRICTION IN THE CATHOLIC FAMILY LIFE MOVEMENT, 1948-1962 Kathryn A.Johnson* In 1950 spiritual directors for the National Councils of Catholic Men and Catholic Women met in Denver for their second annual conference . These priests, in most cases the family life directors of their dioceses , were struck by an emerging split within the Church over the future of family life movements. The Reverend Roy Rihn of San Antonio asked his fellow workshop attendees how they could "avoid 'ecclesiastical schizophrenia' in view of the two approaches in Catholic Action . . . . The top-down, mass appeal, stressing organizations, monster rallies, etc. [or] the Bottom-up, slow growth method, based on formation ofteams through the inquiry method (see-judge-act) the apostolate of like to like."1 It was a difficult question, one with important ramifications for the future of the Church, but in 1950, these spiritual directors had no ready answer. Although the "family apostolate" emerged after World War II as the fastest-growing movement in the American Catholic Church, there was widespread disagreement over its direction. Some individuals working on family issues forecast a gloomy future unless lay Catholics accepted priestly authority and closely followed the Church's teachings. Others saw the Catholic family itself as a medium for positive social change and as a way to affirm their identity as religious Catholics within an increasingly secular society. Both sides of this emerging family apostolate promoted new programs and ideas to protect and defend Catholic "family values" from the perceived ills of secular society. Those *Dr. Johnson is an assistant professor of history in Barnard College. This article was originally presented at the spring meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association , held in Houston, Texas, on March 22 and 23, 1996. She would like to thank Charles Rosenberg, Beth Hillman, Jeffrey Burns, Philip Gleason, and Susan Margaret Thompson for their comments and advice on the different versions of the article. 'Archives of the Archdiocese of Denver, Box 170, Folder "National Council of Catholic Women,"Proceedings ofthe SecondNational WorkshopforDiocesan Spiritual DirectorsNCCM -NCCW,April 18-21, 1950. 217 218FRICTION IN THE CATHOUC FAMILY UFE MOVEMENT who believed in continued reliance on hierarchy and lay obedience preferred a traditional "top-down"focus on educational efforts and"monster rallies" firmly under hierarchical control. A more radical vision emerged after the war, however, as lay Catholics began to recognize their power within the Church and pushed for programs that emphasized lay action in small groups. Action-oriented groups that used a Catholic Action "inquiry method" and focused on the family from the "bottom-up"were a result of the profound social and demographic changes of the postwar period.2 In a 1943 national survey of thirty-five parish priests, twenty-two mentioned some parish society -whose -work included improving family life, but none that worked exclusively on family issues.3 Just fifteen years later there were more than ten national groups concerned solely with strengthening Catholic family values through action, study, and prayer. Most of these new groups encouraged husbands and wives to work together, and many preferred taking action to studying scholarly literature. The rise of family-oriented groups helped to make questions about authority and who had power to make decisions an increasingly contested issue in the Church after World War II. A fast-growing group of suburban , middle-class Catholics, many priests acknowledged, were different from their earlier ethnic and urban counterparts. A group of Chicago clergy who met regularly to discuss social issues were aware, for example , that older relationships between priest and parishioners were changing. They agreed that while the "present form has been set over many years," it was "largely a result of old world customs and immigration ." They noted that ideas about the clergy were "changing rapidly . . . the old tyrant can't get away with it. More is expected of us than before but in a different way."4 An educated and increasingly active laity 2For background on American Catholicism during the period from 1930 to the Second Vatican Council, see especiallyJay P. Dolan, TheAmerican Catholic Experienced History from Colonial Times to the Present (New York, 1985), pp. 349-420; David J. O'Brien, The...