Social Relations in the Urban Parish by Joseph H. Fichter, S. J. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS Social Relations in the Urban Parish. By JosEPH H. FICHTER, S. J. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954. Pp. 264 with appendix and index. $5.50. Father Fichter's Social Relations in the Urban Parish is a volume certain to be discussed over rectory dinner tables for many months to come. It makes no pretensions to stylistic excellence, but it more than compensates for this In serious scholarship and painstaking documentation. Tribute must be paid to Father Fichter for publishing this fitting sequel to his work Dynamics of a City Church. The controversy provoked by the findings of this latter work, which somewhat beclouded the main issues of the study, probably will not ensue with the publication of this volume. The emotion-fraught criticism of the first study-some of it trivial, part of it valid, some of it tangential, but little of it constructive-tended more to" inflame feeling than to clarify the problems emerging from the research. A creditable sociological study in its own right, interest in Social Relations is heightened by the author's conviction of the value of such study for the work of the Church (cf. Appendix) , and for his sincere concern for findiRg the best means of carrying out that apostolic function amid the difficulties of the changing urban parishes in the United States. The last chapter in the volume on the ethical limitations of sociological reporting exhibits at once his respect and fidelity to the canons of scientific objectivity and his understanding of the moral restrictions placed upon the researcher in that delicate area where publication of data may lead to the damage of reputations . Indeed, the moral sensitivity of the author to the rights, feelings and reputations of the persons who are objects of sociological study and his application of ethical principles to his difficult area make this chapter well worth reading for anyone engaged in similar work. Some of the things that Father Fichter has to say have been said before, and without the trappings of sociological jargon. That does not make them any less less worth saying, for it is often the obvious that is missed and little appreciated. The parish priest will discover many of his own personal experiences reflected, his generalizations substantiated and his observations corroborated in this scientific study. At the same time, he is sure to find more than one clerical sophism exploded and more than a few cherished misconceptions laid to rest. Best of all, he will be furnished with many new insights into some of the puzzling aspects of parochial life and will be challenged to think through previously held conceptions regarding the role of the parish in the sanctification of the laity. 409 410 BOOK REVIEWS Early in his study Father Fichter attempts to determine to what extent persons may be classified under the term " parishioner." He uses six criteria: baptism, place of residence, racial and national origin, intention, religious observance and social participation. On the basis of this last criterion, the author is of the opinion that the urban Catholic parish is not a formally organized group or association, but rather " a social unit which might be called a statistical population, a social aggregate or category." This opinion differs from that of Nuesse and Harte (The Sociology of the Parish, Milwaukee, 1951), but steers a middle course between those who look on the urban parish as a close-knit, well-integrated unit and those who consider it as no more than a haphazard collection and agglomeration of people. Attempting to provide a typology of persons who participate in parochial life, the author roughly classifies them into nuclear, modal, marginal and dormant Catholics. The nuclear parishoner may be considered the ideal parishioner. He is most faithful in fulfilling his religious duties, most active and co-operative in parochial affairs, most integrated in the sense that he carries over into his other activities the high moral values contained in his religious convictions. Unfortunately, he is very much in the minority, constituting , according to the author, only 5.7 per cent of the white Catholic parishoners. According to the oft-quoted saying that the convert usually makes the best Catholic, we should expect...