Roman Catholicism in America (review)

Roman Catholicism in America. By Chester Gillis. [Columbia Contemporary American Religion Series.] (New York: Columbia University Press. 1999. Pp. xi, 365. $35.00.)

Together with Islam in America by Janet Smith, this volume constitutes the first offering of a new series by Columbia University Press on religion in contemporary America. These first volumes, each focusing on a major religious group, promise the reader an examination of who the adherents are; of their beliefs, practices, and organization; and of their relationships with American society. Furthermore, and it is a theme much emphasized by Gillis with regard to Catholicism, they seek to outline how these religions and their members have been changed by American culture. The stated goal of this book is to create a broad portrait of the Catholic Church in America for the general reader as well as for students. The results are somewhat mixed.

Gillis, an associate professor of theology and Catholic studies in Georgetown University, includes seventy-two pages (two chapters) of "A Brief History of Catholics in America," almost entirely dependent on secondary sources. He appears greatly influenced by the work of Jay Dolan, writing that John Carroll's earlier "democratic" view of the Church was abandoned after he became a bishop, and repeating the unsubstantiated assertion that in the Church of the Early Republic "the vernacular liturgy was normative" (p. 58). Brief historical contexts are also provided in the other chapters, where the emphasis is on the "Post-Vatican II Church," though there are several errors in these, e.g., James Hickey was created a cardinal only after the Curran affair (pp. 108-109), Anthony Bevilacqua never served as auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese of New York (p. 100), the meaning of the appointment of women as "deacons" in the Early Church is still a disputed historical point (p. 101), and Pius XII's encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu certainly did not call upon Catholic biblical scholars to employ "the historical-critical methods that had long been used by Protestant scholars" (p. 133).

Gillis contends that the Catholic Church has been changed by its historical experience in a pluralistic culture, and that in fact "the majority" of American Catholics disagree with significant church teachings. Often relying on anecdotal, as well as some statistical, evidence, the author attempts to describe the current state of Catholicism within the nation. Unfortunately, Gillis often presents himself as a somewhat "preachy" advocate of change within the Church (e.g., "the church must . . ."). This is especially clear in the sections on women and the church and on sexual and reproductive ethics. His theological perspective is that "revelation continues . . . within the church" (p. 132) and that many of the persons and movements at odds with "the Vatican" (a political model used throughout the book) are part of this process of ongoing revelation, including, he suggests, Frances Kissling and her organization, Catholics for a Free Choice (pp. 37, 119, 182). Great emphasis is given to the decline in the number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, though no notice is given to those few dioceses and communities that are currently successful in their recruitment efforts (as was done by Charles Morris in American Catholic).

Sources are well-noted in endnotes, and an appendix provides a time line. Another appendix offers very brief profiles of fourteen individual Catholics (and the "Kennedy Family"). A glossary, index, list of resources about Catholicism on the Web, and selected list for further reading complete the helpful aids for the reader. Gillis' book, which attempts a vast survey of recent social and ecclesial developments, is of limited use for the serious student of church history, though he amply demonstrates that for many contemporaries the understanding of what constitutes Catholicism has been profoundly influenced by the American culture. How this has in fact changed the Catholic faith is, for many others, another question.

James F. Garneau
Pontifical College Josephinum
Columbus, Ohio

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