Crabgrass Catholicism - (Historical Studies of Urban America) by Stephen M Koeth

About the Book

"The 1960s in America were a time of revolt against the stifling conformism embodied in the sprawling, uniform suburbs. Typically, the Catholic Church's Vatican II reforms, which aimed to make the church more modern and accessible, are seen as fruits of that broader cultural liberalization. But Stephen Koeth demonstrates that the liberalization of the church was a product of mass suburbanization, beginning some twenty years before Vatican II. He shows the demographic decline of urban parishes to be the basis of a major cultural shift. He links spiritual belief to where it was practiced, showing that changes in the latter sparked changes in the former-not the other way around"--

Book Synopsis

How suburbanization was a crucial catalyst for reforms in the Catholic Church.

The 1960s in America were a time of revolt against the stifling conformism embodied in the sprawling, uniform suburbs of the 1950s. Typically, the reforms of the Catholic Church's Second Vatican Council, which aimed to make the Church more modern and accessible, are seen as one result of that broader cultural liberalization. Yet in Crabgrass Catholicism, Stephen M. Koeth demonstrates that the liberalization of the Church was instead the product of the mass suburbanization that began some fifteen years earlier. Koeth argues that postwar suburbanization revolutionized the Catholic parish, the relationship between clergy and laity, conceptions of parochial education, and Catholic participation in US politics, and thereby was a significant factor in the religious disaffiliation that only accelerated in subsequent decades.

A novel exploration of the role of Catholics in postwar suburbanization, Crabgrass Catholicism will be of particular interest to urban historians, scholars of American Catholicism and religious studies, and Catholic clergy and laity.

Review Quotes

"Thoroughly researched and well analyzed, this is a smart look at a volatile period in American religious history."-- "Publishers Weekly"

"Stephen Koeth's Crabgrass Catholicism vividly dissects post-World War Two Long Island Catholicism to explore fissures that have roiled American Catholicism ever since--divides between clergy and laity, eroding parish life, growing Catholic divisions over education, birth control, and abortion, and the emergence of conservative Catholic Republican politics--all superbly researched and deftly written. A fascinating, compelling book."--Jon Butler, author of 'God in Gotham: The Miracle of Religion in Modern Manhattan'

"As a product of 'Crabgrass Catholicism' myself -- since my family moved to the suburbs of St. Louis in 1954 -- I found Father Koeth's history perceptive and enlightening. Yes, politics is local; yes, so is formation in faith. You'll find this work as fascinating as did I."--Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York

About the Author

Stephen M. Koeth is assistant professor of history at the University of Notre Dame and an ordained Catholic priest.