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Self-Identified Traditional, Moderate, and Liberal Catholics: Movement-Based Identities or Something Else?

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Abstract

Through qualitative analyses of 50 in-depth interviews with Catholics in three Midwestern cities, I investigate the role of religious movement organizations in the formation of Catholic identities. I find that movement organizations and elites tend to have little direct impact on the formation of Catholic parishioners’ identities in my sample. While movements’ disruptions and interactions with media are useful for generating debate and wider recognition of religious disagreements, my respondents are not usually socialized by nor do they identify with familiar movements when they call themselves traditional, moderate, and liberal. Most are uninterested in and unacquainted with movement organizations and publications. Instead, their religious identification is a form of religious mapping, which reflects their self-understood position vis-à-vis recognized cultural conflicts within the larger religious community. While movements play a limited role, I argue that we should be wary of conceptualizing Catholic identities as products of movement groups or parachurch networks since most Catholic identity-work occurs within families and parishes, as opposed to movements or parachurch organizations.

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Notes

  1. See the report on the 1989 NES Pilot Study (Leege et al. 1990) for a notable exception.

  2. Others, such as Marsden (1984), have written of “parachurch agencies.”

  3. My respondents also provided other self-identifications as well, such as “Good Catholic,” “Devout Catholic,” “Struggling Catholic,” “Practicing Catholic,” etc., but these identifications were volunteered less often than the three examined above and discussed in this paper.

  4. These percentages are in response to the question: “When it comes to your religious identity, would you say you are a traditional, moderate, or liberal catholic or do none of these describe you?” This question was also asked in the 1998 and 2000 General Social Surveys, with nearly 90% of Catholics nationwide willing to self-identify as traditional, moderate, or liberal Catholics when asked, and the question parallels Smith’s measure of Protestant sub-cultural religious identity.

  5. I am indebted to an anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.

  6. A few of my respondents mention subscribing to the Catholic Digest and/or the Catholic Key but were not sure whether these were traditional or liberal and stated that they did not subscribe to them on that basis.

  7. Note: Movement members who actually opt out of parish membership will not show up in my sample. In Dillon’s (1999) study of movement activists, however, activists tended to be active church-goers (with the notable exception of Catholics for a Free Choice). Weaver and Appleby (1995) depict traditionalists similarly as active church-goers. Finally, D’Antonio and Pogorelc (2007) find that Voice of the Faithful (a recent movement) is also generally composed of highly active and committed parishioners.

  8. Even when I exclude moderate Catholics from consideration and limit the sample to self-identified traditional and liberal Catholics, a majority remain unacquainted with religious movement organizations. Of all self-identified traditional and liberal Catholics interviewed, 58% fail to name a single movement-oriented organization associated with either traditional or liberal Catholics and 52% report never having considered joining such an organization or reading such a periodical.

  9. Of course, not all movement issues are given equal play by the media and the loose connection between movement groups and Catholic identities means that issues that are unable to generate conflict that makes headlines are less likely to be on the radar of ordinary Catholics.

  10. Schemas and frames provide a potential mechanism whereby movements can play an important role in identity formation, but more empirical work needs to be done to show that the schemas and frames used for such tasks actually originate from within movements. For instance, many of my liberal respondents emphasized the importance of “openness” and expressed a positive orientation towards “change” and a negative orientation towards “following the rules.” While these symbolic orientations find resonance in the networks, literature and discourse of liberal movement groups, I am not willing to automatically assume that my respondents and their fellow parishioners appropriated such discourse from movement members or literature. Furthermore, even when appropriating ideas, notions, and labels from other people and other areas of life, my respondents do not merely passively accept categories and labels such as “traditional” and “liberal” but actively construct their cognitive maps of differences.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0302616. I thank Clem Brooks, Marc Dixon, Josh Klugman, Jim Orcutt, Jill Quadagno, Rob Robinson, Deana Rohlinger, Doug Schrock, Mary Jo Weaver, and Melissa Wilde for their helpful comments on earlier drafts.

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Correspondence to Brian Starks.

Appendix: In-depth interview questionnaire for traditionals, moderates, and liberals

Appendix: In-depth interview questionnaire for traditionals, moderates, and liberals

  1. 1.

    First, I want to start out with some basic questions. What year were you born?

  2. 2.

    Have you always been a Catholic? (If not, what were you raised as and when did you become Catholic?) Where were you baptized? Were you confirmed? (Where were you confirmed?)

  3. 3.

    How often do you attend church? (Never, once or twice a year, a few times a year, once a month, a few times a month, once a week, several times a week)

  4. 4.

    Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or what?

  5. 5.

    Politically, we hear a lot of talk about liberals and conservatives. On a seven-point scale from extremely liberal—point 1–to extremely conservative—point 7, where would you place yourself politically?

  6. 6.

    Are you currently married? (Is your spouse Catholic?) Have you ever been widowed or divorced?

  7. 7.

    Do you have any children? (How many?)

  8. 8.

    How many years of education have you completed?

  9. 9.

    What is your current occupation?

Moving on to questions related to your Catholicism…

  1. 10.

    What about being Catholic makes you feel the most proud? (Can you identify events or occasions during your life when you felt particularly proud to be Catholic?)

  2. 11.

    What about being Catholic makes you feel not so proud? (Can you identify events or occasions during your life when you felt not so proud to be Catholic?)

  3. 12.

    Are there any aspects of Catholicism that you consider to be so central to your personal understanding of Catholicism that you would not want to see them changed? (What are they? Why are they so important to you?)

  4. 13.

    Have you ever tried convincing non-Catholics to join Catholicism? (What were the circumstances? How did you go about it?)

  5. 14.

    What for you makes being Catholic different, for instance, from being a Protestant?

As you probably know, in the 1960s the Catholic Church convened the Second Vatican Council and it changed the church in many ways.

People have different perspectives about Vatican II, from your point of view…

  1. 15.

    What do you see as the principal changes brought about by Vatican II?

  2. 16.

    After Vatican II, do you think the way the Church has changed has been a good thing? (What changes are you thinking of when you say that?) …a bad thing? (What changes are you thinking of when you say that?)

  3. 17.

    Overall, would you say that Vatican II went too far? Didn’t go far enough? Or was about right? (Probe on the issues they are considering)

  4. 18.

    Are there ways in which you feel the Church should remain true to the past?

  5. 19.

    Are there ways in which you feel the Church still has to change to bring itself in step with life in America today?

Now I want to ask you some questions about current church and religious practices

  1. 20.

    Do you enjoy the way the Catholic mass is said at local parishes?

  2. 21.

    Have you ever gone to a Latin Mass? (What was the experience like?)

  3. 22.

    Would you prefer to have Latin elements in the current mass?

  4. 23.

    Have you ever had experiences with more experimental worship styles? Tell me about these experiences. Were these experiences generally positive or negative? In comparison to a traditional mass, was it a better experience, a worse experience, or about the same? Why?

  5. 24.

    Do you generally like the homilies/sermons given at mass? (What constitutes a good sermon? In other words, sermons should be more…sermons should be less…)

  6. 25.

    Have you prayed the Rosary recently? (Do you think you will in the future? If so, in what circumstances?) Do you engage in any other traditional religious practices? (for example Stations of the Cross) Do you have religious objects in your home? Did your parents have religious objects in their home?

  7. 26.

    What is your overall perception of the importance of Mary in the Church? If you have one, what is your favorite title for Mary?

  8. 27.

    Have you ever gone on a pilgrimage to a Marian site? (e.g. Medjugorge, Gaudalupe, etc.) Do you personally know anyone who has?

Now, I want to ask you some questions about your parish…

  1. 28.

    How did you end up going to church at [name of parish]?

  2. 29.

    Did you investigate any other churches before choosing [name of parish]? (If so, why did you choose [name of parish]?)

  3. 30.

    What was your initial impression of the church (i.e. The first time you walked in)?

  4. 31.

    Thinking of [name of parish], do you think it is a traditional or a liberal parish? Do you know of any particularly traditional parishes in [name of city]? (If so, what parishes? Why would you say these parishes are especially traditional?) Any parishes that are particularly liberal? (Names? Why would you say these parishes are liberal?)

Now, I want to ask you some questions about your friends Many people have some good friends they feel close to. Who are your good friends (other than your spouse)? Just tell me their first names. (LIST NAMES IN GRID BELOW). Is there anyone else?

NAME 1 NAME 2 NAME 3 NAME 4 NAME 5

______ ______ ______ ______ _______

Now let's go back and talk about (NAME). [REPEAT FOR EACH FRIEND]

What's is (NAME'S) religious preference? Is it Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, some other religion, or no religion?

(If Catholic) Is (NAME) a member of your congregation?

(If Protestant) Do you know the specific church or denomination?

How did you meet (NAME) and become friends? (through work, church?)

  1. 32.

    If your friend took a differing theological position, would that affect your friendship? (What types of theological differences might affect your friendship?) How about if he took a differing political position? (What types of political positions might affect your friendship?)

Now I want to ask you about your Catholic identity…

  1. 33.

    If you had to say what type of a Catholic you are, what would say? What would you label yourself? I am a <blank> Catholic. (If they say Roman Catholic, etc. then probe with “Of course, not all Roman Catholics are alike, how would you differentiate yourself from Catholics with whom you disagree?” Probe no further.)

Why is it that you say you are a _____ Catholic?

What if I ask the question this way…

  1. 34.

    When it comes to your religious identity, would you say you are a traditional, moderate, or liberal catholic or do none of these describe you?

What comes to mind when you imagine a traditional Catholic?…a liberal Catholic?…a moderate Catholic?

Where have you gotten these images?

  1. 35.

    What do you think are the key issues that divide traditionals and liberals?

  2. 36.

    If you had to choose the biggest issue, which one would you choose?

  3. 37.

    If your parish priest _____(use an opposing position in regards to the issue cited above as the biggest issue dividing the Church), how would you react? (Would you leave the Church? Would you leave the parish? Would you go to Church less often? Would you write to the Archbishop? Would you give less to Sunday collections?)

  4. 38.

    Considering your friends that you said earlier you were close to who are Catholic, Would you say that (NAME) is a traditional, moderate, or liberal Catholic, or would you say none of these describe your friend? (How sure would you say you are of this categorization?) Have you ever debated or argued about church issues with (NAME)?

  5. 39.

    Can you think of any Catholic organizations here in [name of city] (currently or in the past) which you would consider traditional? (Could you list them for me?) Any that you would consider liberal? (Could you list these for me?)

  6. 40.

    How important would you say that the differences between traditional and liberal Catholics are to you? Have you ever considered joining an organization or reading a periodical associated with traditional Catholics?

  7. 41.

    Do you feel that the differences between traditionals and liberals are destructive of the American Catholic Church or are such differences a healthy thing?

  8. 42.

    (If traditional) Do you feel you have more in common in some ways with traditionalist Protestants than with liberal Catholics? In what ways and why? (If forced to choose, who would you say you have more in common with overall—traditionalist Protestants or liberal Catholics?)

(If liberal) Do you feel you have more in common in some ways with liberal Protestants than with traditional Catholics? In what ways and why? (If forced to choose, who would you say you have more in common with overall—liberal Protestants or traditional Catholics?)

  1. 43.

    Have you tried to convince other Catholics of your trad/liberal religious beliefs on different issues? (What have you done?)

  2. 44.

    I’m going to list a wide variety of periodicals, organizations, and terms associated with Catholicism. I would like you to indicate which ones sound familiar. As I read this list, just let me know if you recognize the item. You may not have heard of any of these, that’s ok.

  • Franciscans

  • Legionaries of Christ

  • Jesuits

  • Opus Dei

  • Xavier Rynne

  • Sister Angelica

  • Eternal Word Television Network

  • The Wanderer

  • The National Catholic Register

  • The National Catholic Reporter

  • America (monthly periodical)

  • Churchwatch

  • Our Sunday Visitor

  • Today’s Catholic

  • Catholics United for the Faith

  • Call to Action

  • Voice of the Faithful

  • National Assembly of Religious Women

  • Women for Faith and Family

  • Society of St. Pius X

  • Franciscan University of Steubenville

  • Womanchurch

  • Catholics United for Christ

  • Lambs of Christ

  • Catholics for a Free Choice

  • Catholics United for Life

  • Blue Army (of Mary)

  • Sedevacantist

  • Transubstantiation

If any are recognized, probe them for details (Are they a member, etc?) and ask if they would consider this organization (or publication, personality, term) to be traditionalist, moderate, or liberal?

Now, I’d like to ask you some questions about family life. Some of these questions are a bit personal and if you don’t feel comfortable you do not have to answer them. I am asking them because I think that they are important for understanding how people make decisions regarding their family, their children, and their homes.

  1. 45.

    What do you think is the ideal number of children?

  2. 46.

    (If married) Do you and your spouse both work?

  3. 47.

    What are your views regarding the spanking of children? (Have your views changed over time? How have you developed your views about the spanking of children? Does your faith or religion shape your views on this issue? How does God view that?)

  4. 48.

    Do you feel that mothers and fathers should hold different roles in the family? (Have your views changed over time? How have you developed your views about the roles of mother and father? Does your faith or religion shape your views on this issue?)

  5. 49.

    How does God view these two issues—the spanking of children and the roles of mother and father?

  6. 50.

    What values do you think are most important for children to learn?

  7. 51.

    When you think about divorce, how big of a problem is it? What do you think are the major reasons couples get divorced? How do you think divorce effects children? What are alternatives to divorce and are they better or worse than divorce in most cases?)

  8. 52.

    Now I want to ask some questions about abortion. What are your feelings about abortion? (Should it be legal or illegal? In what instances? Why does it occur? How active have you personally been with regards to the issue politically? Have your views about abortion changed over time? Have you ever known someone who had an abortion? How does your faith relate to your views on this issue?)

  9. 53.

    Now imagine a person who has a disease that cannot be cured, how do you feel about doctors being allowed by law to end the patient's life by some painless means if the patient and family request it? (How does your faith relate to this choice? Have your views about euthanasia changed over time?)

  10. 54.

    Personally, how do you feel about the death penalty for persons convicted of murder? (How) does your faith relate to your position on this issue? Have your views about the death penalty changed over time?)

  11. 55.

    Have you ever heard people talk about a “consistent ethic of life?” (Was this in a Catholic context? What does this mean to you? Has this affected your beliefs regarding any of these issues?) (Cardinal Bernardin’s discussion of a seamless garment concept?)

  12. 56.

    When considering the gap between rich and poor, what do you think is the government’s responsibility in reducing income differences? …your responsibility? (Does your faith guide you in taking a position on this issue? How?)

  13. 57.

    Ok, now think about people who don’t have a job but want one, what should the government’s responsibility be in providing jobs for everyone who wants one? …your responsibility? (Does your faith guide you in taking a position on this issue? How?)

  14. 58.

    Have you ever read or heard of the pastoral letter “Economic Justice for All?”

  15. 59.

    Do you ever feel that your view of the world doesn’t fit into the usual discussion of politics? (Or do you ever feel that your religious identity and your political identity push you in different directions?) When do you feel this way?

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Starks, B. Self-Identified Traditional, Moderate, and Liberal Catholics: Movement-Based Identities or Something Else?. Qual Sociol 32, 1–32 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-008-9118-9

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