Posted on 10/20/2010 8:24:41 PM PDT by marshmallow
Public outcry about the sex-abuse crisis, disdain for arrogant bishops and disagreement with church doctrine about birth control and abortion rights have not eroded the faith of Chicago's Roman Catholics, according to an unprecedented study of the archdiocese by one of the nation's preeminent Catholic scholars.
In fact, the study, to be unveiled Wednesday, reveals an even deeper faith on the part of young Chicago Catholics who are "more at ease with the practice of being Catholic on their own terms."
The first comprehensive study of Chicago Catholics likely will be the last word from the Rev. Andrew Greeley, the renowned and prolific priest, sociologist and author who suffered a near fatal brain injury when he fell getting out of a cab in 2008.
Publication of "Chicago Catholics and the Struggles Within Their Church," made possible by Greeley's colleagues, fulfills the original assignment Greeley, now 82, received more than 50 years ago. It is based on data from 524 Catholics in Cook and Lake counties contacted by the Survey Lab at the University of Chicago in 2007.
"I was sent to graduate school by Cardinal (Albert) Meyer to learn how to do sociology and then study the Archdiocese," Greeley wrote in the foreword of his 105th nonfiction book. After Meyer's death in 1965, the archdiocese "did its best to forget about his existence," Greeley said. "I had wanted to do this study for all my life as a sociologist. Entering my ninth decade, I figure it was time to do it."
Among the findings were revelations that set Chicago apart from other cities and reflected national trends. For example, like most American Catholics, parishioners gave a higher approval rating to their parish priest than Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Francis George, who received an 86 percent approval rating.
In addition, 78 percent of the respondents said Catholicism is either "extremely important" or "very important" in their lives.
Greeley wrote that the survey suggests "two separate Catholic identities -- an imaginative, story-telling identity and a rules identity," commonly referred to as "Cafeteria Catholics." Those Catholics revere the sacraments and run in primarily Catholic circles, but they make their own choices on moral, religious and political issues.
Here's hoping. It'll take at least a decade for scholars to clean up after him, and maybe 30-40 years to dispose of the waste.
Greeley was instrumental in helping my ex lose his faith. I hope he has a chance to sincerely repent of all his sins.
“Smorgasbord Catholics” are no more Catholics than formally pro-abortion “Catholics” are. They past the label on their foreheads but that label is the extent of their belief. Picking and choosing what you like is rejecting religion.
That doesn't sound like 'unwavering faith' to me. It sounds like the young people (and some older folks, too) are saying, "I'll believe it, as long as it feels all right to me. If it makes me uncomfortable in the way I live my life, I'll just ignore it."
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