A renowned sociologist and priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago recently released a study of Catholics in his archdiocese that is as encouraging as it is challenging — its highlights and shadows mix to a steady gray. In other words, it offers a complex portrait of the city's Catholic faith that should not be ignored, the author writes.
The study shows that vast majorities of the windy city's Catholics place considerable importance in their religion, approve of Church leaders, and are raising Catholic children. Statistics are based on a survey of 524 Catholics in Lake and Cook counties polled by the Survey Lab of the University of Chicago in 2007.
The study's author, Father Andrew Greeley, 82, wrote that even with a preponderance of good news there are some challenges. For example: few young people are considering a priestly or religious vocation, Catholic schools are closing, many skip Sunday Mass because it is boring and Cafeteria Catholicism is encouraging two camps to form within the Church.
Greeley's study, "Chicago Catholics and the Struggles Within Their Church," his 105th book, had been on his radar for a while. "This project I've always wanted to do and [it is why] I was trained a half century ago," Greeley writes about being sent to the University of Chicago to study sociology in the 1960s. "It occurred to me as I approached my eightieth birthday that time was running out."
A strong majority highly values their Catholic identity. Eighty percent polled said that their religion is very important or extremely important to them. The same amount of Catholics polled said that they approve of Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Francis George and their pastor. Also, nearly half of the Catholics polled say that five of their closest friends are Catholic also, emphasizing the communal nature of the Church.
When Catholics in Chicago get married they have little Catholics. A striking majority (95 percent) of Catholics raise their children in the Church.
In the introduction, however, Greeley notes an apprehension to sociological research on the part of Church leadership because they've come to expect only bad news. "So they pretend it doesn't exist or dismiss it with a cliché," he writes.
Greeley went on to add that "The majority of the Catholic laity in Chicago no longer accepts the Catholic sexual ethic," but they ardently identify themselves as Catholic.
This distancing is made clear in the book's fourth chapter, "Cafeteria Catholicism." The survey asked the question: Who is a Good Catholic? The top three responses were someone who: believes in Jesus' resurrection (94 percent), believes in Jesus' presence in the Eucharist (92 percent) and donates money to help the poor (75 percent). The bottom three: accepts Church teaching on divorce and remarriage (32 percent), accepts Church teaching on immigrants (24 percent) and votes the way bishops and priest suggest (5 percent). War and peace issues, gay marriage, the death penalty, the infallibility of the pope, abortion and weekly church attendance all fall somewhere in the middle.
Greeley's clear that he isn't endorsing these beliefs about the "good Catholic." Rather, he's "recording it and (trying to) challenge the leadership to listen to [it.]"
He is also convinced that the division between "institutional Catholics" and "communal Catholics" will continue to widen if Church leaders ignore the issue. "Leaders and followers will live in different worlds, and the Catholic institution and the Catholic community will be far apart," he writes.
Tom Smith, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Society at the National Opinion Research Center told The Chicago Tribune that church leaders "have to be aware that the church is [perceived as] too authoritative, makes too many rules. Its sermons tend to be uninspiring. There are a lot of areas in which the survey can point to areas where the church might want to try to strengthen."
Greeley notes that some expect the church to handle this by easily shaving off ideological outliers, expecting a "smaller, leaner, and purer church," which echoes a sentiment offered by the pope.
Greeley expects his work to be accepted with skepticism by both ideological poles. In short, some won't like the good news, and some won't like the bad. But both are there.
"The study, they will say, is mired in grayness — as if the real world in which people live and love and work out their salvation is not complex," said Greeley.
It's a temptation to see clear lines between those who are bathed in light and those who are not. But if the Church's evangelization is to be a new one, Greeley seems to be saying, we need to see each other in various shades of gray, constantly learning how to better love God and one other.
- Brian Dowling
(CNS photo by Karen Callaway)
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