Exploring Religious Self-Identification among U.S. Catholics: Traditionals, Moderates, and Liberals
Despite the inclusion of Catholic self-identification measures in several national surveys, research has failed to describe these identity labels in depth. Analyzing 50 in-depth interviews with Catholics in three Midwestern cities, I explore what it means to self-identify as a traditional, moderate,...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
Oxford Univ. Press
2013
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| In: |
Sociology of religion
Year: 2013, Volume: 74, Issue: 3, Pages: 314-342 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | Despite the inclusion of Catholic self-identification measures in several national surveys, research has failed to describe these identity labels in depth. Analyzing 50 in-depth interviews with Catholics in three Midwestern cities, I explore what it means to self-identify as a traditional, moderate, or liberal Catholic. These identities are a means of representing self-understood divisions within the Catholic Church, and serve to institutionalize intrafaith conflicts. Several key themes of disagreement emerged. While a simplification, liberal Catholics can usefully be understood as Catholics who focus on inclusion, question many of the rules of the Church, and promote change. Obversely, traditional Catholics appreciate clear moral boundaries, consider themselves obedient, or rule-following, Catholics, and prefer that the Church remain the same. Whereas traditional and liberal Catholics provide coherent and distinctive self-descriptions, moderate Catholics are ambiguous and less distinctive, seeing themselves as embodying a mixture of traditional and liberal beliefs. While a role exists for moderates as mediators, moderates do not usually describe themselves as such. |
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| ISSN: | 1759-8818 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sociology of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/socrel/srs075 |