It is no secret: the body of Christ in the United States is broken. While universality-and unity amid diversity-is a fundamental characteristic of Roman Catholicism, all-too-familiar issues related to gender, sexuality, race, and authority have rent the church. Healthy debates, characteristic of a living tradition, suffer instead from an absence of genuine engagement and dialogue. But there is still much that binds American Catholics. In naming the wounds and exploring their social and religious underpinnings, Polarization in the US Catholic Church underscores how shared beliefs and aspirations can heal deep fissures and the hurts they have caused. Cutting across disciplinary and political lines, this volume brings essential commentary in the direction of reclaimed universality among American Catholics.
"Polarization is one of the gravest illnesses infecting the US Catholic Church. In fact, Catholics often have an easier time talking with members of other Christian denominations and other religious traditions than with one another. Before we can accomplish anything in our church, we must first be able to talk to one another charitably. This book is an important step forward, as some of the church
James Martin, SJ, Author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage
"Pope Francis reminds us that open and fraternal debate makes theological and pastoral thought grow.' We should welcome such debate as evidence of a vibrant Church engaging issues at the heart of our faith. Polarization in the US Catholic Church advances this effort, challenging Catholics to remember that ours is a Church of relationship rooted in love and that our discourse must reflect that if w
Kim Daniels, Member of the Vatican Secretariat for Communications, Former spokesperson for
"The volume is a rich collection of essays that offer a diversity of voices on the reality of polarization in the Catholic Church, a polarization that reflects the reality of the broader American reality. The essays offer wisdom drawn from personal experiences of polarization brought to bear on the expertise of religious leaders, academics, and advocates. I encourage anyone interested not only in
