Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America
A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America
A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America
Ebook571 pages10 hours

A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

In A People Adrift, a prominent Catholic thinker states bluntly that the Catholic Church in the United States must transform itself or suffer irreversible decline. Peter Steinfels shows how even before the recent revelations about sexual abuse by priests, the explosive combination of generational change and the thinning ranks of priests and nuns was creating a grave crisis of leadership and identity.

This groundbreaking book offers an analysis not just of the church's immediate troubles but of less visible, more powerful forces working below the surface of an institution that provides a spiritual identity for 65 million Americans and spans the nation with its parishes, schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, clinics, and social service agencies.

In A People Adrift, Steinfels warns that entrenched liberals and conservatives are trapped in a "theo-logical gridlock" that often ignores what in fact goes on in families, parishes, classrooms, voting booths, and Catholic organizations of all types. Above all, he insists, the altered Catholic landscape demands a new agenda for leadership, from the selection of bishops and the rethinking of the priesthood to the thorough preparation and genuine incorporation of a lay leadership that is already taking over key responsibilities in Catholic institutions.

Catholicism exerts an enormous cultural and political presence in American life. No one interested in the nation's moral, intellectual, and political future can be indifferent to the fate of what has been one of the world's most vigorous churches -- a church now severely challenged.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 29, 2013
ISBN9781439128411
A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America
Author

Peter Steinfels

Peter Steinfels, former co-director of the Fordham University Center on Religion and Culture, is a university professor at Fordham. He was religion columnist for The New York Times and editor of Commonweal. Steinfels is the author of A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America (Simon & Schuster, 2003). He lives in New York City.

Related to A People Adrift

Related ebooks

Christianity For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for A People Adrift

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

6 ratings1 review

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Peter Steinfels is a 'New York Times' columnist and in this book he analyzes the major institutional challenges facing American Catholicism in the twenty-first century. He focuses on Church leadership, priest sex-abuse scandals, contrasting visions and gender issues. He maintains that the Church is at a crossroads, poised "on the verge of an irreversible decline or a thoroughgoing transformation" and offers recommendations for action.

Book preview

A People Adrift - Peter Steinfels

M.abook_preview_excerpt.html}ےF`0&1Kѵd˺Hmeuk4oA"HB (\E=?l?^9q!ٽf3Jݏ{|wkF_P]U|صf=UI~O~n&kߎ֍~hմGOkeUOWC36cUfꙛmV]VWm[ZWnIv\_W}/msU7S5xW9]k q% F;?ϗ&rQ=d򋱺ǩIC_'_W+ܭ{}r7M!lDG;7 ]kk]{|u9M>_da}ۺZd=VeOq?LѯgY 5B>lÝZ?9|V}еo~5Wo}D"٘ҵ_/{I(0_zMN\ܮ~eY0JolN+7YȞٛd!wfro,]=|#U3 ^>pWm#kϵal7b8 e;^]]S{ Ed'F^YOrWzdoOt3ƃcRs縎4J݅x"6?NUJdǭKiLNf Ra(xhZGyҨI4RQmdwe1=rTW]'H{E_]#RH>ΖwmI  V#dʖX7*S-݄PC7\c\3IvLnvGաr$/"v\: u([x}1wfc'{PAnײ0~\( ~n+kfp{w肬j+σzrh╯!:.´F(Q6d]uۇ};c沪- 6mER$P5+f(z-cך4@vjqB:[2{͸{d޹IF"}/;tY ]͸sH\5so*a Cd_h}]^WȊצtyz ykdX ⶗ybZ^܊6(d93#rwr_H MI:%kiQWRHh= z9Y#Kg/EVe( z;jZ 4@=`(sSv<4o[:Jx h]n&G &> vV7A4t.\X8xrw+Ox"5PQz=t2 񞧢[Vx>ۊdM ^~D ~լ}'3eEdBDGw*! @-?T !nBPLO ׎#"-K#f΋\*.AʅXIYeS@y%˴v&\]=AH'<^,禭 ϐRV~'J(7f44UW;ِC"կ0pPdE{5%dRŊ09Q;ٍv+}U5 oU#[P&K7o ¾tdh<4ڰ7vM.zx=,ع ճ9t^SЃ"K, l{;$ˬ]E5->䋮G~Ps\F(ZTmhZl1hλů] ]~my,sYz ؒg\(ދ-7}'4w Ɲ:| ^FF #[Lϗ"> pnia=:()/`O1aDspcy`#J^M-6VLT ;u4=@Bd`=n<(/EM|.6Q|T`*@~g#3Dr' Gޚ,/:iZ^l<@6 >Y%Le93D. 7dEdC4l4ig66AӆAj+{΃[idt>:zI\Er=4_ 1#c/;ʥF(>9':b5H\3}<t}`AډƏ:[8>Ns}H@''+HJĄļ3'S)Z5"8!3t{aaZb.b/qͦv@.'J+P˸!_\ |/.k ͏54ҽ@ԉ2;q  m*[2DEx/VE`^F%Uh!\YE_^zx]:{H~݂48 9f`S*Em[5Gk$S@CXV]Ӊ~^DٮTU}!*r1P3hVD׫ ?|`'( E şk(_YI GFO7ab{Ս|u[' ++=SK.Ԋ߅ K(Jf-LF{ܵ8l{a(_ ^aB2"v[pN]d3 |"Fo0:+Dp}/*d|u'R[>d'|xLڪd¼,p7Ag+LM;lW'R!u#Ǐ(VZn}dU)u`썇-^zR$,vѧ`'̜;6{)ϱY|kM“ag7w~լ"%4+w?evZ&I*X́+n@7j})qZwRL!͑]:W'%frh75a)_\2-} A؅A:[8ݫX6L_)o߇X` dBxQcmh@%8wׇĮeZ(16/A2azd"6EzU}g^,.1YC~ˮ_ hbȷhN:M5"*2\~ S?*U@1'765_~a˒ȏoªelϺB#1_>|xJ:`^;䊯.wNU~q6| ϱ׷}@gA_?XFJwA$!}K|ƵTIPv}«2aJ^9=#&z^zf肁'D@A-vǝL\ڶTkNb9>Wᄃgp/^≽zewXcX KF-6U@pt `oa/)njct!@#.=Y|+1EH.@T]d4})w эf%2fR/쿖Uڊ|uJN8QH9tA$Z 2$V CoYѢoZ1 r6by<[M] "o\PZvbgb iO?2x"-> [h#EZ@( PLC"[m*@\O\\6Fwd? 0w.YnCI4fp,_mM֮X#JP{y^NoE@wb& *tkf6eE^K:2{,Ȩ, r"B$T۰ʵ/g+q!qAg֚MДxĈz_w e;T;EtiCtB3B/IA>-0VSXP"D#ƭ`W!p_77W"fk0'#4bz p<Aomɨ ia\!|sx Kaba:49Qp?=q.LX~Cm'tqNfJ]wOSP{DyCI% \7alL3 PXzdLDg2QkjdMhkʠsFgo(zҨR! $&L\cadbEyC25o0џhO`L{#@CCt%qS<> Njb@ C Z T$?jSEu:naDvAP0+Pw>1!c$y4_Mp>LX¶OH h|1Meqި+FC; 4LCI,(W]_u|ٴrdBf/k 3ˋIg.jl—)Ȋ??eBax$u)Dy561m e/PB].ۯOYW l`oKܨ7"QsM6QT:8RP:ƮX /6()m/j\&\8tD(XθAVCI +IS2h[L_M%7YMmZ7]'^gQP{鉣o~hoײߔدY!EQc7 Vz( 5Itu9[ez)(﮹3":"rSqN^/F'5l[Qss*N(fAPp=ҠFf|db^((; $oY=š֝]mMk|V87mCK #p (C"}qWGGolFqs6FwjKX7b&UXRD`*q#-N/C|(1:E _ {8vza%ZC 3-Qc>}n fgV+%C}LbSNnD"Ls$[smLԡjtWA `xG:7nJ;+JHUؒYE!F[:LVTitEP nnwHik54'H?R'`D+ֺŸp ե*z%g"%VHP۝f013$uOb# GR$^~H۰(LmE鷢qMJA5H׈~atW׃b4uPܕ7kIFZ 8lWDo+o~DG fshn8J4 bʲ~X\_q!h1u%YP԰-hSf~G3ob__tEYcQK~Bsvzg&"F]dq0OjIj^#rJe[,L RP˂d bVoqRÔkeP༪(vDl ˂mf4ѕ/;epږ }@FSLegE2|xr ,L3vh}vtƊ>dkF WU`%Ke~G-C!ˣK @T4m!Zk#D"h2-gYGBiʼn Dh۱ #/v֞"4Nvֻ1"<2k> jBT)>TWS:#GpbO {8/ kBE_SGo/&waaNJ*vbFS`0pGYQEy^8C%oR 4vvգj.N(~)֥= ˕~QRZV~ )4mtգbj'o=C>ܟ=nTHh$ Ɲ֨[ (ZU 45eL~5I(@s U"o7VKt#?$iPOxӸ 2>d4 @c`;k3(~<2E~Ztaj `c ը23'Ɲuɽd`l+4ouob]>p oɤɘZ,"Oqţ` gila\]E!FɑPHRڢcQ_ .QwE"iQ}%dzq(mƣ@ОP h[0:Ǡ|0gd*_]: @Z,z '(?z4VRCj\;kD &zR ˆZd~h95MGZ$V/*dEJu Ƙ-ݐ?}(S(uN$Uc\n]]AY9ݡX{K+8z.l':hEcgSgqSwo~Ѵxq/{h,ccxbrD.Ql .Xprn%+Ngj$a4K9D{.meٱul2SEd<Λ~a4qMctJVnlK~sr){Zhoz4_W!;ΪF#kZwf75fɪvHČ/ ^`Byvj-x7|Y" ^Gr:Z} hOuTWs!2r%dѱ~s3?g&0 hY_A[EϤ4]C[_'P)MbĂC.TivAD/Q%R=m8V:7wȫWȻi_i.2lqi:/X aP%3ҥ̋|My%3Mn9S/q3D*?]|̘̺Ӛ&c jujF #R޳~.6Leߛud!w[Bi}I+i d45gX{T dK6$u?ZXE4(UXa0%,JNkAQ#JtdX%4Ģ#7*cvԀja9X75rc ^?4LjcQ.s : ٽyFதaJa[m,L5 z^` [T=t*?_VOl~ t WkѦ cR9WńNHwY+-Zt AFY,.FjGbgil_dF8,?Vv|ϴz^ϰ"DtU]9A'{-@dTkYR~{> `23EWZU5Efudޭ/Brd8:O8&,Y51zfYǽ&XbAւ{gCcj-6Aǽ8?d z ^P+ o|?j`~qA_v߳1JZZdJpY "r^YtCYag׼ +@'M5>}~+eliC4HH8jE T,|bjCʼn=hg~t_TZdȫ ײ(3:P[Y[m\,n(TJE;9떚[ 6B'XsXbؾ]ν7Eg/ib*l )S>La?_+W$.i<654bdBEqH[pt){u9F]iC# +&41MWW Hգe+؅pix q 6A}TP[.{E+VCzy| d+U>,Yޝ+\/°#sfd2F1@n3NF >wN1>vFJf3/";(Pfn `e(E/\\C ҍ\Gv,vV'xCBӗE+7xwkm~"w5Wb|g-aSb#k힭'EZ(\!Ac?)Qq4 ՗HpǦS]hq仰[3 d,Ă[ @:&G1s“,7x"Xc4AV"-שׁVhlU?eHÒlqB-Q"LrYpR "-ˊ:m`9%dh_Pҷ{s' ˊ4zX )RE58ٵr<3Iyv.B>gbT>#=hԾw:5\>/%#G`]'tΡ_K'`=Y1-t#_#xdԬgjuazunzifJxS--!U '#O8}ŇBe/4b.ħ-xUzC+^XyFh(TPKTρ7Op^4a})K} [ s3Ce!kOcQS \4}ѭ-YL0'aC|,B$m84=ENBu1l>ZVVYDO9vpz 2ATz!؛]o^}S/m%QN8SMwӢq-Z *x3T",]," /FB{?\0ֻ 9}mHBėo/ S4,[XxGDW>,5D׬8)^M_T/e}m %HA7M$5WW#i Wa-WԢu|F}YCFy)0 X41YhWTǁ\Dx26jS'Q$K_{Jt6,3=G UGSgmMWƠc!ܶqԊŎQr ċ[[Ɓc bZ# Y7&fOwUn֖5fm;#w؛c\@*Fs>,,hAwq0&e# 9"EL* O,ُ i4l,>]32H>U5IUy9g>ũ Ҽ|Q\|qq,C'1 }:eV0@>.j&çc8hBMʤ~{1#}ex/Q[ =\l-HX1Sms#н*[f?4LMTU-'IpY;Q8v M Z <^, ͫPMWby3s͐쥖:軎)+5> ֙2/N9zAiT>d\yMگըo> Ak96y^z{fE͊轷چd/Vh ]`S\P$;#z1G|eHtzQZ%tdLz!QEkLsah,;`AS&tyd/ĿYK:V'HdWZֆxΦvMG٧$0aQE RO0cpFtܝ;6p٬XbMJ0$*dY|Q*OJXK񠧈\F`ZKZPްp̙S+&z_3?/z4[8",o!ao%vfV'Vnr#HC?1IZg)Fc'!?;^&"k.,}%lsƞȽ%gb-\LܐwV<yz2U})i, ߘ˘c r}H`n:iHkӠ#OCx\a%D!c˽9 [7D\ZXCKxLޥjƎ<3E v8.:L|Bw^Am@yPHԒZr|?^jZΧ Ua~=؉(*c>"=̎AXv}<~WwmgZ*#G7F:`@r¯8軷c#KE.8~jL$h&+7c )Ċnrg"YI%UyF$䣫N9HuǩL͒Vv9e$PuY% lu2Mۡ1jhRH"$x83L͠b+[/Ej/)j+WVf빳|,S.Z4OjencB;[5O!weGVf,F6 p*bz|`xԐOo.r[^gFjaY8X}l챝8aTnĮ9`XlU]J vDqE&bO9u&~j!T@ ! CgttK蘔pB}FfD͈݈݉)֭s-;6&w1=7 謵"୏'@ ;!XKfƢq`Cev$pܽb6Ś2h&wNhI1ps &k>bg\3}kPG뎾Z^hM>h!oژZn\K\}&tf+cXLvD@\q"h)U[t"Ͽ}Mv,gE< |_?Q&f\aM8d&${#~JzFPvbx6uŗ(_Ru9 (_hC2/-y<lCީh% ~Eeaqfqp^lIY LT4GkAqƽ |mG)̷Zǣ-XAhuz@9ģq)7墋5".hWEE.; O~\0 >hR2| |d,}b4rܷX<^ɂC61iQqs|bjцa BkdfT]Lb?;.pP#AHTvR@42$VhIu`Q?\0hǽJPX4o!Ks-7E >FJZ+66r/ct"S>B{J-w&k ٚ/yO_Yѥ5}"DFCg s]쨛g0Cqr@_ɲE$ՔNbTud%gOb|szj>ZYw)&U6z06 -1 H8r0kq  P:Zv)AmY8@S?Zvb b6nsL:X4QO[3[0Uy3W?({C״_7 `d&-ęJ0:Fwb+7 S~<*-֐ʹ[}vɶI R.vg0/*VCGA82o뛯~~}qgœ@QZcG˷l5'GIF c@`(Èw"2WwO¾NqEQ!E܁-p&b&9l*M>j"EQz= Z}r"@v4TbY{Y7'uь}9!ZG%ec绌zPytwi5!T!,ᾡ=^&<1) ;_8Ԃt}/DqJ3|2Cܟ#%8}0uMYe̡ Us T f l#~(#q5|;4.{XTuCaMԬ"Cr;of;MFZh%'KL|H%jB<֓0 4As]S_DkZ&)kSlt$ވ-|HgЋɱǔтʾ`WԊhAw k$%9 5 -f'x%Y{IK^ƺ㵘iF&zP9bJWѨ{9{UᘸJHspVJhYz];)#7mj8V
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1