Which Catholic "generation" is yours?

The world's Roman Catholic bishops gathered in St. Peter's Basilica for Vatican Council II

Reporting for the National Catholic Reporter on the annual conference of the Catholic Theological Society of America, John Allen writes of a presentation given by Purdue sociologist James Davidson in which he identified four distinct generations of American Catholics, grouped with respect to the Second Vatican Council (1962-65):

• Pre-Vatican Catholics, meaning those born before 1941, representing 17 percent of American Catholics;
• Vatican II Catholics, born between 1941 and 1960, at 35 percent;
• Post-Vatican II Catholics, born between 1961 and 1982, at 40 percent;
• Millennial Catholics, born since 1983, at 8 percent.

Davidson proposed that generational differences should be taken seriously alongside other markers of diversity such as race, gender and class in both academic programming and pastoral ministry.

Davidson argued that the results of surveys from 1987, 1993, 1999 and 2005 show a clear trend, amplified in each succeeding generation, away from what Catholic writer Eugene Kennedy calls “Culture One Catholicism,” with a high emphasis on religious practice, clerical authority and doctrinal conformity, towards “Culture Two Catholicism,” emphasizing lay autonomy and the individual conscience.

Asserting that church leaders are today attempting to return the church to a “culture one” model, Davidson said that because the socio-economic status of American Catholics is not in decline and because “laity are not willing to grant control” to the hierarchy, “the percentage of Catholics who are culture one will continue to decline.”

If older liberal Catholics are over-represented in reform groups such as Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful, Davidson said, younger conservative Catholics are equally over-represented among new priests, seminarians, and even theologians.

Speaking specifically about theologians, Davidson said that a growing tendency for younger theologians to reflect a “culture one” mentality reflects “a larger pattern of separation between the laity and the leaders of the institutional church.”

I certainly identify in my own parochial experience the movement away from "Culture One Catholicism" to Culture Two Catholicism." Likewise, I read in the actions of Church administrators across the board efforts to return to "Culture One" rather than to grapple with the questions, demands and possibilities presented by "Culture Two."

Admittedly, you're reading the blog of a Vatican II Catholic (priest). Although written before I read Allen's article, my recent post on priesthood and the sketch of what has changed in my own lifetime resonates with the material at hand.

I'm putting up another poll on the sidebar as an effort to get a read on what "generations" of Catholics make up my readership. As is the case here all the time, your taking the poll in no way identifies you to other readers or to ConcordPastor.

Before or afer taking the poll you might be inclined to comment on this post and Davidson's theory.


-ConcordPastor