The Reweaving of Catholic Spiritual and Institutional Life

Abstract

As we prepare to cross the bridge to the twenty-first century and to a new millennium, there is much analysis of the state of Catholicism in the United States. While the number of Catholics continues to increase, much of the analysis continues to focus on institutional decline, particularly of the priesthood and religious life and institutions dependent on them, such as schools and parishes. However, another phenomenon, more difficult to measure but equally alive in Catholic culture, is that of a spiritual resurgence. While there is clear evidence that there is a disjuncture between religion and spirituality in the thinking and behavior of some in the society, this article speculates about Catholicism in the United States in the twenty-first century as a spiritual-institutional church that weaves spiritualities through institutions in new, and old, ways. New tools will be needed for the analysis of the construction of spiritual cultures within and outside of Catholic institutions and the responses of generational cohorts to elements of those cultures.