Crabgrass Catholicism - How Suburbanization Transformed Faith and Politics in Postwar America

"The 1960s in America were a time of revolt against the stifling conformism embodied in the sprawling, uniform suburbs. Typically, the Catholic Church's Vatican II reforms, which aimed to make the church more modern and accessible, are seen as fruits of that broader cultural liberalization. But Stephen Koeth demonstrates that the liberalization of the church was a product of mass suburbanization, beginning some twenty years before Vatican II. He shows the demographic decline of urban parishes to be the basis of a major cultural shift. He links spiritual belief to where it was practiced, showing that changes in the latter sparked changes in the former-not the other way around"--

About the author

Stephen M. Koeth is assistant professor of history at the University of Notre Dame and an ordained Catholic priest.

Product details

• Authors: Stephen M. Koeth, Stephen M Koeth
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 09.09.2025
• EAN: 9780226829968
• ISBN: 978-0-226-82996-8
• No. of pages: 328
• Series: Historical Studies of Urban America
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; USA, RELIGION / Christianity / Catholic, RELIGION / History, 20th Century, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, RELIGION / Christian Church / History, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, History of Religion, Christian Churches & denominations, Christian Churches, denominations, groups, United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church