cover image Tomorrow's Catholics, Yesterday's Church: The Two Cultures of American Catholicism

Tomorrow's Catholics, Yesterday's Church: The Two Cultures of American Catholicism

Eugene Kennedy. HarperCollins Publishers, $17.95 (208pp) ISBN 978-0-06-015980-1

In this thought-provoking book of reflections on Catholicism in the post-Vatican II era, Kennedy ( The Now and Future Church ) presents a paradoxical situation. He designates the institutional church as Culture One; he identifies Culture Two as the community of believers who are not rebellious yet perceive themselves ``as embodying the mystery of a church that is different from the structured organization that is popularly called the church.'' Although the two overlap, he maintains that the views of Culture Two Catholics are psychologically independent of religious bureaucracy. In the apparent failure of church leaders to tap into this dynamic of people who responded to the theological vision of Vatican II despite its ambivalence, Kennedy sees a need for a pastoral approach to accommodate the two cultures. He enunciates clearly and gracefully a challenge to allow some of the institutional aspects to die so that the hunger for mystery and sacrament among Catholics may be filled. (October)