Prayers of the Faithful: The Shifting Spiritual Life of American Catholics

McCartin, assistant professor of history at Seton Hall University, uses the theme of prayer to tie together the diverse ways in which American Catholics have changed over the last century. Tracing shifts in Catholics’ beliefs, concerns, and relationship with the church and its leaders, he begins by describing the “immigrant church” of the late 19th century as a community “bounded by shared beliefs and devotions,” but placing ordinary lay people at the bottom of the power pyramid. McCartin examines such subsequent movements as Father Patrick Peyton’s Family Rosary Crusade, the charismatic renewal and liberation theology, casting these phenomena as preludes to a day in which many lay Catholics link prayer with public action and exercise spiritual autonomy to the point of disagreeing with church teachings. This has occurred, he writes, even as other Catholics seek to restore the earlier order and respect for the hierarchy. Despite its brief treatment of a very big topic, McCartin’s book provides a good overview and will appeal to readers interested in contemporary church movements and history. (Mar.)