AMERICAN CATHOLICS: ONE CHURCH, TWO CULTURES?

The purpose of this paper is to test Eugene Kennedy's hypothesis that Catholics in the U.S. are divided into two cultures and that these cultures are closely linked to the pre-Vatican II and post-Vatican II generations. The fundamental difference of the two cultures is the locus of religious authority. For pre-Vatican II Culture One Catholics, religious authority is external and fixed in the hierarchy of the institutional church. For post Vatican II Culture Two Catholics, religious authority is internal; faith is embedded in one's own experience. A 1995 national survey of American Catholics is used to examine Kennedy's cultures, and their generational linkages. A multiple item index of the locus of religious authority is constructed from survey items. Findings indicate that American Catholics are not polarized into two cultures in their approach to religious authority. While generation is significant in explaining differences in the beliefs and behavior of American Catholics, there also are important variations within cohorts regarding the locus of religious authority.