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Crabgrass Catholicism
How Suburbanization Transformed Faith and Politics in Postwar America
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Stephen M. Koeth
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2025
About this book
How suburbanization was a crucial catalyst for reforms in the Catholic Church.
The 1960s in America were a time of revolt against the stifling conformism embodied in the sprawling, uniform suburbs of the 1950s. Typically, the reforms of the Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council, which aimed to make the Church more modern and accessible, are seen as one result of that broader cultural liberalization. Yet in Crabgrass Catholicism, Stephen M. Koeth demonstrates that the liberalization of the Church was instead the product of the mass suburbanization that began some fifteen years earlier. Koeth argues that postwar suburbanization revolutionized the Catholic parish, the relationship between clergy and laity, conceptions of parochial education, and Catholic participation in US politics, and thereby was a significant factor in the religious disaffiliation that only accelerated in subsequent decades.
A novel exploration of the role of Catholics in postwar suburbanization, Crabgrass Catholicism will be of particular interest to urban historians, scholars of American Catholicism and religious studies, and Catholic clergy and laity.
The 1960s in America were a time of revolt against the stifling conformism embodied in the sprawling, uniform suburbs of the 1950s. Typically, the reforms of the Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council, which aimed to make the Church more modern and accessible, are seen as one result of that broader cultural liberalization. Yet in Crabgrass Catholicism, Stephen M. Koeth demonstrates that the liberalization of the Church was instead the product of the mass suburbanization that began some fifteen years earlier. Koeth argues that postwar suburbanization revolutionized the Catholic parish, the relationship between clergy and laity, conceptions of parochial education, and Catholic participation in US politics, and thereby was a significant factor in the religious disaffiliation that only accelerated in subsequent decades.
A novel exploration of the role of Catholics in postwar suburbanization, Crabgrass Catholicism will be of particular interest to urban historians, scholars of American Catholicism and religious studies, and Catholic clergy and laity.
Author / Editor information
Stephen M. Koeth is assistant professor of history at the University of Notre Dame and an ordained Catholic priest.
Reviews
"As a product of 'Crabgrass Catholicism' myself -- since my family moved to the suburbs of St. Louis in 1954 -- I found Father Koeth's history perceptive and enlightening. Yes, politics is local; yes, so is formation in faith. You'll find this work as fascinating as did I."
— Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York"Stephen Koeth's Crabgrass Catholicism vividly dissects post-World War Two Long Island Catholicism to explore fissures that have roiled American Catholicism ever since—divides between clergy and laity, eroding parish life, growing Catholic divisions over education, birth control, and abortion, and the emergence of conservative Catholic Republican politics—all superbly researched and deftly written. A fascinating, compelling book."
— Jon Butler, author of 'God in Gotham: The Miracle of Religion in Modern Manhattan'"Thoroughly researched and well analyzed, this is a smart look at a volatile period in American religious history."
— Publishers Weekly"Koeth certainly succeeds in convincing the reader that the Suburban Church deserves
to be on the podium with the Immigrant Church"
Topics
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Frontmatter
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CONTENTS
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ABBREVIATIONS
ix -
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FIGURES AND TABLES
xi -
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Introduction
1 -
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ONE An Urban Catholic World: Agrarianism, Urbanism, and the Ethnic Parish
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TWO The Suburban Church: Postwar Suburbanization and Catholic Institutional Expansion
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THREE From Church to Home: Spaces for Prayer, Education, and Charity in the Suburban Parish
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FOUR Priests and Parishioners: Lay Associations, Parish Councils, and Church Leadership
101 -
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FIVE Suburban Parish Boundaries: Race, Ethnicity, and Mixed Parishes in Suburbia
131 -
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SIX Suburban Catholic Education: Parochial Schools, CCD, and Ecclesiastical Polarization
155 -
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SEVEN Politics in Catholic Suburbia: State Funding, School Prayer, and Political Realignment
187 -
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Epilogue: The Suburban Church and Religious Disaffiliation
219 -
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
225 -
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APPENDIX
229 -
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NOTES
235 -
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INDEX
301
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
July 18, 2025
eBook ISBN:
9780226842196
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9780226842196
Keywords for this book
Suburbs; Catholicism; Long Island; Vatican II; Ethnicity; Parish; Education; Lay apostolate; Religious disaffiliation; Political polarization
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
