Manchester University Press
2 English Catholicism reconsidered
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the socio-economic status and cultural identity of English Catholics in British society after the Second World War, surveying the existing histories of English Catholicism and their tendency to present a picture of a ‘Catholic ghetto’ or ‘golden age’. It also examines the ways in which English Catholics contemporaneously reacted to the Second Vatican Council, and their assessments of the ‘doings in Rome’ in the early 1960s. In situating this study of English Catholicism within a broader ‘mainstream’ historiography of the post-war period, this chapter triangulates its analysis against important debates amongst twentieth-century historians today about secularisation and religious diversity, fundamental shifts in morality, the erosion of respect for authority and tradition associated with the 1960s, and shifting leisure cultures and social mobility.
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the socio-economic status and cultural identity of English Catholics in British society after the Second World War, surveying the existing histories of English Catholicism and their tendency to present a picture of a ‘Catholic ghetto’ or ‘golden age’. It also examines the ways in which English Catholics contemporaneously reacted to the Second Vatican Council, and their assessments of the ‘doings in Rome’ in the early 1960s. In situating this study of English Catholicism within a broader ‘mainstream’ historiography of the post-war period, this chapter triangulates its analysis against important debates amongst twentieth-century historians today about secularisation and religious diversity, fundamental shifts in morality, the erosion of respect for authority and tradition associated with the 1960s, and shifting leisure cultures and social mobility.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of illustrations viii
- Acknowledgements and author’s note ix
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 English Catholicism reconsidered 32
- 3 Gatherings at the family table 57
- 4 ‘A model for many homesteads’ 130
- 5 ‘Plaster saints’ or ‘spiritual friends’? 202
- 6 Conclusion 258
- Appendix 271
- Select bibliography 279
- Index 300
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of illustrations viii
- Acknowledgements and author’s note ix
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 English Catholicism reconsidered 32
- 3 Gatherings at the family table 57
- 4 ‘A model for many homesteads’ 130
- 5 ‘Plaster saints’ or ‘spiritual friends’? 202
- 6 Conclusion 258
- Appendix 271
- Select bibliography 279
- Index 300
