PATHEOS LABS
PATHEOS PRESS
Shop
Future of Catholicism
Introduction
Headlined throughout the world, the Catholic Church's standing within society has been both challenged and fortified in recent decades. As a part of its Future of Religion series, Patheos considers Catholicism's future –- its internal vitality and its public position in society and the world.
Contributors include: Kevin Appleby, Fr. Robert Barron, Kathy Coffey, Kate Dugan and Jennifer Owens, Michele Dillon, Hugh Hewitt, James Hitchcock, Ted G. Jelen, Deacon Greg Kandra, Rev. James Martin, S.J., Tim Muldoon, Barbara R. Nicolosi, J. Peter Nixon, Thomas Peters, Shu-Fy H. Pongnon, Elizabeth Scalia, Paul Snatchko, Sister Mary Ann Walsh, John Kenneth White, and J. Matthew Wilson
Out of the Shadows: A Call for Reform
Kevin Appleby (Office of Migration and Refugee Policy, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Church involvement in immigration reflects both policy and pastoral concerns.
To Be the Balm: Challenges and Chances Facing Our New Priests
Fr. Robert Barron (Founder, Word on Fire global media ministry)
Now is a great time to be a priest. Some of the holiest saints have emerged during periods much like our own, fraught with difficulties and rich in opportunities.
No More Time to Waste: Challenges for the Church
Kathy Coffey (National speaker, Retreat leader, and Author)
Christians can't waste time judging, carping, and condemning. Let's get on with the task of being Christ to a hungry, hurting world.
Young Adult Catholics: Telling Our Own Stories
Kate Dugan and Jennifer Owens (From the Pews in the Back)
If young Catholics more honestly grapple with how and why we are Catholic, we might emerge with a very different version of what Catholicism is and how we do it. We need to begin to tell the story of our own Catholic identity, and it won't be the story of our parents or grandparents.
Multifaceted but Cohesive: The Sustaining Power of the Communal Tradition
Michele Dillon (University of New Hampshire)
In continuity with its past, the future of Catholicism will undoubtedly incorporate new strands into its theology, organizational structure, and everyday practices.
There and Back Again: The Roman Catholic Church in America's Next Decade
Hugh Hewitt (Professor of Law and Nationally Syndicated Radio Show Host)
"We are witnessing the opening of a great evangelical era in American Catholicism."
Taking the Catholic Church's Pulse: From Vatican II Forward
James Hitchcock (St. Louis University )
The growth of lay movements, the rise of Christian ecumenism, and the expansion of Catholic faith in the global south are all signs of health.
The People of God: In America, Europe, and the Southern Hemisphere
Ted G. Jelen (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)
Four major trends in contemporary Roman Catholicism will pervade a global church and pose both challenges and opportunities.
The Future Priest: Married with Children?
Deacon Greg Kandra (News Director for New Evangelization Television (NET))
The Church will eventually have married priests, for reasons that are as much pastoral as pragmatic. And the Church will not have a good reason to keep saying no.
Casting Out Fear: Imagining a Sympathetic Church
Rev. James Martin, S.J. (Author and Culture editor, America magazine)
The Catholic Church needs to listen to the voices of all sorts of people who have much to offer from the experience of their lives as faith-filled members of the Body of Christ.
Mysticism and the Community
Tim Muldoon (Catholic theologian, writer, and spiritual director)
Tomorrow's Catholic Church will be a communion of mystics who see their task as rooted in the incredible command of Jesus to love the neighbor.
Save the Boomers, Save the World: Redeeming Culture
Barbara R. Nicolosi (Screenwriter, Chair of Act One Program)
The Boomers' exit from cultural influence creates a two-sided pastoral challenge for the 21st-century Church.
Only the Saints Can Save Us
Our children and grandchildren are abandoning the faith because they perceive -- rightly -- that its demands are at fundamental variance with the lives we have prepared them to lead.
A Bright Future: The Church in the World
Thomas Peters (Author and Blogger at American Papist)
The universality and deeply rooted tradition of the Church will both benefit from 21st century technology.
The Future of Catholicism Is the Beautiful Mess of Me
Shu-Fy H. Pongnon (Assistant News Director, NETNY)
The Church is a beautiful mess of people, places, and things that will alternately horrify and inspire you.
From Hebrews to Hangzhou to Wholeness
Elizabeth Scalia (Patheos Catholic Channel Manager)
Like the Magi, the Church has been traveling resolutely West, and it has nearly come full-circle; it is bringing new treasure from the East and up from Africa. There is almost a sense of completion to this.
Absent Friends: The Slow March-away of Sleeping-In Millions
Paul Snatchko (Blogger and marketing manager)
I worry that this slow march-away of sleeping-in millions may portend the future of our beloved Catholic Church in the United States and the world.
Morning, Noon and Night in the Virtual Pews
Sister Mary Ann Walsh (Director of Media Relations, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Today the challenge for church leaders is twofold: to speak out and to make their voices heard. The former takes courage, but the latter is no easy task because it demands that leaders take to the Web and other forms of social media to spread the Gospel.
Orthodox Catholics, Cafeteria Catholics: Signs of Crisis and Signs of Hope
John Kenneth White (Catholic University of America)
There is more light than darkness, more hope than pessimism, that the U.S. Catholic Church will adapt to a new century and, once again, attract new congregants.
The Catholic Church in American Politics: A Look Ahead
J. Matthew Wilson (Southern Methodist University)
The American Church can and must do a better job of communicating, both to its own members and to those beyond itself, the range and force of its position on other morally consequential political questions.
Pro-Life Strategic Voting, 2016 
Are We Bringing Sin Into Paganism? 
Did New Testament Writers Understand the Trinity? 
The Re-Paganing of America and God's Eternal Word 
Abundance and Hoarding: There Is Enough 
Scotland's Jews and Their Gaza Concerns 
My Hijab Does Not Define Me 
"They Knew About It and Did Nothing" 
Please Stop Planting Churches 
"The Bicycle Thief": Humanizing Criminal and Crime Victim 
This Is the Most Powerful Argument Against Christianity 
Seeking Tanis: The Search for Enchantment Leads Back to the Church 
Wholly Righteous, Wholly Sinful: Reflections on War's Demise 
The Hand We're Dealt: On Fairness and Progress 
Engaging the Ferguson Declaration 
Modesty: More Than a "Your Body" Problem 
I Needed Someone to Hope Me: An Update on the Moral Revival 
My Sister, the Muslim 
Struggle to Perfect Your Loves Rather Than Baptize Them 
Learning to Listen, a Full-Body Experience 
When Ethics Conflict With the Law 
Evangelicals Still Having Problems with Interracial Marriage? 
Stop Helping: The Dangers of Religious and Secular Charity 
Facebook, Family, and Surviving the Election 
Follow us on: