Practicing (not just) Catholic

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The choices in line for the "cafeteria Catholic" have expanded in recent years. Instead of simply choosing the pieces of Catholicism that they like, Catholics can--and do, according to a recent study--choose what they like from any number of faith traditions.

A Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll found that six in 10 Americans blend practices and beliefs from a variety of traditions, including New Age spirituality.

Bring the bacon to church

Megan Sweas| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
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I love brunch. It has to be the best meal ever, but it is decidedly not a religious experience.

For some young adults, this Chicago Tribune article posits, brunch fills up more than their stomachs. "The meal is part sustenance, part social; a way for young, urban and, increasingly, secular adults to connect with one another on Sunday mornings."

Season's Greetings: Let's welcome Catholics home

By Bryan Cones| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Church
If we're going to invite disaffected Catholics to come on home, let's also warm up the welcome they're likely to receive.

There's no shortage of programs to draw missing Catholics back to church, but few can boast of their efforts in a single diocese as "an increase of 92,000 souls who came home!" Such is the claim of Catholics Come Home, a new evangelization effort first tested in the Diocese of Phoenix and now expanding to 16 others, including my own Archdiocese of Chicago, which hired Catholics Come Home for a holiday TV ad campaign designed to bring back the lapsed.

Bryan Cones is a writer living in Boston. See more posts by Bryan Cones

Manger Danger: Let's keep Uncle Sam out of church affairs

By David A. Lysik| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Culture
Let's keep Uncle Sam out of the nativity scene by reinforcing the wall between church and state.

Our varied beliefs can bring us together to feed the hungry and comfort the afflicted; to make peace where there is strife and rebuild what has broken; to lift up those who have fallen on hard times. This is not only our call as people of faith, but our duty as citizens of America, and it will be the purpose of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships."

David A. Lysik is an attorney and visiting professor of religious studies at DePaul University in Chicago. See more posts by David A. Lysik

Use your inside voice: Why media shouting is bad for the pro-life cause

By Bryan Cones| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Church
The high pitch of pro-life advocacy could heed some old-fashioned parental guidance.
Bryan Cones is a writer living in Boston. See more posts by Bryan Cones

Voices from the debate: The church on end-of-life care

By Heather Grennan Gary| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Church Culture
While Catholic moral teaching on medical treatment has been in place for hundreds of years, the last three decades have seen increased development and debate.

Heather Grennan Gary is a former editor of U.S. Catholic.

See more posts by Heather Grennan Gary

On Call: An excerpt from Paul Wilkes' In Due Season

By Paul Wilkes| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life
The Body of Christ is the best medicine for body and soul, regardless of whether we are "worthy" to receive him.
Paul Wilkes is the author of numerous books on religious belief and practice, including Beyond the Walls (Doubleday, 1999) and The Good Enough Catholic (Ballantine, 1996). This article is excerpted with permission from Excellent Catholic Parishes: The Guide to Best Places and Practices (Paulist Press, 2001). Wilkes is also project director of the Pastoral Summit, to be held in New Orleans on May 30-June 1, 2001, which will bring together Catholic and Protestant pastors and lay leaders from across the U.S. For more information on the summit, call 910-962-7225 or visit http://www.pastoralsummit.org/. See more posts by Paul Wilkes

Marriage of convenience: Changing wedding traditions

By Bryan Cones| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life
Catholics should find a way to welcome couples whose paths to the altar don't go straight down the center aisle.
Bryan Cones is a writer living in Boston. See more posts by Bryan Cones

Priests off the pedestal

By Bryan Cones| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Church
A holy-card priest is not the best patron to lead 21st-century ministers into the future.
Bryan Cones is a writer living in Boston. See more posts by Bryan Cones

Non-parishable goods: The value of a faith community can't be crunched on a balance sheet

By Bryan Cones| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article
The value of a faith community can't be crunched on a balance sheet.

Thirteen in Miami, 52 in Cleveland, 33 in Albany, New York. No, these aren't Chrysler dealerships or Starbucks franchises closing due to the recession but parishes that will be shuttered this year in three dioceses. The diocesan announcements do, however, share something in common with their corporate counterparts: The news comes with the just about the same amount of pastoral care and sensitivity-little if any.

Bryan Cones is a writer living in Boston. See more posts by Bryan Cones

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