The Catholic Church stands at the forefront of an emergent majority-minority America. Parish and Place tells the story of how the largest religion in America is responding at the local level to unprecedented cultural, racial, linguistic, ideological, and political diversification among its membership. While the Catholic Church is traditionally organized geographically, this is not always the case. According to Church law, bishops may establish "personal parishes" to serve not a given territory, but a defined, niche purpose--to accommodate variance in "rite, language, or nationality" or "for some other reason." Nearly all of the United States' Catholic dioceses have such parishes, but few know about them. Tricia Bruce offers the first sociological study of personal parishes, based on an original national survey of U.S. Catholic dioceses, ethnographic data gathered through field observation at 67 personal parishes in fifteen dioceses, and interviews with pastors, diocesan leaders, and bishops. Bruce argues that while personal parish designations come from the top down, they are simultaneously shaped by bottom-up parishioner choices. Parish and Place demonstrates the interdependence of grassroots behavior and institutional authority in building local religious communities.

About the Author
Tricia C. Bruce is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Maryville College whose books include Faithful Revolution and Polarization in the US Catholic Church. She received her PhD in Sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara, and has conducted research for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Reviews
Scholars of U.S. Catholicism and sociologists of religion will find it deeply persuasive. * Brett C. Hoover, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion *
The work of Parish and Place opens up a door for important further pastoral and ecclesiological investigation. In these fragmented times, it is genuinely difficult to discern how best to support people and communities across differences while also building inclusive communities. Bruce's study provides valuable information and interpretative frameworks for continuing conversations about how best to deal productively with diversity and fragmentation within the Catholic Church. Readers interested in the promise and problems involved in personal parishes will be provoked to think more deeply and critically about these important issues. * Julia H. Brumbaugh, Reading Religion *


Awards
Winner of First place, Immigration category, 2018 Catholic Press Association book awards 2018 Distinguished Book Award Honorable Mention, American Sociological Association's Religion Section.



Book Information
ISBN 9780190270322
Author Tricia Colleen Bruce
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions(mm) 155mm * 231mm * 20mm