Who are American Catholics and what do they believe and practice? How has American Catholicism influenced and been influenced by American culture and society? This book examines the history of American Catholics from the colonial era to the present, with an emphasis on changes and challenges in the contemporary church. Chester Gillis chronicles America Catholics: where they have come from, how they have integrated into American society, and how the...

How did Roman Catholicism and its beliefs and practices come to be what they are? This lively and readable account provides an up-to-date introduction, explaining what is distinctively Catholic. The authors move through history to sum up the present characteristics of Catholic Christianity and the major tests it faces in the third millennium. Explaining matters in a fresh and original way, they do justice to the Catholic heritage and show that Catholicism...

Who is Mary to you? What role does she play in your spiritual life? Are you struggling to get focused spiritually or looking for a way to grow to new heights? Mary is the most famous woman in history. She has inspired more art and music than any other woman and she fascinates the imaginations of men and women of all faiths. Many holy men and women of monumental virtue considered Mary's humility to be a sure path to intimacy with God. They have surrendered...

Spirituality meets philosophy in the Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection collection "The Practice of the Presence of God and the Spiritual Maxims." This challenging yet fruitful read describes Brother Lawrence's philosophy that a relationship with God is more important than the service and work done in God's name. Through a series of letters to nuns and other monks, he states that people become caught up in trying to prove their worth to God. According...

A powerful examination of the role of Catholicism in U.S. politics and in the life of Joseph R. Biden. After a dramatic election amid a raging pandemic, racial violence, economic collapse and historic national divisions that have threatened our democracy, Joe Biden succeeds Donald Trump as the 46th President of the United States. For Catholics, this is a momentous occasion in US public life, as he is the second Catholic to be elected to the nation's...

""The Making of American Catholicism" explores how Catholic experience influences regional culture, and vice versa"--

Through battles with corrupt bankers and worldly cardinals, in turbulent meetings and on global trips, history's first Latin-American pope has attempted to reshape the Church to evangelize the contemporary age. Facing rebellions over his allowing sacraments for the divorced and his attempt to create a more "ecological" Catholicism, as well as a firestorm of criticism for the Church's record on sexual abuse, Francis emerges as a leader of remarkable...