Decline and Continuity: Catholicism since 1950 in the United States, Ireland, and Quebec

The selection of the United States, Quebec, and the Republic of Ireland as the focus for a comparative analysis of Catholicism may strike some readers as an odd choice. What could possibly be learned from comparing the world’s only superpower with one of the smallest and until recently one of the poorest countries in Western Europe? What could possibly be adduced by introducing a Canadian province into the mix? The answer of course is that it makes sense to compare these three societies because the Catholic Church has a strong presence in each. The results of the charge presented in writing this chapter show that the comparative examination of the United States, Ireland, and Quebec reveals clear patterns of decline in Church authority in important areas of activity. This decline coexists, however, with the continuing presence of the Church and Catholicism across several domains of public and private life in each societ