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Today, millions of baptized Catholics exist on the church’s margins. Many of them identify as “cultural Catholics,” but what that means may depend very much on the individual. Some identify as Catholic even though they no longer engage in traditional Catholic practices. Some pick and choose which practices they want to hold onto. For various reasons, some avoid institutional spaces. Many are Easter and Christmas Catholics who show up at Mass only on special occasions, but who still value the Catholic faith and tradition.
Catholic identity is rooted in baptism—not in belief or devotion. Yet some might still be inclined to write off cultural Catholics as “not real Catholics.” What gives these millions of Catholics their sense of Catholic identity or connection with the church?
On this episode of the podcast, the hosts talk with sociologist and theologian Maureen K. Day about what it means to be a cultural Catholic, how cultural Catholics live their faith, and what the church can learn from them.
Day is Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for Church Management at Villanova University, as well as research affiliate at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture and the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies—both at the University of Southern California. She is also an Associate Member of the Las Casas Institute of Blackfriars Hall at the University of Oxford. She is the author of several books, including Cultural Catholics: Who They Are, How to Respond (Liturgical Press, 2024).
Learn more about this topic, and read some of Day’s work, using these links:
- “Baptism, not piety, is what makes us Catholic,” by Don Clemmer
- “Rigid definitions of ‘Catholic’ leave too many out in the cold,” by Don Clemmer
- “The Catholics who refuse to leave,” by Teresa Coda
- Cultural Catholics: Who They Are, How to Respond, by Maureen Day
- “Data and discernment: How the church can make better use of empirical evidence,” by Maureen K. Day.
This episode is sponsored in part by Q Furnald and Dr. Aaron Bianco, authors of Love Is More Than Words: An Examination of Faith from the Margins. In Love Is More Than Words, the authors explore faith, belonging, and justice through scripture, early church history, and the voices of Catholics from across the Church. This thought-provoking new book challenges readers to reimagine discipleship through compassion, dignity, and radical love.
