The Barna Group has published a new study of American Catholics that concludes that Catholics are more or less indistinguishable from the general public with respect to many social and cultural attitudes. This led George Barna to offer some bracing--one might even say harsh--words about the collapse of American Catholic identity:

The history of American Catholics is that ofa pool of immigrants who have successfully blended into the nativeculture. They have done well at adapting to their surroundings andemerging to become a backbone of the community and the nationaleconomy. The questions raised fifty years ago about the politicalloyalties and social objectives of Catholics are no longer relevant inthis society," Barna commented. "Yet, the cost of that struggle toachieve acceptance and legitimacy is that Catholics have largely losttouch with much of their substantive spiritual heritage. They retain anappreciation for tradition and consistency, but have much less of acommitment to knowing and practicing the commands of Christ. Forinstance, the data show that some of their long-held distinctives, suchas being champions of social justice, are no longer a defining facet oftheir community."

"The trail of Catholicism in America is a clear example ofculture influencing faith more often than faith influencing culture,"Barna continued. "The faith of tens of millions of Catholics isaffected by the prevailing culture more than by the central principlesand teachings of the Bible. Spiritual leaders who are passionate aboutremaining true to the scriptures and to Catholicisms historiccommitment to Jesus Christ and the Word of God must address thisspiritual drift within the body. If they fail to do so, in the nextquarter century American Catholicism could well lose its ability toshape peoples minds and hearts in ways that conform to the historicteachings and purposes of Christianity."

Hmmmm...

The rhetoric seems a bit over the top and I'd suspect it was designed to get me to buy the full study, except I can't seem to find a link to it on the site. Furthermore, Barna's indices of religious commitment (e.g. donating money to churches, reading the Bible, sharing their faith in Christ with others, attending a Sunday School class) are heavily drawn from Protestant models. Even during the alleged "golden age" of American Catholicism in the 1940s and 50s, I very much doubt that many Catholics would have scored high on reading the Bible or sharing their faith in Christ with others. The fact that the folks who invented Bingo tend to buy lottery tickets at the same rate as the general population does not seem to be a major cause for alarm.

I'm not trying to ignore the massive amount of evidence out there that there has been a marked decline in Catholic religious practice in the last half century. The evidence--from many sources other than Barna--is overwhelming. The finding that concern for the poor is not more evident in the Catholic population than in the general population is certainly cause for concern, as are some of Barna's other findings.

But the overall tone of this document irks me, as it seems to suggest that Catholics are not good Christians primarily because they don't think and act like Evangelical Protestants. Fine. But if you want to play that game, don't expect me to take your concerns about the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's recent statement very seriously.