Roman Catholics In England

This book discusses how the Roman Catholic community in England and Wales has changed over the past few decades. It argues that, in comparison to the rest of the population, Catholics born in England and Wales have experienced relatively high levels of upward social mobility. This has led to the creation of a "new Catholic middle class" which is likely to be crucial for the future of Roman Catholicism in England and Wales. However, since one quarter of English Catholics were first-generation immigrants who have experienced some downward mobility, it can't be said that English Catholics have experienced a "mobility momentum" in comparison to the rest of the population. Additionally, the religious reforms legitimized by the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s have had a significant impact on English Catholicism, leading to the dissolution of boundaries which had formerly defended a "fortress" church in a hostile world.

This book is about change in the Roman Catholic community in England and Wales. It argues that in the post-war years of economic growth and expanded educational opportunities, Catholics born in Great Britain achieved rates of upward social mobility comparable to those of the general population. In so doing there arose a 'new Catholic middle class', likely to be crucial for the future of Roman Catholicism in England and Wales. However, since one quarter of English Catholics were first-generation immigrants who had experienced some downward mobility, it could not be said that English Catholics generally had experienced a 'mobility momentum' relative to the rest of the population. Apart from the effects of social change, post-war Catholicism was also transformed as a result of the religious reforms legitimated by the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s. The net effect of these social and religious forces on English Catholicism was the dissolution of the boundaries which had formerly defended a 'fortress' church in a hostile world. The book identifies this, inter alia, in the widespread heterodoxy of belief and practice, and in the decline of marital endogamy and communal involvement.