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The five themes presented in Ch. 3 (American national identity, Americanization of Catholic doctrine, democracy, devotional Catholicism, and gender equality) are further examined here in the context of seeking to show how American culture shaped Catholicism in the era 1920–60 . It is shown that during these years, Catholics were beginning to think in a less parochial manner, and emerge from the neighbourhood/parish ghettos that had formed their life previously, and had been subject to attack by nativist revivals of Anglo‐Saxonism and anti‐Catholicism (in the shape of a revived Ku Klux Klan). Such a reorientation gave rise to the emergence of a public Catholicism that sought to influence the shape and values of American society.

The five themes presented in Ch. 3 (democracy, American national identity, gender equality, devotional Catholicism, and the Americanization of Catholic doctrine) are further examined here in the context of seeking to show how American culture shaped Catholicism in the period 1960–2001. The chapter starts by examining the role of President Kennedy in enabling Catholics to stand taller, and the changes initiated by Pope John XXIII's election in 1958, which led to the Second Vatican Council reforms (1962–65). It then examines the further emergence of a public Catholicism that sought to influence the shape and values of American society. The chapter also touches on some issues that have generated considerable controversy among Catholics in recent years – the ethical issues of abortion and birth control, the desire for more democracy in the management of parish life, the role of women in the church, the increased ethnic diversity of Catholicism, and the new rituals of prayer and worship that have emerged in the past 40 years.

This chapter explore how the growing Hispanic presence makes the ramifications of moral and social issues more imminent in numerous parishes. In this context, Catholic teachings such as those on justice and civic responsibility are more salient when embodied in local organizing initiatives that enable grassroots people to address community concerns and participate in the decision-making processes affecting them and their families. Arguably, the most significant contribution Latino Catholics make to public Catholicism is the various ways they reveal that the sometimes-harsh realities of everyday pastoral work are the ordinary means through which the church lives out its mission to transform lives, communities, and society.