The Catholic church, new immigrant groups, and decision -making: A case study of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Item
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Title
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The Catholic church, new immigrant groups, and decision -making: A case study of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
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Identifier
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AAI3008855
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identifier
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3008855
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Creator
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Newman, Kathe Anne.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Marilyn Gittell
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Date
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2001
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Political Science, General | Religion, General | Sociology, Public and Social Welfare
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Abstract
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Government and private philanthropy are turning to faith-based institutions to revitalize cities and to provide social services. These institutions assume that faith-based institutions are more responsive and accessible to the poor and to people of color than government. Most faith-based institutions have a presence in neighborhoods. Because of this presence, they are expected to have close connections with the "grassroots." And since most religious institutions have a commitment to serve the poor, it is expected that religious institutions make this a primary consideration in their operations.;This dissertation looks specifically at the Archdiocese of Chicago at the parish and central administrative levels and explores whether immigrant groups have access to decision making and whether the Church is indeed responsive to new immigrant groups. I contrast the experience the immigrants at the end of the 1800s and early 1900s with Mexicans and Puerto Ricans since the 1950s.;I found that immigrants who came during the first period had access to decision-making processes that allocated Church resources and their parishes facilitated the development of social capital. Latinos, in contrast, make up at least 33 percent of the Archdiocese of Chicago's members yet they have little access to decision-making that allocates Church resources. And they have had difficulty accessing parishes. Some parishes are accessible and responsive to Latinos. These institutions have turned to government and private philanthropy to support their efforts to revitalize their communities. They have been unsuccessful in engaging the Church administration in these efforts.;I argue that there are a few overlapping explanations that explain Latinos' lack of access. These include the centralization of archdiocesan decision-making, the growth of the Catholic white middle class, suburbanization, race, and the lack of Latino representation in archdiocesan decision-making structures.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
