This is a study of the divisions within US Catholicism. The study of Catholicism provides a unique opportunity to examine how competing religious identities and movements can develop and remain in opposition within a single overarching institution. Whereas conflicting Protestant identities and movements have often brought about denominational splits, competing identities and movements within Catholicism have not. The tension between the forces dividing Catholics on religious and social issues and those unifying them as one people is the subject of this dissertation. Two methods will be used to analyze differences between traditional, moderate, and liberal Catholics: (1) in-depth interviews with 60 members of three Midwestern parishes and (2) national survey data from the General Social Surveys of 1998 and 2000. Four basic research questions will be addressed: (1) Are the labels "traditional," "moderate," and "liberal." meaningful to ordinary Catholics? (2) Are these identities connected to theological differences, intra-church conflicts, and religious movements? (3) How do Catholics create and negotiate separate spaces for traditional, moderates, and liberals within a single Church? (4) What are the key social and economic issues separating traditional, moderates, and liberals? The contribution of this research to social science is centered in contributions to be made to the study of religious identities and institutions. At a time when religious identities are increasingly politicized throughout the world, it is important to understand how these identities develop and are maintained. Investigating how these identities interact within a unified institutional setting will also allow us to more fully understand the religious forces that divide us from each other and those that unify us.
