Roman Catholic Beliefs in England: Customary Catholicism and Transformations of Religious Authority

Description

This 1991 book makes available an empirical study of the transformations in religious beliefs that have occurred amongst English Catholics. It complements Dr Hornsby-Smith's well received Roman Catholics in England (1987) which provides the social and historical context for this present study. In Roman Catholic beliefs in England, Michael Hornsby-Smith explores Catholic beliefs over a range of concerns from doctrinal matters to questions of personal and social morality and assesses how religious beliefs are differentiated between different types of Catholics. He also examines the legitimacy accorded by English Catholics to both papal authority and religious authority in general.

"...this remains a valuable study containing much to interest sociologists of religion on both sides of the Atlantic." Contemporary Sociology "This book stands alongside Roman Catholics in England as a milestone in the academic study of modern Catholicism. It is required reading for those who hope to understand the religious climate in England during the second half of this century." Choice