Author Archives: maureenkday

About maureenkday

I am the Associate Professor of Religion and Society at the Franciscan School of Theology. I am also a Research Affiliate at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California. Especially drawn to young adult ministry, I am a member of the Alliance for Campus Ministry, an advisory group to the USCCB’s Secretariat on Catholic Education. My previous appointments include Research Fellow at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, Research Fellow at the Center for Church Management at Villanova University, and Research Fellow the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame. My writings on American Catholic life appear in both Catholic and academic publications, including Catholic Activism Today: Individual Transformation and the Struggle for Social Justice (NYU Press 2020), as well as my edited collection, Young Adult American Catholics: Explaining Vocation in Their Own Words (Paulist Press 2018).

Women’s Advisory Committee

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We just had our first meeting of the Women’s Advisory Committee for the Diocese of San Diego. As you might know, Pope Francis called the whole Church in this most recent synod to listen more deeply to what is being experienced in every pocket of the Church. This committee is tasked with especially discerning this among the women of our diocese.

To ensure that we have a good sense of the pulse of women’s experiences in our diocese, I’m honored to be the committee’s Social Researcher. More work is ahead and I have immense hope that we’ll be seeing the first fruits of this in due time… stay tuned!

Paulist Summit on Polarization

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I just got back from an amazing weekend in Las Vegas with the Paulists and many other concerned Catholics who want to address the challenge of polarization in the Church. I cannot tell you how hopeful I am. With the 100 gathered, I met with Paulists and their associates, media leaders, lay and ordained ministers, academics, leaders of lay apostolates and more… from all places along the political spectrum. We had insightful conversations, beautiful time in prayer and joyful fellowship. And this is just the beginning. I am very excited to see where these ideas will take us; this is such an important issue and a critical moment in our Church. As developed, resources will be posted here.

Thank you, once again, to the Paulists for sponsoring and organizing this initiative!

Guest Appearance on Star Warsologies

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Wow, what a fun time I had with hosts James Floyd and Melissa Miller on their fascinating podcast, Star Warsologies. Their show invites an expert on some non-Star Wars topic to explore what the film (and other spin-off tales) has to say on that matter… from music to psychology to zoology, just to name a few. I had a great time re-watching the nine episodes in preparation to talk about empathy and compassion as these occur in the movies. You can hear all about this in their 49th episode, “Empathy and Compassion in Star Wars.” Melissa and James, you were fun and gracious hosts and I thank you immensely for your hospitality and good spirits!

Even the fun of the specific lens we took aside, it was a delight to take something from popular culture and think about it from a particular perspective and consider the lessons–be they good, bad, oversimplified, or something else–it offers. A good practice, especially for us in academic-land!

2024 Trends in Religion

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You can tell I am running behind when I am posting 2024 predictions in March! Well, better late than never. I was collaborating with the folks at USC’s CRCC to think through what religious and social trends might await in 2024. Here are our predictions (details in link):

    1. Faith-Secular Partnerships Reignite 21st Century Movements for Progressive Change
    2. LA City Council Races Will Bring Racial Tensions Back to the Surface
    3. Disability and Inclusion Warrant More Serious Conversation for Many American Congregations
    4. Self-care as the New Religion
    5. Friendship and Community Becomes Commodified
    6. Blockbuster AI Movies Prompt Questions on What it Means to Be Human

    What are some of yours?

    Understanding the Catholic Vote

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    In an election year and with primaries underway, more and more folks are weighing in on how Catholics will vote, or how they approach political issues more broadly. There is much talk of polarization among Catholics, and in some ways this is accurate, but in theological matters, Catholics remain very much united.

    The Politics and Religion Journal recently published a special issue called “Catholics and Contemporary American Politics“; my thanks to Dr. Corwin E. Smidt for his editorial leadership! It is filled with helpful analyses, and you can read my article, “Polarization? Identifying What Divides and Unites American Catholics” to explore this through a national survey of 1500+ Catholics. Here is the abstract to give you a taste:

    Polarization among American Catholics has been a subject of both scholarly and media attention. Using a nationally representative survey of over 1500 Catholics, the first part of this article explores the extent to which race, gender, generation, and commitment to Catholicism shape polarization among Catholics; these different characteristics affect Catholics’ political and civic beliefs and practices to varying degrees. The second part of the article parses Catholics into their political party groupings–Democrat, Republican, and Independent–to determine the ways party affiliation affects Catholics’ understanding of non-political religious beliefs and practices. The analysis reveals that political divisions are evident among some of the Catholic subgroupings, but that theological unity nevertheless prevails across party lines.

    Affiliation with Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies

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    The Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California just welcomed a new president, Dr. Richard Wood. I really don’t think they could have done better!

    I am honored to join their interdisciplinary team of affiliated scholars; there are quantum theorists, ethicists, sociologists, theologians and more. And what unites all this diversity is our thriving scholarship on Catholicism and/or research on questions Catholicism is asking. Happy to join this amazing team!

    Christmas Highlights 2023

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    Hello and Merry Christmas! It is that time of year when I thank a variety of people and sources for the ways they have brought, in one way or another, the incarnation to my life. I am very glad to share these with you!

    Movie: Nativity! (2008)

    Song (religious): God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings by Barenaked Ladies feat. Sarah McLachlan

    Song (secular..ish): So theological themes vary through these three songs.. and I just couldn’t choose 🙂

    –You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Gwen Stefani feat. Blake Shelton

    –Merry Christmas by Ed Sheeran and Elton John

    –On Christmas Day by Billy Idol

    Children’s Book: The Fourth King: The Story of the Other Wise Man by Ted Sieger

    Short/Episode: “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” by The Skit Guys

    Organization: Students Without Limits

    Consumable: My Mom’s candied pecans

    Merry Christmas!

    Diaconate Advisory Board

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    This week we had the first meeting of the Diaconate Advisory Board for the Diocesan Institute and the Office for the Permanent Diaconate. We’ll be exploring the diaconate program to ensure the formation aligns with what we need from our deacons and very much has a synodal feel to it. It is a role in which I am most pleased to serve our local Church (and I really enjoy the team, as well!).

    Book Review: Mercy and the Rule of Law

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    Congratulations to Gerald J. Bednar for his fantastic new book, Mercy and the Rule of Law: A Theological Interpretation of Amoris Laetitia. Bednar does a great job of illuminating Church teaching and pastoral practice in light of Pope Francis’s exhortation, The Joy of Love. There has been a lot of concern among some Church leaders and understanding what accompaniment looks like; at its worst, this debate has resulted in a sort of factionalism among leaders, with some claiming allegiance to one pope over and against others. Bednar does a beautiful job of showing the unity of the last three popes’ approaches to ministerial questions around marriage as well as their continuity with the history of the Church. A must read for pastoral theology courses! My review is in the latest issue of the Journal of Catholic Social Thought. I’ll close by including an excerpt that suggests appropriate audiences for the book:

    It would be an excellent book in a Catholic ethics course-graduate or undergraduate~for professors wanting students to think through the pastoral application of Church teaching. It should be high on the list of required reading for those seeking careers in ministry, both lay students and seminarians. This book would be helpful for Church leaders in thinking through their own implementation of Amoris laetitia, as well as their demonstration of the continuity of this document with Church teaching historically. Further, Bednar’s thinking on the connection between mercy and law has implications for a wide variety of pastoral questions, far beyond simply the divorced and remarried that he focuses on for this book. In sum, this is an excellent book that I highly recommend for students, leaders, and scholars.

    SSSR/RRA Conference

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    I just got back from the annual conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research Association. It is always a great time, but this year we took it to “amazing” when Lucas Sharma, Paddy Gillger and I hosted Mass and a wine and cheese gathering. It was a really lovely event and I hope you can join us next year in Pittsburgh when we do it again!