The study of Lived Catholicism seeks to step away from the normative forces of institutional expectations to explore Catholicism as it is found in the practices of daily life. It draws on the foundations of lived religion in recognising the importance of improvisation, negotiation, resistance and subversion in everyday religiosity. It foregrounds the voices and experiences of ordinary people to explore the places of Catholicism in their lives. However, if this emerging term is to find its place in the academy, it must stand up to rigorous critique from across the disciplines. Here specialists from the fields of sociology, anthropology, history and theology discuss the potential of Lived Catholicism to generate new categories of thinking in the study of Catholicism.
The thematic focus of this edition of Ecclesial Practices is the study of Lived Catholicism. The growing establishment of this field of academic study serves as a critical point of reflection for both the study of religion as well as Catholic theology. Is the intentionality of Lived Catholicism simply bringing into focus that which has long been studied?1 Or is a new critical field of enquiry being formed? The papers in this edition suggest that its significance is not merely the focus given to Catholicism under the rubric of Lived Religion; rather, it is the conjuncture of critical turns in both the study of religion and theological ecclesiology that gives integrity to the study of Lived Catholicism.1 Emerging from the doctoral work of Avril Baigent concerning the religious identity and practices of Catholic teenagers.
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