Ninth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

My empirical research validates Catherine Bell’s claims that the gravitational pull of one form of liturgical authority shapes the kind of community that envelops around it. I conducted 41 interviews with young adults ages 22-34 actively involved in one of three organizationally distinct Roman Catholic churches in downtown Boston: St. Cecilia parish church, operated by the Archdiocese of Boston; St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine, operated by a liturgical order of devout priests and brothers; and The Paulist Center operated by a religious order of evangelical missionaries. I find that young adults who regularly attend the traditional-conservative devotional church typically express their religious habitus primarily in terms of ritual and prayer – non-discursive actions focused inward. Those attending the liberal-progressive diocesan parish express their religious habitus in terms of ritual and social connection – non-discursive actions focused outward. And those attending the liberal-progressive missionary church were most likely to express their religious habitus in terms of volunteer work and social relationships - discursive actions focused outward. Thus, this research suggests that we perhaps think of habitus in epistemological terms rather than praxeological ones, that is as embodied practices inculcated early that are continually expressed both passively and strategically (through action), non-discursively (e.g. ritual action) and discursively (narrative speech and reflexive questioning) throughout the life course.