The Future Church: How Ten Trends Are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church [Hardcover]

It seems a sad commentary on the reading habits of contemporary Catholics that this important and informed book on the future of the Church has only seven reviews. John Allen is one of the most readable, well-informed, and well-placed (the National Catholic Reporter's man in Rome) observers of Catholicism today. Although he may be fairly placed in the more liberal camp, this book is surely no liberal rant (pace reviewer `bundasthedog', who does not appear to have gotten much beyond the first page or so...it's usually considered crucial to have read a book one reviews.) Indeed one of the many suggestive conclusions Allen reaches is that the terms `liberal' and `conservative' will have much different and more complex nuances in the coming `global Church' of the 21st century.

In fact, many of Allen's predictions should give a good deal of comfort to classic Catholic conservatives: there will be, he predicts, no women priests; dogma will become both more conservative and more central to Catholic life; the papacy will retain much of its current perquisites and importance, though it will likely become less "Roman".

There are also trends that will give heart to classic Catholic liberals: the role of women and the laity will continue to increase; concern for social and economic justice will move to the forefront of Catholic ethics; the Western domination of Catholic culture will diminish greatly. That is nothing more than to say that the Catholic Church will change much as the world that it finds itself in changes. Allen balances this view, however, with a conviction that Catholic `identity' will sharpen itself ever more clearly against `the world'.

The reader who stays the course will not only benefit from such predictions but will be able to meditate on the deeply researched data that support them: such as: that Pentecostalism, in and outside the Catholic Church, is the fastest growing religious phenomenon of our time; that for the fastest growing Catholic populations--those of sub-Saharan Africa-- Christianity is a brand new religion, lacking the centuries of cultural tradition that often weigh it down in Europe and other traditional Catholic cultures; the astonishing volte-face of the Catholic Church over the issue of capital punishment over the last century. Allen describes this last development by introducing the reader to the 19th-century papal guillotine immaculately preserved in the Roman Museum of Criminology and by describing the almost liturgical ceremony attending the execution of papally-condemned criminals. The story is typical of the elegant interplay of statistics, prediction, and historical vignette that enliven this readable `story of the future'.

Predicting the future is, however, a perilous undertaking. The reader may recall one of the most famous examples of this from Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Still regarded as one of the finest historians of the European Middle Ages, Gibbon proved a poor predictor of the future. Writing in 1776, he argued that the Enlightenment thinkers and leaders of his day had finally overcome the terrible tribalism and irrational militarism that had darkened Europe's earlier history. The Enlightenment understanding of the past and the triumph of reason, he predicted, would produce a future free of major wars, and an end to economic disasters, and of political tyranny.

Let me then issue a small caveat in the context of Allen's predictions for the course of The Future Church. Much of his optimism regarding the Church of the next century rests upon the vibrant Catholicism of the "southern" churches of Africa and Latin America. Allen's description of the population trends and projections of economic growth, the rise of education, and the spread of democracy in these cultural areas will make them Catholic powerhouses of extraordinary economic strength and political clout.
However, if history is any guide, the rise of education, economic prosperity, and popular sovereignty have proven extremely corrosive to religious belief and commitment. The entire history of Europe suggests this conclusion; as one recent example, one might look at John Paul II's beloved Poland, whose religious and political freedom was perhaps his most sought after goal. When, to the world's surprise, this was achieved more easily and quickly than anyone could have imagined, the result was not a free and devoutly Catholic (and grateful) Poland, but an incresingly secular and materialistic society that reportedly broke the aging pontiff's heart. I see no reason to believe that the emerging economies and increasing freedoms of Africa, Latin America and South and Southeast Asia would not take the same trajectory towards secularism and religious indifference. This development would take the history of Allen's `southern Church' (and so the Catholic Church as a whole) in directions quite different than those he imagines in his book. It is surprising that so astute a reporter ignored this fundamental trend in history and in contemporary emerging cultures.

Nonetheless, The Future Church is a book not to be missed by anyone who will be journeying with the Catholic Church in the 21st century, or even by those who watch the stately if often mysterious march of this ancient institution from the relatively bright corridors of History into the dimly lit path of the Future.

This book so thoroughly covers the main issues facing the Catolic church, I will be forever changed in the way I view our world and my faith. Like many Americans, I thought the issues that are "hot" here are hot everywhere in the Church. This is not the case. There are very real, very different concerns depending on where you live. For example, did you know there are 1 priest to every 1,300 Catholics in the US, but it's more like 1 to 8,000 in South America? Wow. If you already knew that you may pat yourself on the back; but I would still bet there is some issue in this book you don't know as much about as you thought.

Things addressed in the book include: globalization, pentecostalism, lay roles, and ecology to name a few I particularly enjoyed learning about. If your "issue" is not listed he even explains why in the last chapter. However, if you read the book chances are good you will find it woven through several chapters. The style of writing is easy to follow, thought provoking, and filled with statistics and sources.

As a Catholic born post-Vatican II, I learned a lot from this book. The author doesn't come across as ultra-conservative which would have turned me off. Neither does he seem ultra-liberal which would have left me wondering how much he really has his finger on the pulse of the church. It seems like he's in the middle like me.

In his characteristic meticulous researching, John Allen has come to visualize a future Roman Catholic church. He sees this vision shaped by ten trends, which he has sensed by multi-national, multilevel discussions with lay and clerics ranging from the lay parishioner to cardinals of the Church. The vision he sets forth will surprise American catholics who have not been monitoring the development of the church in Africa, South America, and India. He sees the emergence of a church whose epicenter shifts southward, and sets forth what he thinks this will entail. Consider a black African Pope or an Asian one. His ten trends include social change also: new views towards celibacy, liberalization of some aspects of the church and a shift toward conservatism in others. He includes his take on the evolution of the role of women in the Church. In a short review, it is difficult to detail the wealth of lore in this 450 page book, but I would invirte readers to join him in his journey and enter into the discussion of this very original and enlightening look into the future of the Catholic Church.