In 1965, responding to a call from Pope John XXIII, the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and theological scholars of the Roman Catholic Church met in Rome at an ecumenical council. According to Pope John XXIII, the purpose of the council was to advance aggioranamento or "renewal" (Cairns, 1981, p. 459). Pope John XXIII wanted this second Vatican council to be pastoral rather than doctrinal or governmental. In other words, it was the hope of Pope John XXIII that the council would create new attitudes affecting relations with Protestant and Orthodox denominations within Christendom. It was not his intent to bring about any immediate major change in doctrine or polity (Cairns, 1981). However, these changes have been forthcoming in the United States and will serve as the focus of this report on religion in America.
The unintended effects of Vatican II, along with its intended effects, have essentially reshaped the Roman Catholic experience in the United States today. The resulting shifts have been dramatic. They have repositioned Roman Catholicism within the context of national churches at what James Biechler (2001) has characterized as a de-emphasis on the authority of Rome.
During Vatican II, a spirit of questioning and self-examination permeated the deliberations undertaken by representatives of the Church (Koszarycz, 2002). Reflecting the new spirit of renewal sought by Pope John XXIII, individual leaders such as Hans Kung even raised questions about papal infallibility (Cairns, 1981). Supporters of change and of reaction clashed frequently during the sessions at which about 2,700 Roman Catholics and a substantial number of Protestant, Orthodox, and other religious groups were observers. Implicit in the deliberations was the realization that because Pope John XXIII asserted that the forms of liturgical worship related to doctrine were open to change, the possibility of doctrinal change itself existed (Cairns, 1981).<...