Thesis examines inner conflict experienced by some Catholics

A University of Queensland researcher has compiled the State's first known collection of cases of conflict between people's Catholic upbringings and personal experience.

Anthropology and Sociology Department lecturer Dr Angela Coco said the 40 case studies suggested a trend for many Catholics to develop their own spirituality independently of Church teachings to help them make sense of everyday life challenges.

She said while the Church had commissioned several recent surveys into the concerns of lay people, her PhD thesis was believed to be the first in Queensland to include case studies.

She interviewed a wide range of people for her study including former and current priests and nuns and gay and lesbian Catholics in the Brisbane area, she said.

"Most people still identified as Catholics but did not go to Mass every Sunday and did not regard the Pope as God's representative on Earth," Dr Coco said.

"Participants were at different stages of making sense of the conflict they had experienced between the Church's teachings and the challenges they encountered in their lives. Some were still very confused."

Dr Coco developed eight types of conflict situations that people were experiencing.

These included "Decision" in which people found themselves needing to choose between two or more paths they might follow. Often their decision meant violating Catholic rules or teachings, she said.

Another type was "Drifting" in which people drifted away from the Church as they matured, she said.

"They retained a strong personal spirituality but did not find adequate spiritual support in the Catholic tradition," Dr Coco said.

"They came back to the Church from time to time in the hope that certain teachings and practices had been modernised.

"In the ?Decision' category was a woman I interviewed who had been very involved in her local parish. On becoming aware of her lesbian identity, she needed to decide whether to continue her Catholic life ?undercover' or be honest with the people who trusted and worked with her.

"She could not reveal her sexuality because she knew she would be persecuted and ostracised. She decided to attend Mass in a different community where her identity was accepted. She retained links with trusted friends in her local parish but was troubled about the break with the community she had participated in since childhood."

She said the thesis provided an important insight into the spiritual struggle of many Catholics.

One of the main themes to emerge was that most Catholics still identified as such but had had to construct their own version of the religion to fit with their everyday lives, she said.

She said it also suggested that far from being conventional, conservative and unquestioning, many Catholics were challenging the Church's stances and forming action groups to try to bring about change.

"One of the biggest problems people reported was that while the Church instilled strong communal values in followers, it did not adequately address individual psychological values and needs that develop as people mature," she said.

For more information, contact Dr Coco (telephone 07 3365 3176).