As the title suggests, Civil Society, Civic Engagement and Catholicism in the U.S. is a collection of essays that explore the link between Catholicism and civic life broadly defined, with special attention to links between Catholicism and voluntarism, social service provision, and politics. These essays will prove a valuable resource for anyone studying Catholic civic engagement, or, indeed, religion and civic engagement more broadly.

Each of the essays here is unique, covers a discrete topical area, and presents its own strengths. Political scientists will perhaps be most interested in the chapters by Corwin Smidt and Margaret O'Brien Steinfels. Smidt analyzes both the threats and the opportunities presented by increased government support of service provision by religious organizations. He concludes: “the greatest threat related to faith-based initiatives is not any threat it represents to civil society itself. Rather, it is the threat that federal funding represents to the continued vitality and viability of religious organizations providing faith-based programming” (45). Steinfels' chapter, “Catholic Civic Engagement: Recent Debates and Positions within the Catholic Church,” provides useful context for understanding how the link between Catholicism and politics has evolved in recent decades, focusing especially useful attention on the Bishops and on Catholic politicians. Steinfels argues that the bishops' conference, whose unity in the 1980s led to the promulgation of influential pastoral letters on matters of war and peace and the economy, is now less effective “in fostering and maintaining unity among the bishops” (100), and contends that more recent “conference statements, for example in questioning the war in Iraq and opposing torture, have had little impact either in public discussions or on Catholic opinion” (100). She cites as evidence the 2004 communion controversy, during which a “minority of bishops … said or implied that Catholics had to vote for Bush” because of John Kerry's pro-choice position on abortion, while “the majority … maintained a neutral stance” (100). Steinfels' essay also helpfully reminds readers that “Until 1973 (Roe v. Wade) and the beginning of the now chronic polarization of U.S. politics, most Catholic politicians were not at odds with church teaching; nor was church teaching, as enforced, at odds with U.S. laws” (101).

Mark Chaves contributes to this collection of essays by considering the significance of religious congregations' contributions to American civic life. His chapter provides a brief and useful synopsis of research findings about the civic activities of congregations. Perhaps most importantly and interestingly, Chaves' essay debunks two “myths” about congregational provision of social services. The first myth he tackles is that “the typical congregation is intensively involved in social service activities” (32). In reality, Chaves demonstrates, “virtually all congregations do something that might be called social service, but much of this activity is very small-scale and informal and focused on short-term, emergency needs for food, clothing and shelter” (32). The second myth Chaves addresses is that “congregation-based social services represent an alternative to the world of secular and government-funded social services” (33). Instead, “the truth is that, when congregations are doing more than superficial social services, their activity is almost always done in collaboration with secular nonprofits and with government” (33).

Bryan Froehle makes two contributions to the volume. In one chapter, he describes parish planning processes in conjunction with an analysis of volunteering by Catholics. Froehle's other essay, titled “Organizing Volunteering? National Catholic Organizations and Civic Engagement,” is perhaps even more valuable, describing in some detail the origins and development of a large number of Catholic voluntary and social service organizations. Any scholar interested in knowing more about the growth of Catholic institutions and organizations such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, and many others would do well to start with Froehle's essay.

While this is an important book and each of the chapters will prove informative to a variety of audiences, perhaps the most notable shortcoming of the book overall is that the essays do not always hold together to form a coherent whole. The book's title suggests it will devote sustained attention to Catholicism's contribution to civil society in the U.S. And indeed, most of the chapters deal explicitly with Catholics or the Catholic Church as their subject matter. But in other chapters the primary unit of analysis seems to be religious groups considered more broadly, with analysis of Catholicism seemingly almost an afterthought. The book's title suggests it will focus on the U.S. context, but certain of the chapters focus on Germany as well. It was at times difficult to read the chapters consecutively, as the relationship of each essay to those preceding and succeeding and to the collection of essays as a whole was not always clear. As a result, this book is likely to be of most interest to readers interested in one or more of its specific essays. Nevertheless, the strengths of the individual essays and the insights of this distinguished group of writers combine to make this an important addition to the literature on Catholic civic engagement and a valuable reference for scholars interested in the intersection of Catholicism and public life.