No other book offers such a detailed exploration of the encounter between Catholicism and liberalism in the USA.

Preface; Introduction; Part I. Historical Conflicts and Developments: 1. The failed encounter: the Catholic Church and liberalism in the nineteenth century Peter Steinfels; 2. American Catholics and liberalism, 1789-1960 Philip Gleason; 3. Vatican II and the encounter between Catholicism and liberalism Joseph A. Komonchak; 4. Liberalism after the good times: the 'End of History' in historical perspective R. Bruce Douglass; Part II. New Encounters and Theoretical Reconstructions: 5. A communitarian reconstruction of human rights David Hollenbach; 6. Catholic social thought, the city, and liberal America Jean Bethke Elshtain; 7. The common good and the open society Louis Dupre; 8. Catholic classics in American liberal culture David Tracy; Part III. Practices and Institutions: 9. Catholicism and liberal democracy Paul E. Sigmund; 10. Feminism, liberalism, and Catholicism Mary C. Segers; 11. The family, liberalism, and Catholic social teaching Laura Gellot; 12. Rights of persons in the Church James Provost; Afterword: a community of freedom; Index.