Deep in the Church of Texas

Mr. John L. Allen Jr. ends his weekly column, in which he explored Catholicism in Texas, with these sentences.

Texas thus offers a classic American illustration of a basic principle of religious sociology -- where there is religious ferment of any sort, there is likely to be Catholic dynamism too. Far from being threatened by pluralism, for the most part Catholicism ought to welcome it.

Mr. Allen offered examples of people who grew up Catholic encountering Evangelicals and Evangelicals encountering Catholics.

Two surprises in this week's column:

Sociologically, [Mr. Allen] discovered, there really is no such thing as "Catholicism" in Texas -- instead, there are multiple "Catholicisms."

and

By itself, St. Mary's [Catholic Center at Texas A&M University] therefore generates more vocations than many dioceses.

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