In this episode of Catholic in America, Jason Adkins sits down with Fr. Stephen Koeth, C.S.C., historian and professor at the University of Notre Dame, to unpack his groundbreaking new book, Crabgrass Catholicism: How Suburbanization Transformed the American Church.

Together they explore how post–World War II suburban growth reshaped Catholic parish life, architecture, education, and community — decades before Vatican II. From the explosion of new parishes on Long Island to the rise of commuter culture, Fr. Koeth shows that suburbia changed not only where Catholics lived, but how they believed.

The conversation also looks ahead:
 How can today’s Church learn from the past as it faces shrinking parishes in the Midwest and explosive growth in the South and West?
 And what does “mission” look like when Catholic life is no longer centered around the neighborhood parish?

• Fr. Stephen Koeth, C.S.C. – University of Notre Dame Faculty Page: https://history.nd.edu/people/stephen-koeth-csc/
  
  
• Book: Crabgrass Catholicism (University of Notre Dame Press): https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268206178/crabgrass-catholicism/
  
  
• Notre Dame Church Properties Initiative: https://realestate.nd.edu/church-properties-initiative/
  
  

Jason Adkins, host of Catholic in America, engages our own time, culture, and political milieu with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to explore how to live more fully Catholic. With so much to explore, we have guests from a variety of perspectives and faith backgrounds, and conversations do not necessarily constitute endorsements.

Catholic in America is an OSVNews.com podcast partnership. Support Catholic in America by becoming a patron of the show here.