CARA

Through a generous grant from the Louisville Institute, CARA researchers investigated how well Vietnamese American parishes help women and first- and subsequent-generation Vietnamese American immigrants adapt to a U.S. culture that is in some ways contrary to the traditional values held in Vietnam. The study also explores why Vietnamese American Catholics account for such a disproportionately high number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Read more:

A new CARA Special Report highlights an emergent global sisterhood blossoming in the United States. Although vocations in America have been in decline, sisters from around the world have come to serve and learn here. This is enriching the life of the Church in the United States and provides the sisters with formation that they will use in their communities around the world. Read more:

CARA and the African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC) are partnering on a Visiting Scholars program thanks to the generous support of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. ASEC identifies Catholic Sisters from among ten nations of Africa as candidates.  The selected sisters come to CARA for six months where they joins the CARA research team and develops their skills in applied research. On their return home, each sister initiates and completes several applied research projects that serve the needs of her Religious Institute or the national conference of Sisters in her nation. CARA continues to mentor the Visiting Scholars after their return home. A new section of our website is dedicated to this program and more generally the Church in Africa.

Whether in Boston in 2002, Pennsylvania in 2018, or McCarrick, the same pattern emerges. Clergy born in the 1930s, ordained in the 1960s accused of abuse during the 1960s to the 1980s. News about allegations is new but incidence of abuse today is rare. Cases in news fit historical pattern. For more analysis: