What's it like being Catholic in the South?

[anp1215]

OK, FWIW…

Dallas is a lot more like Denver in terms of climate, but the lack of scenery/topography is startling. That part of Texas is just about completely flat, and can look pretty desolate, IMO. You really need to visit Dallas before making a move there. I do not like Dallas at all, myself. The people who like Dallas, don’t like Houston, and vice versa.

I’m surprised you didn’t include Austin…It’s more like Denver (or even Boulder) than any city in Texas. Dry climate, lots of hills if not mountains, a very outdoor lifestyle, liberal college town grown into a city through industry and government (Austin is the capital of TX). It’s got a similar culture to Denver although with a Texan influence. Now, if you are trying to escape some of the more liberal influences in Denver, such as legalized pot, you might not want to move to Austin, because out of all the cities in Texas, it’s the MOST liberal. But in terms of a similar climate and atmosphere to Denver, Austin has the trophy, hands down. The traffic in Austin can be horrendous, so if you do consider it, take that into account. It can affect your lifestyle considerably. I do not know anything about the Catholic Churches in Austin.

Houston has a difficult climate to adjust to. If you’re sick of cold and snow, you will enjoy being able to wear shorts most of the year. The fall is probably the most problematic time of year for me. As a native Denverite, I will probably never adjust to running the AC all the way through October and into November (as a matter of fact it has been on the last 2 nights!). We can’t open our windows very often, because even if it’s cooler outside, there is still humidity and if not, there are allergens (Houston has TONS of trees of all kinds). My kids, however, love the mild weather, and we do get lots of sun down here, which you will be accustomed to. And the humidity is very good for your skin - we tend to age well! But budget for high electric bills especially in the summer.

We’re an Arch-Diocese with our own Cardinal, who is FANTASTIC, IMO. Lots and lots of churches, from traditional to orthodox to heterodox, depending on the parish and the pastor. Not as orthodox in general as St. Louis, for example, whose Bishop is very outspokenly against abortion, but individual parishes may be quite orthodox. We even have a Catholic Charismatic Center (not my thing but they’ve been great about helping work against Planned Parenthood).

ArchDiocese Galveston-Houston

You see, even now, with the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade just a few weeks away, there is NOTHING on the website about this event…There’s a memorial Mass for Martin Luther King, who was NOT a Catholic, on January 20. But no mention of Roe v. Wade or the 50 million precious children who have been murdered since 1973… I will admit that I am continuously disappointed by this failure…

Well, I’d say Houston is pretty flat and desolate too. I love Houston, born and raised here, but it’s terribly ugly. I wouldn’t recommend anyone moving here if scenery is at the top of their list. I don’t get to travel much, so it’s always a bit of a shock to me if I go somewhere with pretty scenery, like, these places exist? What is this-zoning laws? There’s not a strip club next to that church? There’s not hundreds of billboards lining the highway? Is that a hill?

But I love it here, I don’t plan on moving. My family is here, and I think our Archdiocese is great, for the most part. The charismatic center is great, never been there but know about all the pro-life work they do. Did they put up the pro-life billboard right next to PP? I love seeing that.

I think the Austin diocese is pretty good, from what I’ve seen of it. Two years ago I went to the pro-life march there, and they did a lot of great stuff. One of the parishes had a living Rosary and Mass and a lunch before the march. UT Catholic center had a reception afterwards. I know the Cathedral has the EF Mass.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Well, I’d say Houston is pretty flat and desolate too. I love Houston, born and raised here, but it’s terribly ugly. I wouldn’t recommend anyone moving here if scenery is at the top of their list. I don’t get to travel much, so it’s always a bit of a shock to me if I go somewhere with pretty scenery, like, these places exist? What is this-zoning laws? There’s not a strip club next to that church? There’s not hundreds of billboards lining the highway? Is that a hill?

But I love it here, I don’t plan on moving. My family is here, and I think our Archdiocese is great, for the most part. The charismatic center is great, never been there but know about all the pro-life work they do. Did they put up the pro-life billboard right next to PP? I love seeing that.

I think the Austin diocese is pretty good, from what I’ve seen of it. Two years ago I went to the pro-life march there, and they did a lot of great stuff. One of the parishes had a living Rosary and Mass and a lunch before the march. UT Catholic center had a reception afterwards. I know the Cathedral has the EF Mass.

It’s true we don’t have much of what qualifies as scenery, but what we DO have, that Dallas doesn’t, are TREES. And our beautiful trees make up for a lot of what passes for scenery in other locations. IMO, that is. Flying into Houston I am always stunned at how green our city is, especially compared to Denver right now as it has been in drought for a couple of years. We are in drought too, but nothing like further north. We lost a lot of trees last year but we still have so many…

I think that billboard was a private donation, I know that the director of the Coalition for Life has told me but I have forgotten. But the Charismatic priests come over and pray on a regular basis during 40 Days for Life, and they allowed the Coalition to use part of their property to make a bus barn for the Mobile Clinic, which was invaluable since driving the bus to and from Planned Parenthood requires a dedicated driver. It needs to be close to PP so they can jump in and have it set up as soon as clients start arriving over there.

I posted a thread about how the Archdiocese has nothing on the calendar about the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade this month. It puzzles me why … Guess I’m going to have to call.

 

[Debora123]

Being a Catholic in the South is better than being a Catholic anywhere else.

In the South, people are very Christian and very conservative. They are not CATHOLIC, but they are a heck of a lot closer than all the liberals/atheists/agnostics from everywhere else in the country.

 

[Colorad007]

Being a Catholic in the South is better than being a Catholic anywhere else.

In the South, people are very Christian and very conservative. They are not CATHOLIC, but they are a heck of a lot closer than all the liberals/atheists/agnostics from everywhere else in the country.

Well, one thing I’m wondering is whether or not folks in the south really are as Christian and very conservative as a lot of people seem to think they are. I"m sure that the rural areas are indeed quite so–but that’s true of most of the country.

 

[Colorad007]

I’m in the SE LA area - St. Bernard Parish is SE of New Orleans - we have 3 Catholic Churches following Katrina - before we had 8 but with a lower population only 3 were re-opened. I’ve lived in other areas - Amarillo, TX in the 60s – only one person knew I Catholic - when Kennedy was elected it was not a good thing to be Catholic - fortunately she didn’t tell anyone - it took us over 2 years to find the Catholic Church. Following Katrina I stayed in Dover, DE for a few months - 1 large Catholic Church with one small Catholic book/gift store. Then we moved to Conway, AR - St. Joseph is a large parish (close to 2,000 families) the school is K-12 – friendly but when the non-Catholics find out you are a Catholic they tend to leave you alone. They had a large Christian Bookstore when we got there - anything Catholic was in the Cult Section - they closed up before I left 2 years later. AR has a Catholic Church in every county with the larger ones have more - St. Joseph’s was about 2.5 miles from my house and there was another about 8 miles and my favorite one was about 22 miles away. I researched the areas close to Little Rock AFB and decided on St. Joseph’s before we moved there. It would have been hard living there if I had not liked or had a Catholic Church close by - it does make it easier to be close to a good Catholic Church. If you move in the southern LA area there will be many to select from. God bless in your decision.

I should have clarified that Louisiana isn’t much of an option for us. That state may just be the most Catholic state in the country, even if numerically it’s not quite there. I doubt that New Orleans is much of a great place to be in terms of Catholic culture, but I’ve heard a tremendous amount of Lafayette and most of southern Louisiana.

 

[AnastasiaRomano]

Well, one thing I’m wondering is whether or not folks in the south really are as Christian and very conservative as a lot of people seem to think they are. I"m sure that the rural areas are indeed quite so–but that’s true of most of the country.

Sure, there are plenty of non-Christians in the South too. But if you compare, say, a suburb of Nashville with a suburb of NYC, I think you’ll find that on average the southerners are more religious and more conservative.

When we lived in the Northeast, there were more Catholics overall, but we felt far more alone as there were fewer people we knew who were devoted members of any faith. Now, there are very few Catholics in my area – but we’ve found that the local Baptists and charismatic Protestants are good allies and pretty similar culturally to us (so long as we’re not debating the finer points of doctrine).

 

[Cliff_Jumper]

I live in South Carolina and the Catholic Churches here are great. Authentic Catholicism is on the rise especially in my area.

 

[Debora123]

Well, one thing I’m wondering is whether or not folks in the south really are as Christian and very conservative as a lot of people seem to think they are. I"m sure that the rural areas are indeed quite so–but that’s true of most of the country.

I’ve lived in the South, and I’ve lived in the North. I don’t know if Southerners are “as Christian and very conservative as a lot of people seem to think,” …But they are definitely more so than people from the North.

 

[Debora123]

Sure, there are plenty of non-Christians in the South too. But if you compare, say, a suburb of Nashville with a suburb of NYC, I think you’ll find that on average the southerners are more religious and more conservative.

When we lived in the Northeast, there were more Catholics overall, but we felt far more alone as there were fewer people we knew who were devoted members of any faith. Now, there are very few Catholics in my area – but we’ve found that the local Baptists and charismatic Protestants are good allies and pretty similar culturally to us (so long as we’re not debating the finer points of doctrine).

Agreed.

 

[CatholicFireman]

Maybe this group can help: forums.catholic-questions.org/group.php?groupid=162

I have never seen so much reverence as I have in the parishes I’ve been to in the Arlington Diocese. A lot more than the parishes I was at growing up in Queens.

 

[Colorad007]

I’ve lived in the South, and I’ve lived in the North. I don’t know if Southerners are “as Christian and very conservative as a lot of people seem to think,” …But they are definitely more so than people from the North.

“The North” is a pretty broad area–even more broad, I think, than “the South.”

Florida, for example, is considerably more liberal and non-Christian than, say, Missouri, South Dakota, Kansas, etc.

Even if we say that Florida isn’t really a southern state, then I still wonder about other parts of the south. Is Nashville really that much different than, say, Pittsburgh or Cleveland?

 

[Colorad007]

Sure, there are plenty of non-Christians in the South too. But if you compare, say, a suburb of Nashville with a suburb of NYC, I think you’ll find that on average the southerners are more religious and more conservative.

When we lived in the Northeast, there were more Catholics overall, but we felt far more alone as there were fewer people we knew who were devoted members of any faith. Now, there are very few Catholics in my area – but we’ve found that the local Baptists and charismatic Protestants are good allies and pretty similar culturally to us (so long as we’re not debating the finer points of doctrine).

I’m sure that’s probably true. But “the north” contains a lot of places that are outside of the northeast. The northeast is extremely secular and liberal, but I wonder how much the south differs from states in the west and midwest.

 

[90Domer]

I had a different experience coming from the Northeast & moving to North Carolina. Outside of the major cities, I found the Free-Will Baptists to be some of the most critical people I have met. I did not feel comfortable in my Catholicism both where I lived and where I worked. I did work in a more rural county where there was only one Catholic Church in the whole county. I also found that orthodox Catholicism was not the norm. The catechism was much more “loose” in favor of things like SSM and numerous liturgical abuses.

I was much happier returning to the Northeast. Just my experience.

 

[90Domer]

I have never lived in the South while Catholic, but while living in rural Mississippi I became exposed to what my mother calls “Southern nice,” which is probably not fair to all Southerners but it definitely captured the people who lived around us. Basically, it described people who could use all sorts of nice manners with strangers, but once they knew a negative (or perceived as negative) thing about you every pretense was over. Such a “negative” thing might be not being a fundamentalist (and even mainline Protestant denominations in our town were fundamentalist churches - which is why we quit going to church shortly after moving there). I know it’s “fashionable” to pick on how backwards things are in Mississippi…but from my experience they really are, especially out “in the sticks.”

My mom lived in Raleigh, NC for a while growing up and enjoyed it although she said it was too hot (she’s like me and enjoys cooler weather). My grandparents still go back there frequently and say that it’s everything good about the South and the North put together. My husband’s family has vacationed for forty years in southern North Carolina (around Wilmington) and they love it. My in-laws spend a few months there every year when it isn’t as touristy. There are plenty of Catholic parishes in that area.

My aunt and uncle live in Alabama near Huntsville and they really enjoy it. My aunt is Catholic and belongs to a really active parish there.

I do think a lot of it depends on where, specifically, you go. The South is far from monolithic (just as every other area of the country.)

I found this to be the case as well in rural North Caolina.

 

[90Domer]

I have never lived in the South while Catholic, but while living in rural Mississippi I became exposed to what my mother calls “Southern nice,” which is probably not fair to all Southerners but it definitely captured the people who lived around us. Basically, it described people who could use all sorts of nice manners with strangers, but once they knew a negative (or perceived as negative) thing about you every pretense was over. Such a “negative” thing might be not being a fundamentalist (and even mainline Protestant denominations in our town were fundamentalist churches - which is why we quit going to church shortly after moving there). I know it’s “fashionable” to pick on how backwards things are in Mississippi…but from my experience they really are, especially out “in the sticks.”

My mom lived in Raleigh, NC for a while growing up and enjoyed it although she said it was too hot (she’s like me and enjoys cooler weather). My grandparents still go back there frequently and say that it’s everything good about the South and the North put together. My husband’s family has vacationed for forty years in southern North Carolina (around Wilmington) and they love it. My in-laws spend a few months there every year when it isn’t as touristy. There are plenty of Catholic parishes in that area.

My aunt and uncle live in Alabama near Huntsville and they really enjoy it. My aunt is Catholic and belongs to a really active parish there.

I do think a lot of it depends on where, specifically, you go. The South is far from monolithic (just as every other area of the country.)

I found this to be the case as well in rural North Carolina.

 

[90Domer]

I live in the south, in an area that is largely protestant with a low Catholic population. I would recommend not moving to an area such as this. If you are looking in the south, I would seek out areas with higher Catholic populations. My husband and I talk/dream about moving to an area with a higher Catholic population but it’s not possible right now due to his commitment with the military. Having lived here all my life, I recently realized how much of a negative effect living in such an area has had on me. I didn’t realize how I let the strong Protestant mentality erode my own beliefs. Thankfully, I’ve been able to have my beliefs restored! But the hard part now is just having support and reinforcement from those around me who ‘get it’. It would be nice to know anyone who doesn’t think contraception is no big deal, would never abort but thinks they should support a woman’s choice, and that homosexuals deserve to be married too.

My husband and I have not a single Catholic family for friends. All of our friends are Protestant. It’s ok, we love our Protestant friends and even have Christian fellowship with them once a week but we really feel we also need the regular influence of Catholics too. Our church is far away and it’s hard to make friends there. We attend church events regularly but unfortunately, such events don’t lend themselves to developing friendships with other other families at similar places in life. My kids go to faith formation but then everyone leaves immediately after the structured class and because the church is not close by, they do not see these kids during the week at school or around the neighborhood. Our area is large and densely populated but there is only one Catholic school and it is very expensive compared to other Catholic schools. Yesterday, I saw a post on a catholic group asking other parents how they decide which Catholic school to choose and I though, ahh, that must be nice!

Also, I find that the Catholic churches we do have here, tend to be “liberal” as CAFers would say. The tabernacle is not inside the sanctuary, our church doesn’t have kneelers, excessive announcements before Mass, clapping in every Mass, the music is that which is heavily criticized on CAF, etc. There is one Catholic church closer to me but they don’t even have a permanent set-up (they use folding chairs and have for many years) and are founded on the idea of having Mass at homes in small groups. They call themselves “progressive” and their motto is about every family being a tithing family. They will come after you and let you know if you “owe” money for tithing.

This was my experience as well.

 

[90Domer]

I live in Raleigh, NC and there are many Catholic churches here. Some are liberal and some are conservative. NC has one of the most rapidly growing populations of Catholics in the country.

Speaking of megachurches, we have a Catholic church with 18,000 parishioners! I go to a much smaller parish and it is wonderful.

Our Bishop has plans to build a new cathedral and it will be built in a traditional style with antique stained glass windows.

There is a nuclear power plant nearby if that’s where you will be looking for work.

The only thing I dislike about NC is the weather. I HATE hot weather, and it’s hot and humid here.

I dream of moving out west when I retire and Denver is one of the areas I have considered.

I bet I know what church that is…in North Raleigh? We attended the Cathedral. Your new bishop seems wonderful!

 

[90Domer]

Wow! Now THAT is one big church!!! holy moly…

Funny thing is…it is designed and laid out like a mega church. My mom still tells me how much the place made her feel uncomfy.

 

[90Domer]

Being a Catholic in the South is better than being a Catholic anywhere else.

In the South, people are very Christian and very conservative. They are not CATHOLIC, but they are a heck of a lot closer than all the liberals/atheists/agnostics from everywhere else in the country.

That was certainly not my impression of the south. Frankly, I saw a very good deal of racism of various forms. Very disappointing.

In my opinion, I think Archbishop Chaput and the Philly Archdiocese is a great place to live!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with those who say “the South” isn’t homogenous. It varies a lot. I live in the Ozarks, which those in the Deep South would say isn’t in “the South”, but which northerners would and do think of as “the South”. It’s basically just “southern upland” and resembles the other southern uplands stretching from Va to eastern Ok., more than anyplace else.

Regardless, when it comes to culture and religion, it’s not terribly different from any part of the South. Friendly, relaxed, lots of protestant fundamentalists, conservative in just about any way you could name, not many Catholics per capita. I was raised here, and learned very early on that a lot of people here have deep misunderstandings of Catholicism, but are willing to learn better. I am absolutely persuaded that the fundamentalist types are mostly quite sincere in their religiousness. When I was a kid, there was a significant amount of intolerance, but that has almost entirely gone now. When these fundamentalists and evangelicals find that you share their sense of right and wrong for the most part, they identify more with you than they do with their mainline protestant bretheren.

I respect them because I respect them, not because I feel obliged to do so.

This country (like the Smokies and southern Appalachians) can be picturesque and the cost of living is low. There isn’t a whole lot of “class consciousness”. One of the local jokes is that the only way you can tell a millionaire from a line worker is that the line worker’s pickup is newer, though the rifle in the millionaire’s gun rack is more expensive.

It can get really, really hot. No question about it. But frankly, when the heat of the day gives way to the cool of the evening and when your eyes adjust so the summer landscape can be made out by starlight and the light of what seems like 100 fireflies per cubic foot, and the cool crystalline air flows down the creek valleys and hollows like water, you’ll think you died and went to heaven.

Whether it turns out to be true or not, the Catholic writer, Flannery O’Connor opined that the most fertile ground for conversions to Catholicism lies among southern fundamentalists who, she thought, would be greatly surprised to learn that their religious beliefs more closely resemble those of Catholicism than they do mainline protestantism.

Personally, and seeing the conversions that I see, I suspect she was right.

But it is different from the North, and that’s true.