Acknowledgments
Many individuals have shaped our thinking on this project. Comments were sometimes expressed casually by asking about the project’s progress, discussions, and simply listening, and comments also were expressed more formally, through reading versions of the manuscript and offering concrete suggestions. Regardless of how ideas were expressed, we benefitted in so many ways from having great colleagues and being part of an intellectual and faithful community at the University of Notre Dame.
We are indebted to Dr. John Cavidini, Director of the Institute for Church life (ICL) at the University of Notre Dame, for his resources and insight into the development of the project. This is no overstatement, but without the support of Dr. Cavidini and ICL, this project would not have been possible.
We are grateful to colleagues, such as Dr. David Campbell and Dr. Hugh Page, who read drafts of the manuscript. Dr. David Wilson was gracious with his time and knowledge in reviewing the survey instrument, reading drafts of the manuscript, and analyzing aspects of the data. Dr. Janay Cody, who served as a research assistant on the project, approached the project with great meticulousness and dedication. We also acknowledge the support from the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame.
The series editors, Dr. David C. Leege, Dr. Kenneth D. Wald, and Dr. Richard L. Wood, are owed a great amount of gratitude. We appreciate our book project being included in such a highly regarded series. Dr. Leege was especially helpful. His expertise and experience with the study of religious attitudes and Catholics produced a more persuasive and interesting book. Several anonymous reviewers also offered valuable recommendations.
Sister Jamie Phelps, O.P. was helpful at every phase of this project. Her fingerprints are evident throughout this book. Sister Jamie’s knowledge of African American Catholics is exhaustive and provided critical context for our analyses.
Beyond our academic colleagues, Bishop John Ricard, S.S.J. is deserving of special thanks. We credit Bishop Ricard with the idea of surveying African American Catholics and securing resources through the National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC). Additionally, we would like to thank the NBCC Board of Trustees for dedicating significant portions of their meetings, on two separate occasions, for their feedback and comments on survey results. Region Ten representatives of the NBCC, especially Linda Duhon-LaCour, were particularly helpful in facilitating community discussions. Bishop Curtis Guillory, S.V.D. was also very gracious with his time.
Last, but equally valuable, we would like to thank everyone who attended our lectures around the country, asked questions, and commented on our preliminary analyses. You may have thought you were learning from us, but we benefited the most. We would like to especially thank individuals in the Diocese of San Bernardino, Diocese of Houston-Galveston, Diocese of Lansing, Catholic Theological Union, the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University (New Orleans), and Alvernia University.
