Some Characteristics of Cana Conference Personnel in Chicago

In sociol literature Americans have been categorized as a nation of joiners. There is differential participation in formal org's, especially among Ur peoples. The middle & upper strata show greater interests. It may be due to the fact that modern society is held together by few shared understandings, beliefs & practices. Cath's as a minority cut across class strata, yet share a common set of religious values & interests which they are bound to promote. When religious values are threatened, what Cath's join formally organized voluntary associations to protect them? The Cana Conference of Chicago promotes the interests of the Cath family & represents one of our major contemporary family movements. It acts in all-day or half-day meetings of married couples at which various means of making family life a success are developed & discussed under the guidance of a trained leader. Thus the physical, psychol'al & spiritual characteristics of marriage family relationships are explored. It began in the early 1940's. It has helped prepare young people for Cath family life in Pre-Cana conferences (lectures during the 6 Sundays of Lent). Cana programs exist in over 90 dioceses & in Chicago it has been particularly active (10 yrs old in 1954, 23,250 married couples have attended, 22,940 attended preCana, etc). Who are the people who promote this conference? Information was gained through questionaires sent out in 3/1955 to about 200 couples actively engaged in the work (109 returns). About 25% of R's were doctors & their wives. Roughly 50% had resided in their present parish for less than 5 yrs (mobility). Those of Irish & German ancestry predominate the group, thus are not representative of the total Cath pop of the area. They come from somewhat larger families than the national average. Over 66% received a Coll educ. The wives largely went to Cath Sch's & about 50% obtained a Coll educ. Their educ'al accomplishment was well above the national Cath average. Occup'al rank indicates high levels of achievement. All but 10% of wives were employed before marriage, but very few worked outside of the home after marriage. These couples were married much later than the national (mean - average) age of marriage. Cana work seems to appeal to newly married couples (under 10 yrs). They are starting families & few have one or less children. Over 50% had been in the movement for 2 or less yrs at time of the study. Doctors became interested in the movement through influence of other wor