Focus Areas

Current Initiative-led research projects are illuminating emerging research questions in areas like adaptive reuse of church property, the intersection of faith-based property and housing affordability, and diocesan restructuring.
  1. GIS map of South Bend showing ecological information overlaid with building location.

    Land, Environment, and Food Systems

    As the largest non-state landowner in the world, the Catholic Church is a major presence not only in cities, but in the natural and agricultural ecosystems surrounding and undergirding them.

  2. Renderings of church property development.

    Adaptive Reuse & Densification

    The infrastructure of religion faces seismic upheaval in many places historically structured by its presence and practices.

  3. Map of US dioceses that are expanding or contracting

    Diocesan Restructuring

    Many Catholic dioceses are examining the long-term viability of individual parishes and schools.