I think that one point you are overlooking in modern Catholic thought in the USA is the insistence of our Bishops to make our elections a one issue choice. Nothing matters except Roe v.Wade and the poorly educated follow and put  Mr. Trump into office. Highly influential in my lifetime was the GI bill after WW11 which allowed innumerable Catholics to obtain a college education and break out of the ghettos. And the breakthrough election of JFK in 1960 gave Catholics a vision of rising a little bit higher than being a policeman or a bartender. Vatican 11 was "indeed a breath of fresh air, but JP11 made every effort to close the windows by his selection of many of the Bishops and Cardinals that we live with today.