"Father McGivney's vision remains as relevant as ever in the changed circumstances of today's church and society."—Pope John Paul II Is now the time for an American parish priest to be declared a Catholic saint? In Father Michael McGivney (1852-1890), born and raised in a Connecticut factory town, the modern era's ideal of the priesthood hit its zenith. The son of Irish immigrants, he was a man to whom "family values" represented more than mere rhetoric. And he left a legacy of hope still celebrated around the world. In the late 1800s, discrimination against American Catholics was widespread. Many Catholics struggled to find work and ended up in infernolike mills. An injury or the death of the wage earner would leave a family penniless. The grim threat of chronic homelessness and even starvation could fast become realities. Called to action in 1882 by his sympathy for these suffering people, Father McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus, an organization that has helped to save countless families from the indignity of destitution. From its uncertain beginnings, when Father McGivney was the only person willing to work toward its success, it has grown to an international membership of 1.7 million men. At heart, though, Father McGivney was never anything more than an American parish priest, and nothing less than that, either—beloved by children, trusted by young adults, and regarded as a "positive saint" by the elderly in his New Haven parish. In an incredible work of academic research, Douglas Brinkley (The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc, Tour of Duty) and Julie M. Fenster (Race of the Century, Ether Day) re-create the life of Father McGivney, a fiercely dynamic yet tenderhearted man. Though he was only thirty-eight when he died, Father McGivney has never been forgotten. He remains a true "people's priest," a genuinely holy man—and perhaps the most beloved parish priest in U.S. history. Moving and inspirational, Parish Priest chronicles the process of canonization that may well make Father McGivney the first American-born parish priest to be declared a saint by the Vatican.

Those who are not Catholic as well as those who are will be fascinated by this inside story of contemporary Catholicism in crisis.

Based on a survey sent out to Catholic clergy in the UK, this study is a major contribution from empirical theology towards interpreting the health and potential of the priesthood today. The issues raised by this new study concern the nature and health of the priesthood, a topic of most urgent concern at a time of clerical scandal and abuse. The conclusions of this book are extremely revealing but fundamentally positive for anyone concerned with the future of the Christian Church at the start of a new millennium.

This is a great book for anyone interested in how the Parish priest goes about their work. A systematic guide to the pastoral care of the parish church and the community intended for those with no previous knowledge.

For well over a century the Catholic Church has articulated clear positions on many issues of public concern, particularly economics, capital punishment, foreign affairs, sexual morality, and abortion. Yet the fact that some of the Church's positions do not mesh well with the platforms of either of the two major political parties in the U.S. may make it difficult for Americans to look to Catholic doctrine for political guidance. Scholars of religion and politics have long recognized the potential for clergy to play an important role in shaping the voting decisions and political attitudes of their congregations, yet these assumptions of political influence have gone largely untested and undemonstrated. Politics in the Parish is the first empirical examination of the role Catholic clergy play in shaping the political views of their congregations. Gregory Allen Smith draws from recent scholarship on political communication, and the comprehensive Notre Dame Study of Parish Life, as well as case studies he conducted in nine parishes in the mid-Atlantic region, to investigate the extent to which and the circumstances under which Catholic priests are influential in shaping the politics of their parishioners. Smith is able to verify that clergy do exercise political influence, but he makes clear that such influence is likely to be nuanced, limited in magnitude, and exercised indirectly by shaping parishioner religious attitudes that in turn affect political behavior. He shows that the messages that priests deliver vary widely, even radically, from parish to parish and priest to priest. Consequently, he warns that scholars should exercise caution when making any global assumptions about the political influence that Catholic clergy affect upon their congregations.

Metanoia: A Catholic Book Series, Book Number Three: Vocation: Common Priest by Baptism is the author’s third publication in a series of Catholic books. In Vocation: Common Priest by Baptism, the author sets forth his personal experience in discerning whether Jesus Christ is calling him to share or participate in The Eternal Priesthood of Christ, as a common priest by Baptism or as a ministerial priest by Holy Orders. In answering this question, the author recounts 25 years of priestly misidentifications and associations made by strangers, parishioners, family, friends, and neighbors, connecting them with the irrevocable and inseparable gifts and call of a true Catholic priest (i.e., Sacerdos alter Christus). He is publishing this book in hopes that other Catholic men formally in discernment may find it instructive. Finally, this book is part of the author’s lay apostolate of Roman Catholic witness to the reality, power, and transforming/saving love of God, as well as the author’s response to and promotion of the Church’s “universal call to holiness” (Lumen Gentium) and the “new evangelization” (Novo Millenio Ineunte), in the electronically and globally connected virtual world of the Internet.

From Celibate Catholic Priest to Married Protestant Minister: Shepherding in Greener Pastures describes a previously unstudied population of celibate Catholic priests who left the priesthood and eventually became married Protestant ministers. Stephen Fichter alternates from narrative to descriptive as he follows the lives of three of his study participants before, during, and after their dual transition. The descriptive sections include a history of religiously motivated celibacy and a review of the four leading forerunners in the field of Catholic clergy research. This scholarly study is the first time that these transitional clerics have candidly explained their difficult journeys of discernment. Religion, love, loss, and commitment are all analyzed in the context of this unique group of men, and the profiles in this book are memorable not only for the richness of their content, but also—and maybe most importantly—for their humanity. Lessons can be drawn for all people, especially those who have ever suffered a mid-life crisis.