"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.

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.

From the perspective of historical sociology, Richard N. Juliani traces the role of religion in the lives and communities of Italian immigrants in Philadelphia from the 1850s to the early 1930s. By the end of the nineteenth century, Philadelphia had one of the largest Italian populations in the country. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia eventually established twenty-three parishes for the exclusive use of Italians. Juliani describes the role these parishes played in developing and anchoring an ethnic community and in shaping its members' new identity as Italian Americans during the years of mass migration from Italy to America. Priest, Parish, and People blends the history of Monsignor Antonio Isoleri--pastor from 1870 to 1926 of St. Mary Magdalen dePazzi, the first Italian parish founded in the country--with that of the Italian immigrant community in Philadelphia. Relying on parish and archdiocesan records, secular and church newspapers, archives of religious orders, and Father Isoleri's personal papers, Juliani chronicles the history of St. Mary Magdalen dePazzi as it grew from immigrant refuge to a large, stable, ethnic community that anchored "Little Italy" in South Philadelphia. In charting that growth, Juliani also examines conflicts between laity and clergy and between clergy and church hierarchy, as well as the remarkable fifty-six-year career of Isoleri as a spiritual and secular leader. Priest, Parish, and People provides both the details of parish history in Philadelphia and the larger context of Italian-American Catholic history.

Furthermore! is a novel by Andrew M. Greeley, a priest, distinguished sociologist and bestselling author. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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.