While dissolute bishops and priests around the world grab headlines for their untoward words and deeds, too many other unfruitful priests minister as little more than glad-handing bachelors doing social service work. Top and bottom, is this the Church that Christ intended? Are these the priests we need? “No!” cries author Kevin Wells in these compelling pages that showcase how heroic priests can faithfully tread the narrow path of holy self-sacrifice first blazed by the apostles themselves. From scores of insightful interviews with modern priests, exorcists, seminary formators, and even disillusioned laity, Wells here draws forth a blueprint for priestly holiness that can once again fill our Church with priests abounding with sincere, supernatural faith, on fire with God's love, and moved by the irresistible impulse to save souls, no matter the cost to themselves. Reading this book will deepen your own faith and help you understand what all

"When a thick vine of vessels in his brain burst one ordinary evening, Kevin Wells' life took an abrupt, unanticipated turn. After having already navigated past a series of devastating events, the former sportswriter was now forced to push back death. And, miraculously, it was his beloved deceased uncle, Msgr. Tom Wells, who helped spearhead the comeback. In this riveting story, Wells details his reliance on steady humor, persistent faith and the prayers of thousands to win back life. The result is this spiritually-rich memoir, which offers hard-earned encouragement for those struggling through perilous times and looking for a reason to hang on. Readers will come to see what Wells eventually did: that Christ's graces are always hidden in the pain"--Amazon.com.

Patrick Madrid explains how prayer, friendship, and common sense will bring those you love into - or back into - God's Church.

“Courageous and inspiring.”—Karen Armstrong, author of The Case for God “James Carroll takes us to the heart of one of the great crises of our times.”—Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve An eloquent memoir by a former priest and National Book Award–winning writer who traces the roots of the Catholic sexual abuse scandal back to the power structure of the Church itself, as he explores his own crisis of faith and journey to renewal NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY James Carroll weaves together the story of his quest to understand his personal beliefs and his relationship to the Catholic Church with the history of the Church itself. From his first awakening of faith as a boy to his gradual disillusionment as a Catholic, Carroll offers a razor-sharp examination both of himself and of how the Church became an institution that places power and dominance over people through an all-male clergy. Carroll argues that a male-supremacist clericalism is both the root cause and the ongoing enabler of the sexual abuse crisis. The power structure of clericalism poses an existential threat to the Church and compromises the ability of even a progressive pope like Pope Francis to advance change in an institution accountable only to itself. Carroll traces this dilemma back to the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages, when Scripture, Jesus Christ, and His teachings were reinterpreted as the Church became an empire. In a deeply personal re-examination of self, Carroll grapples with his own feelings of being chosen, his experiences as a priest, and the moments of doubt that made him leave the priesthood and embark on a long personal journey toward renewal—including his tenure as an op-ed columnist at The Boston Globe writing about sexual abuse in the Church. Ultimately, Carroll calls on the Church and all reform-minded Catholics to revive the culture from within by embracing anti-clerical, anti-misogynist resistance and staying grounded in the spirit of love that is the essential truth at the heart of Christian belief and Christian life.

While seminaries, by many accounts, admit an increasing number of homosexuals, women are strictly barred from ministerial roles. The church's time-honored tradition of "avoiding scandal" also backfires. For by the shielding of fallen clerics, Berry shows, the suffering of the abused is often compounded.

Based on one hundred fifteen interviews augmented by biographical, survey, and historical research, Keeping the Vow tells the story of married priests and their wives, their unusual and difficult journey from Anglicanism, and their life in the Catholic Church. The book combines personal narratives and sociological analysis to provide a clear view of the priesthood's collective features, and discusses the implications of the married priesthood for the future of the Church.

Now with a new introduction and conclusion by Kavanaugh, here is the passionate book that caused great controversy in the 1970s. Kavanaugh eloquently appeals for the Church to surrender its antiquated, abusive position to become a community of compassion and love. "One of the most moving human documents I have ever read!"--Dr. Carl Rogers.

The Catholic Church has been nearly destroyed by its resistance to change, censured for its abuses. Pope Francis has promised reform: radical theologian Hans Küng here presents what Catholics have long been yearning for: modern responses to the challenges of a modern world.

Tired of being stumped when false claims are made about the Catholic Church? Want to be armed with knowledge that puts these mistruths to rest? In these pages, veteran apologist Gerard Verschuuren provides thorough yet concise answers to forty of the most common — and absurd — lies about the Catholic Church. With precision and charity, you’ll soon be able to defend the Church when you’re told that Catholics . . . Still lives in the Dark AgesReject modern ideas of justiceOppress womenOppose free speechKilled thousands during the InquisitionTake orders from the popeReject scienceWorship statues and the Virgin MaryAdded books to the BibleInvented purgatoryWrongly call priests “father”Celebrate pagan holidaysHelped Hitler seize powerAnd so much more! Relying on historical works and official Church documents, Vershuuren authoritatively proves that these and many other claims are simply caricatures or outright misrepresentations of the real beliefs of Catholics. Read this book and you’ll be armed with the knowledge and confidence you need to defend the Catholic Church from those who wrongly disparage her teachings. Better yet, you’ll be equipped to proclaim the soul-saving truth of our Faith.

After meditating on the Apostles and then on the Fathers of the early Church, as seen in his earlier works Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church and Church Fathers, Pope Benedict XVI devoted his attention to the most influential Christian men from the fifth through the twelfth centuries. In his first book, Church Fathers, Benedict began with Clement of Rome and ended with Saint Augustine. In this volume, the Holy Father reflects on some of the greatest theologians of the Middle Ages: Benedict, Anselm, Bernard, and Gregory the Great, to name just a few. By exploring both the lives and the ideas of the great popes, abbots, scholars and missionaries who lived during the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christendom, Pope Benedict XVI highlights the key elements of Catholic dogma and practice that remain the foundation stones not only of the Roman Catholic Church but of Christian society itself. This book is a wonderful way to get to know these later Church Fathers and Teachers and the tremendous spiritually rich patrimony they have bequeathed to us. "Without this vital sap, man is exposed to the danger of succumbing to the ancient temptation of seeking to redeem himself by himself." -- Pope Benedict XVI