Keep The Faith, Change The Church: The Battle By Catholics For The Soul Of Their Church

Front Cover
Rodale Books, Mar 18, 2004 - Religion - 320 pages

A Defining Moment in the Life of the Church

Even before the terrible revelations of sexual misconduct and the cover-up that allowed such atrocities to continue happening, the Catholic Church was in trouble. With a devout but aging congregation giving way to a generation of so-called lapsed Catholics, the spiritual vitality and significance of the church had seemed, in the context of modern American society, to be ebbing away. Then when the scandal hit, even true believers were pitched into an all-out crisis of faith.

It was at this low point that a fiercely committed group of Catholics emphatically said, Enough! This book tells their inspiring story, the story of Voice of the Faithful, a grassroots organization formed to give the laity a voice in making their church a more effective spiritual and social force. The group came to realize that the underlying cause of the cover-ups and the failure of the church to adopt many needed changes is the abuse by some in the hierarchy of the excessive power they hold.

For too long, average Catholics have been disenfranchised. Now, with the growing success of Voice of the Faithful, there is finally a legitimate forum for the laity. As James E. Muller and Charles Kenney show in this urgent call to action, history is on the side of those who would stand up and be heard.

From inside the book

Contents

A CHURCH OF GOOD AND EVIL
1
A NEW VOICE FOR THE FAITHFUL EMERGES
15
THE CARDINAL CONVENES HIS FLOCK
35
Copyright

10 other sections not shown

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2004)

James E. Muller, M.D., the founding president of Voice of the Faithful, is codirector of the CIMIT Vulnerable Plaque Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He is also a founder of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, an organization that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

Charles Kenney is the author of three novels and three previous works of non-fiction, including John F. Kennedy: The Presidential Portfolio. He was a reporter and editor at the Boston Globe for sixteen years and now serves as a consultant in communications strategy for a variety of companies.

Bibliographic information