James Carroll writes a compelling account of the ongoing need for reform in the Roman Catholic Church. He convinces the reader that the hierarchy are derailing the Church from the track of the great and hopeful reforms that Pope John XXIII put the Church on in the 1960's. The key change however has taken hold, namely the fact that both laity and clergy now realize they are the Church and not just the hierarchy and curia. He believes that as a former priest yet still a believing and practicing member, he can help to put the Church back on that track. Attempts by the hierarchy and curia to regain their former power began soon after the death of John XXIII, and at least one of these took the form of a directive that has been virtually ignored by most Church members. The outreach to the Jews and believers of other faiths that began with Vatican II, which evidently is being downplayed, needs to be revived in order for the Church to be a true leader in today's world.
In the face of all this, one might ask how Carroll can continue to support and worship in the Catholic Church. Anticipating this question, he cites the great size and presence of the Church and its compelling social witness; moreover, avoiding the intellectual dishonesty of blindly practicing his faith in a negative environment, he comes across as a strong supporter of core, Christ-based doctrines that he sees as the true essence of the Church. One senses from his story about the denial of the rites of the Church to the infant son of his friend and poet Allen Tate that he is in reality a formidable and fearless force for the authenticity of the Church's witness as it should be and perhaps more often than not it truly is - especially more than one might think from the litany of wrongs that he expounds in the book. So he stays and fights for these ideals, no matter how long it takes. His priestly training still informs and undergirds his powerful, idealistic intellect that is so full of hope for humanity, whose welfare is the duty of the Church and, therefore, of all its people.
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