The Courage To Be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, And The Future Of The Church

Weigel's credentials precede him and I believe he is the only American that could write such a book on this topic and make any sense of it. With an objective and clear mind, he dissects the problem of the clergy abuse crisis, and reconstructs the different factors that led up to the crisis's of 2002. He does not walk gingerly around those that are ultimately responsible for this crisis (bishops), but neither does he let the American culture, Catholic faithful or even the Vatican off the hook of guilt and complicity in allowing the events of 2002 to come to fruition. In his view, I believe, he puts the initial blame at the feet of the lack of fidelity to the Truths of the Church by all parties involved. I agree with him. He also believes that the only way to a complete reform of the Church is through rediscovering this lack of fidelity, otherwise any reform implemented will be window dressing and doomed to fail. With precision and insight, he examines and exposes blatant errors of leadership as a result of forgetting what a bishop is, and what a bishop's main responsibility is: A successor of the Apostles and being a shepherd to his flock, not a bureaucratic manager of his diocese. If you want an honest and clear view of this crisis, this is the book you want to read. Though it is riddled with despair at what has happened in the Church, he provides real and concrete solutions as to what must be done to set things right. It is a book of despair yes, but with a healthy dose of hope...all is not lost, not by a long shot. Enjoy.