Practicing Catholic

James Carroll

Apr 2010 · Sold by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

About this ebook

A personal examination of the Catholic faith, its leaders, and its complicated history by a National Book Award–winning, New York Times-bestselling author.

James Carroll turns to the notion of practice—both as a way to learn and a means of improvement—as a lens for this thoughtful and frank look at what it means to be Catholic. He acknowledges the slow and steady transformation of the Church from its darker medieval roots to a more pluralist and inclusive institution, charting along the way stories of powerful Catholic leaders (Pope John XXIII, Thomas Merton, John F. Kennedy) and historical milestones like Vatican II.

These individuals and events represent progress for Carroll, a former priest, and as he considers the new meaning of belief in a world that is increasingly as secular as it is fundamentalist, he shows why the world needs a Church that is committed to faith and renewal.

“Carroll, a former Catholic priest who wrote of his conflict with his father over the Vietnam War in An American Requiem, revisits and expands on that tension in this spiritual memoir infused with church history . . . Readers who, like Carroll, remain Catholic but wrestle with their church’s positions on moral issues will most appreciate his story.” —Publishers Weekly

“Thought-provoking.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“[An] engrossing faith memoir . . . a page-turner.” —Kirkus Reviews

Ratings and reviews

If you have read anything by James Carroll since Mortal Friends you pretty much know the contents of this book. Carol is a former priest who has spent decades fighting a battle within his mind. He wants to believe he has won the battle, but his many books scratching the same surface tell a different story. The problem with Carroll is that he is not awfully convincing in his arguments against the Catholic Church. He is like the atheist who hates the notion of god, but spends many hours thinking how he can disprove what he says he does not believe. Of course, he never can. Neither can Carroll prove that his privately made contorted version of the Church makes any sense. Carroll has made a career of attacking the human flaws within the Catholic Church. What he has failed to acknowledge is that these human flaws are just that--human flaws that say little about the body of the Church. Christ understood human frailty much better than Carroll is able. Carroll believes that flaws are fixed by changing the basic structure of the church; Christ believes that flaws are fixed by changing self. And this just might be the rub: Carroll's failed vocation to the priesthood. Carroll is able to accept some blame for his personal failures, but not enough. He retains the liberals' sense that heavy-handed adjustments to the world made by a few of the select is precisely what the world needs at any given moment. I can't imagine that following Carroll's plan can lead to anything but insanity--or, a race of perpetually unhappy people running from place to place looking for the next new and needed societal change. And then there's the never ending problem of Carroll's failed priesthood.

About the author

James Carroll was raised in Washington, D.C., and ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1969. He served as a chaplain at Boston University from 1969 to 1974, then left the priesthood to become a writer. A distinguished scholar- in-residence at Suffolk University, he is a columnist for the Boston Globe and a regular contributor to the Daily Beast. His critically admired books include Practicing Catholic, the National Book Award&–winning An American Requiem, House of War, which won the first PEN/Galbraith Award, and the New York Times bestseller Constantine&’s Sword, now an acclaimed documentary.