San Antonio College Library

Mandatory celibacy for Catholic priests has been the norm for almost 900 years. Now the clergy sexual abuse scandal and the rapidly declining number of priests have pushed many of the faithful to the point of questioning this tradition. To this sometimes tense discussion of sex and power, priest and theologian Cozzens brings his signature calmness, his own gifted experience of celibate life, and his talent for distilling the spiritual truth of the...

This spiritual portrait of Father Mychal Judge is a remarkable testimony to the hope and courage that he brought to thousands of people, not only as the New York City fire chaplain during the attack on the World Trade Center, where along with so many firefighters his life was brought to a tragic end, but also to the wide-ranging people to whom he ministered. Featuring exclusive interviews with some of his closest friends and associates, the book explores...

The journalist and disillusioned Catholic offers a critique of the Roman Catholic Church, the sex scandals that have wracked the priesthood, and the church hierarchy's coverup of those scandals.

"Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: A Decade of Crisis, 2002-2012 is a thoughtful, multidisciplinary commentary. Beginning when the scandal first broke in Boston in 2002, this first-of-its-kind work offers a wide range of reflections from those in the know, both complimentary and critical of the Church, on what has been done in the ensuing ten years to stop and prevent such abuse. Through the contributions here, readers can delve into the world...

Drawing on 20 years of clinical experience, the author presents the dynamics of sexual abuse both from the victim's point of view and from the priest's; probes why the Church hierarchy, fellow priests, and lay people were silent for so long; and what drew this scandal into the public arena.

"Power succeeds in conveying the nuts and bolts of a clergyman's life even as he illuminates the hidden corners of his soul." "Wheat That Springeth Green , J. F. Powers's beautifully realized final work, is a comic foray into the commercialized wilderness of modern American life. Its hero, Joe Hackett, is a high school track star who sets out to be a saint. But seminary life and priestly apprenticeship soon damp his ardor, and by the time he has...

"A charismatic bishop with a secret life ... His con-man cleric sexual toy ... A monsignor who founded a youth camp that he used as a stalking ground for boys ... A financial house of cards erected by a priest-entrepreneur, using diocesan funds to operate a de facto bank ... A powerful family whose patriarch helped introduce a system of censorship that affected American movies for thirty years ..." "Welcome to the diocese of Santa Rosa, California....

Weigel situates the current crisis of sexual abuse and episcopal malfeasance in the context of recent Catholic history. He analyzes the Church's failure to embrace the great spiritual promise of Vatican II, resulting in the gradual but steady surrender to contemporary culture he dubs "Catholic Lite." He exposes the patterns of dissent and self-deception that became entrenched in seminaries, among priests, and, ultimately, among the bishops who failed...