San Antonio College Library

"In this stark depiction of spiritual crisis, small-town pastor Tomas Ericsson performs his duties mechanically before a dwindling congregation. When he is asked to assist a troubled parishioner with his debilitating fear of nuclear annihilation, Tomas is terrified to find that he can offer nothing but his own uncertainty."--Container

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...

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.

Demoralized and in decline, the Catholic Church in North America faces growing challenges. In this episode, we meet some of those who are working, in different ways, to ensure its future. Father Paul McNeil, a rural parish priest is coping with the stresses created by a shortage of clergy. Father Randy Hendricks, a Toronto priest reflects on the struggle with celibacy and loneliness. And Monica Kilburn-Smith, a Calgary chaplain, has risked excommunication...

The author's life story, based on tape recordings of his own narrative, and written down in book form by A.M. Holland.