The paperback edition -- which is updated with corrections and a new preface -- is due out this coming April!
You can already pre-order on Amazon! And honestly, you could take care of so many people on your gift list with this book. Although the subject is dire, the way it's treated grips and leaves the reader not depressed but hopeful. Many people have told me that they were almost reluctant to start reading, but on the very first page they were drawn in by the sheer delight of Phil's prose.
He sure can tell a story. And what a story -- starting with the very earliest moments of Massachusetts history and building, both chronologically and conceptually, right up to the present day. Those same people told me they stayed up late, unable to put the book down. And I really don't think they were just saying this because I'm his wife :) I did it too.
So there you go! Pre-order today!
Also note that the book is available on Kindle! You won't even notice your flight if you take this book along.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The Kennedy Funeral: Boston's Latest Scandal
In a chapter of The Faithful Departed, Phil tells the story of the gathering of prominent theologians and political heavy hitters at the Kennedy compound. Their mission? To make the legalization of abortion palatable to the Democratic party.
This event is a huge marker in the timeline of The Scandal -- pedophilia committed by priests and sanctioned by bishops.
The epicenter of The Scandal is Boston.
Thus, the virtual canonization of Ted Kennedy at his funeral is indeed part of the continuing scandal. Read Phil's essay on The Kennedy Funeral: Boston's Latest Scandal at Catholic Culture. Then buy the book!
This event is a huge marker in the timeline of The Scandal -- pedophilia committed by priests and sanctioned by bishops.
The epicenter of The Scandal is Boston.
Thus, the virtual canonization of Ted Kennedy at his funeral is indeed part of the continuing scandal. Read Phil's essay on The Kennedy Funeral: Boston's Latest Scandal at Catholic Culture. Then buy the book!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Second Printing!
The Faithful Departed is now in its second printing!
I have not seen it, but Phil says that the mistakes have been corrected! Yes!
People often ask Phil if he's interested in writing a sequel. For sure, the story of the scandal is not over.
And Phil has been talking about a follow-up book. I think that some readers have the thought that has occurred to him as well: what to DO about the whole mess.
And the follow-up book would be an answer to that question, which has to do with reviving Catholic culture.
You know, for a long time people "on our side" thought that the problem was with orthodoxy -- that if people had their doctrine straight, there wouldn't be problems with practice.
I know I thought that as well.
But as The Faithful Departed shows, many orthodox priests were very much at the center of the scandal.
I remember very clearly a friend from Hingham telling me that the reason "they" were after Fr. Geoghan (the priest who molested hundreds of children and died in jail) was because he was "so conservative".
Yes, I think we've learned that the problem has to do with how you live. Of course, what you believe is a big part of how you live -- but not all!
And how you live is about your culture, which shouldn't just be sentimentally attached to your religion, but an organic outgrowth of it, encompassing your whole being -- not just how you worship, but how you live in your family, how you work, and how you rest.
Anyway, that's some of what we've been talking about in the Lawler household these days. We'd love to hear from you!
I have not seen it, but Phil says that the mistakes have been corrected! Yes!
People often ask Phil if he's interested in writing a sequel. For sure, the story of the scandal is not over.
And Phil has been talking about a follow-up book. I think that some readers have the thought that has occurred to him as well: what to DO about the whole mess.
And the follow-up book would be an answer to that question, which has to do with reviving Catholic culture.
You know, for a long time people "on our side" thought that the problem was with orthodoxy -- that if people had their doctrine straight, there wouldn't be problems with practice.
I know I thought that as well.
But as The Faithful Departed shows, many orthodox priests were very much at the center of the scandal.
I remember very clearly a friend from Hingham telling me that the reason "they" were after Fr. Geoghan (the priest who molested hundreds of children and died in jail) was because he was "so conservative".
Yes, I think we've learned that the problem has to do with how you live. Of course, what you believe is a big part of how you live -- but not all!
And how you live is about your culture, which shouldn't just be sentimentally attached to your religion, but an organic outgrowth of it, encompassing your whole being -- not just how you worship, but how you live in your family, how you work, and how you rest.
Anyway, that's some of what we've been talking about in the Lawler household these days. We'd love to hear from you!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Happy Birthday, Faithful Departed!
For official purposes, The Faithful Departed was published one year ago today. After a year, and now into its second printing, I'm happy to report that my book is still selling well, still having an impact.
In one of the earliest reviews (appearing even before the official publication date), the late Father Richard John Neuhaus offered a few friendly criticisms but concluded with the generous observation:
Writing for Inside Catholic, John Zmirak went much further, calling it…
Not everyone has enjoyed the book. In Religion and Liberty, Kevin Schmiesing pinpointed the reason:
Exactly. Even at this late date, all too many Catholic leaders would prefer not to confront the tough issues. The Faithful Departed has been quietly taken down from the shelves in many Catholic bookstores, presumably after calls from local chancery offices. In one less quiet episode, my speaking appearance at the Catholic University bookstore was cancelled.
Still the word is getting out. My calendar still shows several speaking dates that remain from the burst of invitations that came after the book's publication. (And there's room for more; if you have a group that might be interested, please let me know!) More and more Catholics-- and sympathetic non-Catholics-- realize that while it's sometimes painful to combat an infection, it's deadly to let the infection spread. As George Weigel put it:
In one of the earliest reviews (appearing even before the official publication date), the late Father Richard John Neuhaus offered a few friendly criticisms but concluded with the generous observation:
The Faithful Departed is the best book-length treatment of the sex abuse crisis, its origins and larger implications, published to date.
Writing for Inside Catholic, John Zmirak went much further, calling it…
…the most important work about the Church to appear in the last two decades…
Not everyone has enjoyed the book. In Religion and Liberty, Kevin Schmiesing pinpointed the reason:
American Catholics and their bishops have not yet learned the lesson, Lawler thinks, and the evidence is with him.
Exactly. Even at this late date, all too many Catholic leaders would prefer not to confront the tough issues. The Faithful Departed has been quietly taken down from the shelves in many Catholic bookstores, presumably after calls from local chancery offices. In one less quiet episode, my speaking appearance at the Catholic University bookstore was cancelled.
Still the word is getting out. My calendar still shows several speaking dates that remain from the burst of invitations that came after the book's publication. (And there's room for more; if you have a group that might be interested, please let me know!) More and more Catholics-- and sympathetic non-Catholics-- realize that while it's sometimes painful to combat an infection, it's deadly to let the infection spread. As George Weigel put it:
Many Catholics understandably want to put the Long Lent of 2002 behind us. No one should do so without reading The Faithful Departed.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Too grim? Alas, the evidence suggests otherwise
As many readers have observed, The Faithful Departed is not a cheery book. Several reviewers have said that the book's chief flaw lies in my failure to indicate how we can move forward from here: how we can restore the vitality of the faith and recover a genuinely Catholic culture. I can accept that criticism as valid. I plan to spend the next several years in an effort to plot out that road forward, and invite loyal Catholics to join me in traveling it. (For details, watch the Catholic Culture site.)
In a friendly and perceptive review that appears in the November issue of New Oxford Review, Dan Flaherty makes that same criticism. OK; I'll cop a plea: Guilty as charged. I hope the court will agree to a sentence of "community service," because that's what I plan anyway.
But I'm afraid I'll have to pour cold water on another part of Flaherty's review, in which he suggests that I take an unduly grim view of Massachusetts history. The key paragraph involves my coverage of the local response to the Roe v. Wade decision. Let me take it in three sections:
True. Mayor Curley and Cardinal O'Connell might not have cooperated-- they rarely did; their relationship was frosty-- but they would have worked separately toward the same end.
Technically true but thoroughly misleading-- at least for the purposes of my analysis. Tip O'Neill did everything in his considerable power to ensure that the House of Representatives never held a vote on any effort to ban abortion. Yes, he retained a pro-life record. And he made it possible for dozens of other Democrats to retain their pro-life credentials without lifting a finger to stop the slaughter of the unborn. My argument is that Catholics did not resist the decision; Tip O'Neill, alas, is a case in point.
Absolutely true. But notice: McCormack was no longer on the scene as an active politician when the roof caved in during the 1970s.
In a friendly and perceptive review that appears in the November issue of New Oxford Review, Dan Flaherty makes that same criticism. OK; I'll cop a plea: Guilty as charged. I hope the court will agree to a sentence of "community service," because that's what I plan anyway.
But I'm afraid I'll have to pour cold water on another part of Flaherty's review, in which he suggests that I take an unduly grim view of Massachusetts history. The key paragraph involves my coverage of the local response to the Roe v. Wade decision. Let me take it in three sections:
In a previous generation, Mayor Curley would have immediately denounced the decision and any wayward Democrats would have fallen in line behind Cardinal O'Connell.
True. Mayor Curley and Cardinal O'Connell might not have cooperated-- they rarely did; their relationship was frosty-- but they would have worked separately toward the same end.
Here though, Lawler does overlook evidence that all was not lost in the early 1970s. Tip O'Neill, after some initial waffling on Roe, fell into line after a scolding from the clergy, and went on to compile a solidly prolife voting record until his retirement in 1987.
Technically true but thoroughly misleading-- at least for the purposes of my analysis. Tip O'Neill did everything in his considerable power to ensure that the House of Representatives never held a vote on any effort to ban abortion. Yes, he retained a pro-life record. And he made it possible for dozens of other Democrats to retain their pro-life credentials without lifting a finger to stop the slaughter of the unborn. My argument is that Catholics did not resist the decision; Tip O'Neill, alas, is a case in point.
It is impossible to imagine former Speaker of the House John W. McCormack, a man from Irish Boston and a devout Catholic who'd just retired before Roe, ever choosing Planned Parenthood over Holy Mother Church.
Absolutely true. But notice: McCormack was no longer on the scene as an active politician when the roof caved in during the 1970s.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The disease is contagious
Yesterday 53% of the American Catholics who voted in the presidential election cast their ballots for Barack Obama: the most radical pro-abortion candidate ever to win a major-party nomination.
But wait: According to those exit polls, John McCain won a majority among those Catholics who attend Mass each week-- that is, the active Catholics.
What lesson can we learn from the voting? I think it's simple: The people who have stopped paying attention to Church teaching on other issues have, not surprisingly, stopped paying attention to Church teaching on abortion as well. Why should we expect otherwise?
In other words, when Catholics stop acting as Catholics, and praying as Catholics, and thinking as Catholics, they will inevitably stop voting as Catholics, too. Does that theory sound familiar? It's the main theme of The Faithful Departed, of course.
I've made this same argument in a bit more detail over on the Catholic Culture site.
But wait: According to those exit polls, John McCain won a majority among those Catholics who attend Mass each week-- that is, the active Catholics.
What lesson can we learn from the voting? I think it's simple: The people who have stopped paying attention to Church teaching on other issues have, not surprisingly, stopped paying attention to Church teaching on abortion as well. Why should we expect otherwise?
In other words, when Catholics stop acting as Catholics, and praying as Catholics, and thinking as Catholics, they will inevitably stop voting as Catholics, too. Does that theory sound familiar? It's the main theme of The Faithful Departed, of course.
I've made this same argument in a bit more detail over on the Catholic Culture site.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day
It's election day. We're hanging on by a thread in this country to whatever cultural stability we have left. We've fought for so long against a nebulous enemy and on so many fronts.
What's on the mind of many faithful Christians is that when we seemed to be gaining...not victory by any means, but perhaps some measure of ground -- we will suffer today a loss that will set us right back to the beginning: right back to the late sixties and the ascendancy of the destructive socialist mindset.
Homosexual activists are very much involved in this destructive process. Somehow they've gotten a lock on the family and the priesthood, the cornerstones of society. They won't let go.
In The Faithful Departed Phil shows how homosexuals rose to the top in the Church, and he shows how compromising their influence has been. They are still very much in control, conditioning every relationship for the worse.
As discouraged as I am over the secular matters of the day, and as frustrated as I get when I see people acting as if the scandal is over, there are signs of hope -- hope that I believe has been nurtured by Phil's work.
Today on the Catholic World News site you will see a story about a Vatican official's explanation of why even celibate homosexuals cannot be ordained to the priesthood. This teaching is hopeful in its delicacy and careful affirmation of what is so needed today: a strong faith in the true nature of the priesthood as a spiritual fatherhood, one which mirrors the love of God the Father.
What's on the mind of many faithful Christians is that when we seemed to be gaining...not victory by any means, but perhaps some measure of ground -- we will suffer today a loss that will set us right back to the beginning: right back to the late sixties and the ascendancy of the destructive socialist mindset.
Homosexual activists are very much involved in this destructive process. Somehow they've gotten a lock on the family and the priesthood, the cornerstones of society. They won't let go.
In The Faithful Departed Phil shows how homosexuals rose to the top in the Church, and he shows how compromising their influence has been. They are still very much in control, conditioning every relationship for the worse.
As discouraged as I am over the secular matters of the day, and as frustrated as I get when I see people acting as if the scandal is over, there are signs of hope -- hope that I believe has been nurtured by Phil's work.
Today on the Catholic World News site you will see a story about a Vatican official's explanation of why even celibate homosexuals cannot be ordained to the priesthood. This teaching is hopeful in its delicacy and careful affirmation of what is so needed today: a strong faith in the true nature of the priesthood as a spiritual fatherhood, one which mirrors the love of God the Father.
‘He can even be without sin. But if he has this deeply seated tendency, he cannot be admitted to priestly ministry precisely because of the nature of the priesthood, in which a spiritual paternity is carried out. Here we are not talking about whether he commits sins, but whether this deeply rooted tendency remains.I give thanks for this teaching and hope and pray that it will help heal today's challenge, and the challenge of every day as we continue to battle for the truth.
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