- This is a passionate declaration of the essential and long overdue reforms that the Catholic Church must implement immediately.
- The statistical data is very comprehensive, and the the call for a radical overhaul of the treatment of women in the Church well argued.
- Unfortunately the recommendations are far too heavy on governance structures like Pastoral Councils, etc. These sorts of reforms are downstream structural impacts that will largely take care of themselves when the core revolutionary reforms have been enthusiastically embraced.
- There are major moral issues that aren’t addressed because of the book’s focus on making recommendations to the upcoming Plenary Council. These issues include: birth control; marriage/divorce/re-marriage; abortion; sex before marriage; sexual identity; gay marriage; euthanasia.
- The two core realities that have to be radically reformed as a matter of urgency are women priests and celibacy. The Church is infected with serious and ingrained misogyny. Women are seen as ontologically inferior to men, which means they can ‘never be priests’. They are just domestic servants and bearers/nurturers of children. This medievalism has to be brought to a savage end immediately.
- Regarding celibacy, the calls in this book for it to be made voluntary are wrong. To allow priests and religious to ‘chose celibacy’ would simply allow clerical sexual abuse to be seeded. Men and women of the church should be not just allowed but encouraged to form intimate relationships with other people, even if it never leads to marriage. There have always been and always will be bachelors. That’s fine. But a pledge at a relatively young age to remain celibate is something else entirely. Celibate priests in a married-priests world would not be welcome in parishes or schools. That is today’s reality.
- It infuriates me that recent popes, including, disgracefully, Francis, have totally ruled out women priests and continue to show no inclination to abolish celibacy. At a time when there is a dire shortage of priests it is simply mind-bogglingly moronic. At a time when the dwindling faithful and many ex-Catholics are crying out for inspiration, this sort of third rate leadership must continue to be loudly condemned. Until it ends. Which it will.
- Books like this are a key weapon in that destruction.
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