PAGE 10 — The Georgia Bulletin, November 12, 1987
Book Offers Inquirers
Answers To Stir Faith
Easter Catholic Is Baptized At Sacred Heart Church In 1986.
Theologians' Essays Claim
Vatican Betrays Council
THE CHURCH IN AN
GUISH: HAS THE VATI
CAN BETRAYED THE
COUNCIL? Edited by Fa
ther Hans Rung and Leon
ard Swindler. Harper and
Row (San Francisco, 1987).
288 pp., $16.95.
REVIEWED BY JON
NILSON
NC News Service
Read these essays not so
much for their analytical
sweep and rigor but for
their disclosure of a deep,
painful and ominous polar
ization in the church today.
Twenty-five authors,
mainly European and
American theologians,
share the conviction that
the present pope and curial
officials are not following
the mandates and agenda
established by the Second
Vatican Council for the “ad
intra” life of the church.
(Too few of the essays,
however, argue this thesis
through close readings of
the council documents.)
Instead, they say, Pope
John Paul II, Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger, et al.,
have embarked on a
restorationist — if not an in-
tegrist — program.
Some of the authors are
quite specific in their ac
cusations. If the events they
recount could be shown to
be legitimate exercises of
teaching authority and
jurisdiction in the church
(which the authors do not
grant), the fact remains
that these authors and
many others do not per
ceive them as such.
Thus, whether one agrees
with the authors or not, the
book manifests a depth of
polarization and alienation
in the church which de
serves the name “crisis.
The root of this polariza
tion, some authors argue, is
the clash of two different
world views with cor
respondingly different
theological methods. Each
side has its own interpreta
tion of Vatican II.
One side (represented by
the authors of this volume)
sees the council as the foun
dation for a new way of be
ing church in and for a new
world. The other (the
leadership in the Vatican)
considers the council s ac
complishment to be that ol
simply casting preconciliar
traditions and theology into
contemporary language.
What is to be done?
Father Hans Rung suggests
that nothing less than
Vatican Council III (or
Jerusalem II) will be suffi
cient. Leonard Swidler
calls upon Catholics to
stand firmly and lovingly in
their present vocation to
democracy, dissent and
dialogue in the church.
Not surprisingly, the
quality of the essays is
uneven. Most helpful are
those by Ronald Modras on
Pope John Paul’s early
writings, Hermann Haring
on consistency in Cardinal
Ratzinger’s theology, Rnut
Waif on the preconciliar
spirit in the new canon law,
Dietmar Mieth on the gap
between church teaching on
sexual morality and the
“lived convictions’’ of
Christians, and Madonna
Rolbenschlag on the dif
ficulties and pain now felt
by religious women.
The book manifests the
urgent need for mediators
and peacemakers in our
church today.
Nilson is associate pro
fessor of theology at Loyola
University of Chicago and a
member of the joint com
mittee of the Canon Law
Society and the Catholic
Theological Society of
America on relationships
between theologians and
the ecclesiastical magis-
terium.
...the book mani
fests a depth of
polarization and
alienation in the
church which de
serves the name
“crisis.”
PRESENTING THE CATHOLIC
FAITH, by Frank P. DeSiano, CSP..
Paulist Press (Mahwah, N.J.) 150 pages,
$3.95.
REVIEWED BY
THELMA DONAHUE
Father DeSiano has written a book that
“presents” the Catholic faith in a simple
and direct manner. He is concerned
primarily with the "inquirer,’’ the person
who is seeking information about the
Catholic faith and poses questions that,
given an open and inquiring mind in the
reader, will create a desire for more infor
mation. As parishes around the world
begin their RCIA processes, it is a timely
and informative representation of what
Catholics believe and should give insight
into the faith as well as dispel many myths
for people who are beginning inquiry ses
sions.
Father DiSiano recommends that the
book may be helpful for Catholics as well
as those outside the church. Perhaps for
those who have not been attending Mass or
who just want to update their catechism.
The book is divided into ten sections with
questions and answers at the end of each
chapter which should be especially
helpful. Many times people are seeking
answers to questions they really don’t
know how to articulate or to ask. There is
helpful material in boxed sections
throughout such as the Apostles’ Creed,
Order of the Mass, How to Go to Confes
sion, Rites of Baptism, Marriage and Or
dination, Lay Ministries in the Church and
others. Almost any question an inquirer
might have regarding how Catholicism is
practiced can be found in the boxes in
language easily understood by the lay per
son.
The section on “The Christian Life:
Spirit” offers an interesting way of think
ing about encounters with Christ. Many in
stances in the New Testament are related
where people had encounters that certain
ly changed their lives, (many had en
counters that did not change their lives).
He observes that the encounter was only
the beginning, that life continued after the
experiences, and that is what an encounter
leads to...a Christian way of life! As we
read the New Testament, it becomes clear
that what is revealed is “carefully selected
memories of those who followed Christ,
and those memories, as a whole, form a
handbook of Christian life.”
The revelation of the Holy Spirit was the
answer to many questions relating to how
to live out the Christian life. The vague
way in which the Holy Spirit is referred to
in the New Testament, e.g., the Helper, the
Consoler, etc., indicates that it is a grace
that is to be experienced, and will continue
the formation of the full Christian life.
The explanation of prayer, “Lifting our
hearts and minds to God, as individuals or
as community" and what constitutes
prayer, "prayer is as varied as the people
who pray, or the kinds of situations we
bring to God,” lifts one to a level of expect-
any of being able to communicate with
our God that is truly reassuring.
This is material that is informative and
enlightening and presented in such a way
as to promote faith, hope and growth in
Christian living.
(Thelma Donahue, an Easter Catholic in
1985, is RCIA Sponsor Coordinator at All
Saints Church. Dunwoody.)
Role Models For Today's Women
SAINTS FOR CONTEM
PORARY WOMEN, by
Sister Mary Hester Valen
tine, SSND, Thomas More
Press (Chicago, 1987). 213
pp., $11.95.
REVIEWED BY RUTH
ANN HANLEY
NC News Service
Back in the ’50s a
chauvinist said, “The worst
you can do to a woman is ig
nore her." Today it would
be safe to say, “It’s your
loss if you ignore the 11
spunky women in this little
volume.”
The first thing a reader
notices is the abundance of
research supporting each
biography. The second
realization is that the
author has chosen the right
and bright facts to carefully
and lovingly reconstruct
each woman’s story.
Though the recall of these
gallant women will likely
bring a throb of pride to
many womanly hearts, the
stories are neither political
nor self-serving. Though
they show woman at her
best, they show her serving
God and church as faithful
daughter. They show saints
and almost saints.
This reviewer took per
sonal delight in two saintly
women: Hilda of Whitby
and Margaret Clitheroe. Of
course I enjoyed Joan of
Arc (Why, as the writer
Mother Seton
asks, was God pro-
French?) and Catherine of
Siena (who had enough
gumption to move an en
trenched man) and Dor
othy Day, whose early Bo
hemian lifestyle made her
an unlikely candidate for
holiness.
Nevertheless, Hilda is a
favorite: a seventh-cen
tury, church-building ab
bess who presided over a
men’s as well as a women's
abbey. Hilda had actually
been elected by both. Her
monastery was the learn
ing school for bishops. Her
generous, unprejudiced
heart set up a simple, mid
dle-aged, uneducated cow
herd as a poet; and in dis
covering Caedmon, Hilda
earned the title of “Mother
of English Literature.”
I particularly liked
Hilda’s story because my
beloved aunt, as hospitable
and gracious, but with little
education, shared that
name. What a great faith
my aunt had too. How it
draws the two of them
together.
Margaret Clitheroe was
my other favorite. She died
a martyr’s death for har
boring priests in Eliza
bethan England. She died *
beneath a heavy door set
upon her by soldiers and
loaded with heavy stones.
For me, the unbelievable '
detail was that Margaret
never told her Protestant
husband of her activi
ties. ..and he maintained he (J
never knew. But the child
ren knew; and the wonder
ful end to the story, many ^
years later, is that all re
mained true to their faith.
What a marvelous saint for
us moderns. ,
These two women are my
favorites. Another may suit
you: Edith Stein, the
Jewish convert; Simone,
Weil, also caught in the tur
bulence of war; Elizabeth
Seton and Theresa of Jesus
Gerhardinger who braved ».
many obstacles to maintain
newly founded orders;
merry and mystic Teresa of
Avila; and Anchoress Jul-'
ian of Norwich, born in 1342.
Julia n was a ble to bridge the
centuries with a small book
of prayer popular today on'
college campuses.
So much has been said of
role models today. This lit- __
tie, well-written book by a
teacher, author, School
Sister of Notre Dame has
much to offer.
Ms. Hanley is a free-lance
writer based in Indianap
olis.
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