THE DISSENTING CHURCH

Used, VG condition from Omni Reference Library collection; hard to find

In this 1983 booklet published by The National Committee of Catholic Laymen (now defunct), Dr. James Hitchcock bemoans the widespread dissent in the Church in the United States. He focuses primarily on bishops, priests, and religious, although theologians are not spared, either. And he names names — lots of them. I must confess that I did not recognize many persons mentioned in this 31 year old work, but a few (Weakland, Curran, Kung, Greeley, McBrien, and others) are more prominently notorious even to this day. Hitchcock covers a wide range of areas, none surprising to the reader of that day or this day: liturgy, authority, moral teachings, catechesis, and on and on. It helps to explain how we got where we are today regarding the formation and catechesis of certain generations of American Catholics. The main encouragement is that the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict have really helped to make the Church hierarchy here much more faithful to the Church.