Rating: 
Summary: History of a bad relationship
Review: Wills' Papal Sin set out a Vatican II-influenced vision of the Catholic Church as being primarily its people, not its hierarchy. On that level the answer to the question "Why are you still a Catholic?" was fairly obvious-- why should Wills give up his fellow parishioners, the whole body of Christ to him as well as the tradition that stretches from Augustine to his beloved (if rather glib) Chesterton, just because the top of the hierarchy in a far distant land was bad? (After all, long before Humanae Vitae, American Catholics had become good at ignoring the antidemocratic pronouncements issuing from an ocean away, which is why John F. Kennedy was able to bat away so easily issues which would have caused him much more trouble if American Catholics had previously shown any sign of actually listening to papal diktats about the evils of freedom. As Wills observes more than once, the Popes' only problem with America was that it wasn't exactly like Franco's Spain.) Now comes a book to document the whole history of that hierarchy and the many ways that it has been wrong, anti-progressive, corrupt, intolerant, etc., up to very recent times (and remains dominated by figures who aspire to go back to that era). In a real sense, this is the book of "papal sins," just as that book answered the question "why I am a Catholic." On that level it seems less original and, though interesting in a pop history sort of way, less convincing-- where Papal Sins left me convinced that Wills was right not to throw the worldwide baby out with the Vatican bathwater, this book convinced me that American Catholics are stuck in an abusive relationship and the only reason not to form a schismatic American church is the prospect that the next Pope is supposedly always the reverse of the last one. Maybe, after all the scandals, and with groups like Voice of the Faithful on the rise, the anti-democratic hierarchy will crumble and the work of Vatican II will continue. (Wills is sure Vatican II is just in temporary abeyance, but when he quotes some conservative cardinal as saying after Vatican II that "it will take a hundred years to recover from this Pope," I can't help but think that the last 30 years have proven to be a pretty solid start to the job.) Otherwise, if Wills is the last Catholic left, I hope he turns out the lights.
Rating: 
Summary: Help for the Roman Catholic Church
Review: With the sex abuse of children scandal coming to light, the Roman Catholic Church, like all human institutions, is in need of repairs. Garry Wills wrote this selection based upon his life experiences with the Church. Wills has the courage to address some of the difficulties that many of us who love the Lord face today. This book sheds light on old as well as new issues. I myself am a lifelong Roman Catholic and spent the past year studying Roman Catholic doctrine and reading my bible. To my suprise, I found them in conflict. My decision whether to leave the Roman Catholic Church or not is irrelevant to this review.....but I will say to the faithful, Read the New Testament teachings of Jesus and the apostles. Read the history of Christianity how the Roman Empire became Christian. If you are Roman Catholic, and aren't familiar with what the bible says, you are in for a suprise.
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