Book Review (continued)
Doors of Hope: Paths for Renewal in the Catholic Church

Submitted by John Ryan

Well documented in this book is the fact that popes and bishops have sometimes missed the mark on fundamental aspects of the church, accounting for what the author describes as an “…intellectual quasi-schizophrenia---a spirit of openness and exploration versus silencing and condemnation—which characterized much of the church’s attitude toward scholarship during most of the twentieth century.”  This schizophrenia is typified by two quotes the author uses to introduce one of his chapters:

“The church is in essence an unequal society, a society comprising two categories of persons, the shepherd and the flock. The right and authority necessary for promoting and guiding all members toward the goal of society reside only in the pastoral body. As to the multitude, its sole duty is that of allowing itself to be led, and of following its pastors as a docile flock.”  Pope Pius X (1906)

“All share a true equality regarding the dignity and the activity common to all the faithful for the building up of the body of Christ. From their charisms, there arise for each believer the right and duty to use them in the Church and in the world for the good of mankind and for the upbuilding of the Church.”

Vatican Council II
John Dietzen, with more than 54 years in the priesthood, 51 of them with a syndicated column in the Catholic press, has a unique insight into the problems and frustrations affecting Catholics today. Along with this real world sense of what Catholics are experiencing, he brings decades of pastoral experience and research into church history, especially the recent past, in addressing such issues as:

• The challenge of Sunday worship without a priest

• Married priests/Women priests

• Can we make the Sacrament of Penance work?

• Baptized Community, a neglected force in the church

• The “on again/off again” relationship between clergy and laity

• Human rights in the church (a notion condemned by early popes)

• The primacy of conscience as “...transcendent, beyond the claim of external social groups, even of the official church”.  (Cardinal Josef Ratzinger)

• Clergy sex abuse

• Rights of priests and victims

• Uniting believers: sixty years after the decree on ecumenism

• Healing families: Divorce, Remarriage, and Communion

One could be tempted to think that covering such a vast array of subjects in any substantive manner cannot be done in a 153-page book.  To the contrary, these and other issues are addressed clearly and convincingly. Each chapter contains abundant annotations (200 in total) citing encyclicals, canon law, and many other sources. 

To give just one of many examples of the author’s style, and mindset, I quote from his chapter on the Sacrament of Penance, where he discusses the notion of first confession for children:

“If we insist, for example, that a child can commit a mortal sin at the age of 12 or 14, with all that age’s mental, spiritual, and emotional gropings, then it seems we are making mortal sin something considerably less than the catechism and good theology tell us it is. We threaten to produce an unwholesome, superficial religious personality that sees love and friendship with God and with other people as something one can pop in and out of several times a month. This trivializes grace, sin, and forgiveness, and ends up trivializing even God.”

His chapter on Healing Families focuses attention on the 6- to 7-million Catholics “...deprived of Eucharistic Communion because their divorce and remarriage renders them juridically unworthy to receive the sacrament. Within the framework of the Church’s teaching about marriage and the Eucharist, are there avenues to address this problem with both fidelity to Catholic tradition and Christ-like compassion for these hurting members of our faith?”

Such “hurting members of our faith”, and all others struggling to keep or better understand their faith in these troubling times for our Church, will find this book not only good reading but also, a door of hope.