- 400 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Why I Am a Catholic
About This Book
An "intellectually satisfying, and spiritually moving, " argument for a questioning, conscience-driven faith, by a New York Times bestselling author ( Booklist ). Pulitzer Prize winner Garry Wills has been asked more than once why he remains in the Church, especially in the wake of his bestselling book Papal Sins, which examined the darker side of the religion's history. In Why I Am a Catholic, he offers some persuasive and heartfelt answers. Beginning with a reflection on his early experiences as a child, and later as a Jesuit seminarian, Wills reveals the importance of Catholicism in his own life. He discusses G.K. Chesterton, a personal hero whose writings brought him comfort after he left the seminary. He goes on to challenge, in clear and forceful terms, the claim that criticism or reform of the papacy is an assault on the faith itself. For Wills, a Catholic can be both loyal and critical, a loving child who stays with his father even if the parent makes mistakes. Why I Am a Catholic also goes beyond his personal experiences to present a sweeping narrative covering two thousand years of Catholicism, revealing that the papacy, far from being an unchanging institution, has been transformed dramatically over the millennia—and can be reimagined in the future. At a time when the Church faces various crises and struggles, Garry Wills offers an important look at both its past and its future, in a book that is "one part autobiography, three parts history, and one part confession of faith" ( Booklist ). "It is a great satisfaction to have the Church's history analyzed by a mind so critical but still so in love." — The New Yorker
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Table of contents
- Title Page
- Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Key to Brief Citations
- Introduction to the Mariner Edition
- Introduction
- BORN CATHOLIC
- Saint Mary’s and Campion
- Jesuit Days
- Chesterton
- Encyclicals
- CHURCH WITHOUT PAPAL PRIMACY
- Peter
- Paul
- Rome Mediating
- Rome Meddling
- Rome and the East
- Rome Turns West
- FORMS OF PAPAL PRIMACY
- Forgeries and Populism
- Rise of the Secular State and the Church Council
- Renaissance and Reformation
- Trent and England
- Ancien Régime and Revolution
- War on Democracy
- Reign of Terror
- THE VATICAN II CHURCH
- The Great Rebirth
- Born to Set Times Right
- Fighting Vatican II
- Living Vatican II
- The Pope’s Loyal Opposition
- THE CREED
- I believe in God . . .
- . . . the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth . . .
- . . . and in Jesus Christ our Lord, the only son of God . . . He descended into hell . . .
- . . . conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary . . .
- . . . shall come to judge the living and the dead . . .
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Acknowledgments
- Index
- About the Author