For Kerry Kennedy, who grew up in a devoutly Catholic
household coping with great loss, her family’s faith was a
constant source of strength and solace. As an adult, she
came to question some of the attitudes and teachings of the
Catholic Church while remaining an impassioned believer in
its role as a defender of the poor and
oppressed.
“Generations ago,” says Kennedy, “the
search for spirituality came predefined and prepackaged.
[The Church] not only gave us all the answers, it even gave
us the questions to ask.” Now many of the old certainties
are being reexamined. In an attempt to convey this sea
change, Kennedy asked thirty-seven American Catholics to
speak candidly about their own faith—whether lost,
recovered, or deepened—and about their feelings regarding
the way the Church hierarchy is moving forward.
The
voices included here range from respectful to reproachful
and from appreciative to angry. Speaking their minds are
businesspeople, actors and entertainers, educators,
journalists, politicians, union leaders, nuns, priests—even
a cardinal. Some love the Church; some feel intensely that
the Church wronged them. All have an illuminating insight or
perspective.
Kerry Kennedy herself speaks of the joy
of growing up as one of Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s eleven
children, of the tragedies that eventually befell her
family, and of how religion was deeply woven through good
times and bad. Journalist Andrew Sullivan talks about
reconciling his devout Catholicism with the Church’s
condemnation of his identity as a gay man. TV newswoman
Cokie Roberts recalls the nuns who taught her and “took
girls seriously when nobody else did.” Comedian Bill Maher
declares, “I hate religion. It’s the worst thing in the
world”—and goes on to defend his bold assertion. Writer Anna
Quindlen depicts a common parental challenge: passing along
traditions and values to a younger generation sometimes deaf
to spiritual messages.
Through these and many other
voices that speak not only to Catholics but to all of us,
Being Catholic Now redefines an ancient institution
in the most contemporary of terms.
From Being
Catholic Now
“When my mom asked if I wanted to be
a nun, I said I’d rather be a priest. . . . The nuns were
always wonderful, but the power was with the priest.” —Nancy
Pelosi
“There are aspects of studying the saints,
with the candles, incense, and Latin Masses and some of the
pageantry of the Church that, as an American historian, make
me feel part of a larger wave of history. That it’s not a
newfangled religion, which some people get great solace
from. I feel that I’m connected to places.” —Douglas
Brinkley
“Faith isn’t like picking courses off a
menu. It’s a journey, and it’s a path. If your path and
journey have been within one structure your entire life,
then simply leaving isn’t an option.” —Andrew
Sullivan
“Why stay Catholic? Because the hierarchy is
not the Church. . . .We [the people of God] are the Church.
They can’t take that away from us.” —Cokie Roberts
“I
was told very early on by the nuns that I had an
‘overabundance of original sin.’ I was a quiet kid, but I
was curious. I asked the wrong questions.” —Susan
Sarandon
“I don’t believe you can be authentically
Catholic without being committed to the social doctrine of
the Church. When I was in grammar school, we had these
little boxes to help the poor. That was good, but that is
half of it. The other half is to find out why there are so
many poor people and how we can do something to help them.”
—Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick
“I am reconciled
to the oblivion that is coming. I see no proof of anything
else, if it is a matter of faith. I admire people who have
faith in God. It must be a great comfort to them, but I had
to get out from under the fear and the guilt.” —Frank
McCourt
“I went to church and the door was locked. I
was knocking and ringing the bell. I waited and waited and
nobody came. [The priest thought] there was an emergency,
because of all the banging and ringing. He looked down at me
and said, ‘What is it?’ I said, ‘I’m sorry to bother you,
Father, but I’ve been away from the Church many, many years
and I’d like to come back. I’d like to go to confession.’ He
looked at me and something behind his eyes said, ‘You came
to the right place.’ He knew that it was an important moment
for me; he got it instantly.” —Martin Sheen
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