For Kerry Kennedy, who grew up in a devoutly Catholic household coping with great loss, her familyβs 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.
βGenerations ago,β says Kennedy, βthe search for spirituality came predefined and prepackaged. [The Church] not only gave us all the answers, it even gave us the questions to ask.β 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 faithβwhether lost, recovered, or deepenedβand 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, priestsβeven 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 Kennedyβs 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 Churchβs condemnation of his identity as a gay man. TV newswoman Cokie Roberts recalls the nuns who taught her and βtook girls seriously when nobody else did.β Comedian Bill Maher declares, βI hate religion. Itβs the worst thing in the worldββand 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
βWhen my mom asked if I wanted to be a nun, I said Iβd rather be a priest. . . . The nuns were always wonderful, but the power was with the priest.β βNancy Pelosi
βThere 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 itβs not a newfangled religion, which some people get great solace from. I feel that Iβm connected to places.β βDouglas Brinkley
βFaith isnβt like picking courses off a menu. Itβs a journey, and itβs a path. If your path and journey have been within one structure your entire life, then simply leaving isnβt an option.β βAndrew Sullivan
βWhy stay Catholic? Because the hierarchy is not the Church. . . .We [the people of God] are the Church. They canβt take that away from us.β βCokie Roberts
βI was told very early on by the nuns that I had an βoverabundance of original sin.β I was a quiet kid, but I was curious. I asked the wrong questions.β βSusan Sarandon
βI donβt 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.β βCardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick
βI 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.β βFrank McCourt
βI 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, βWhat is it?β I said, βIβm sorry to bother you, Father, but Iβve been away from the Church many, many years and Iβd like to come back. Iβd like to go to confession.β He looked at me and something behind his eyes said, βYou came to the right place.β He knew that it was an important moment for me; he got it instantly.β βMartin Sheen
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