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What does it take to become a priest today...the story of five men...
Houghton Mifflin
April 2006
320 pages
ISBN: 0618251464
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Religion
There are now a record sixty-four million Catholics in the
United States, yet the number of priests is plummeting so
fast that hundreds of parishes nationwide are closing down,
placing ever more strain on those few who wear, or wish to
wear, the Roman collar. Against this turbulent backdrop,
Englert charts the journey of five men toward the priesthood
at a seminary that specializes in "second-career"
priests--men who come to their vocation later than their
college years. We meet a divorced father and avid hunter
from Wyoming, an ex-salesman and Marine with ADHD, a
recently widowed father of four, a blind musician, and
others. With wit and sometimes heartbreaking
candor, they face the challenges of priestly life--from the
traditional hurdles of poverty and chastity to more modern
travails, like the bad press let loose by recent sexual
abuse scandals and the skepticism of their friends and
families. For each man, these challenges are intensified by
their past experiences as they sacrifice familiar comforts
to answer their calling. Englert is ideally qualified to write The Collar, both
professionally, as a graduate of the Columbia School of
Journalism, and spiritually, as a convert to Catholicism who
has walked the tortuous path of faith. His empathy with the
spiritual journeys of the men he portrays recalls The
Cloister Walk. His deft, evenhanded unveiling of a
compelling, little-observed culture will resonate with both
the faithful and the merely curious.
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