One of the more outspoken - and sensible - Bishops in the U.S. today is Charles Chaput, the Capuchin Francisican Archbishop of Denver. One can only hope that when Cardinal Egan retires from the New York Archdiocese that the Pope will move Chaput to New York.
In any event Archbishop Chaput has a timely and excellent book, with the sub-title "Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political life".
It's timely, of course, because we are now in the political season, and the controversy continues about the role of religious belief and practice in the public arena.
And it is excellent, as Chaput lays out an approach for religious people in general and Catholics in particular, to weigh in on the great issues of the day. The book is a quick read, at 235 pages and 12 chapters. Each chapter is peppered with historic examples and backed up by biblical quotes and church teachings.
Here are some examples: chapter three titled "Why We're Here" starts with a brief analysis of Victor Frankl's classic book "Man's Search for Meaning" and then discusses the role of the Church and Catholic laity in bringing Catholic values into the arena of public ideas.
Chapter seven is entitled "What Went Wrong" and offers 21 pages about the reforms and problems which arose from Vatican II, with Chaput feeling that some reforms did not go far enough and others were hijacked by people with their own agenda.
Chapter nine is entitled "A Man for All Seasons" as Chaput discusses the jurist and advisor to Henry the VIIIth, St. Thomas More. in 19 pages he discusses More, brings in President Kennedy, and then analyzes two relatively contemporary Catholic governors, Mario Cuomo and Robert Casey (I will leave it to your imagination as to who Chaput thinks come closest to emulating More...).
So anyone interested in the confluence of religion, politics, and contemporary issues will profit from this book. And it will be very useful for anyone in a variety of lay ministerial positions, and clergy, both Catholic and non-Catholic, as a source for homiletic material.
A brief but comprehensive work.
Comments