True Confessions

Over the past decade Rome has been marked with sharp, and often unwarranted, criticism of the Church in the United States and American Catholic life.  But very few of the critics have taken the time to talk, systematically, with a wide range of U.S. Catholics to understand their concerns.  True Confessions is unique for its frank and in-depth interviews with 103 bishops, clergy, religious, and lay men and women from various backgrounds over a 17-month period, December 2020 through May 2022.  The wide-ranging subject matter includes the unseen challenges of life as a bishop; the pressures and satisfactions of the priesthood, the diaconate, and the consecrated life; the structural and leadership ingredients of diocesan success and failure; fallout from the Church' sex-abuse scandals; problems in Catholic universities; attitudes toward the Vatican; the role of Catholics in the academy and the secular culture; the witness of parents who have children with special needs; and the testimony of immigrant Americans as they assess their new homeland. Finally, the book presents the reasons why so many U.S. Catholics, despite today's challenges, continue to love the Church and cherish their faith with joy and energy.