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“I did a lot of interviews,” says Francis X. Maier, author of True Confessions, “103 of them over a 17-month period, all over the country; bishops, priests, permanent deacons, and religious, with a special focus on laypeople. Each had a different perspective but a single unifying theme…”
Francis X. Maier is a senior fellow in Catholic studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C., a contributor to CWR, and the author of the new book True Confessions: Voices of Faith from a Life in the Church, published by Ignatius Press.
He recently corresponded with CWR, reflecting on his many conversations with bishops, priests, religious, and lay people, while also sharing insights from the words and actions of “mature, faithful Catholics” in the United States.
CWR: Why choose the title True Confessions, and why write such a book now?
Francis X. Maier: We “confess” our faith every Sunday at Mass, but also through the witness of our daily lives. I wanted to capture what confessing Jesus Christ really looks like through the voices of people who are living, or at least sincerely trying to live, a faithful Catholic life.
And also, frankly, True Confessions, the movie, is one of my all-time favorite films; it’s not a pious story — it has some very rough edges — but in the end, it’s deeply Catholic.
As for why I wrote the book now: I’ve worked in and around the Church for a long time. It’s been one of the great blessings of my life, and I wanted to show why. I think the current leadership in Rome misreads the energy and generosity, as well as the fidelity, of the Church in the United States. Our problems get highlighted, and our strengths get ignored.
There’s a 2017 La Civilta Cattolica article by Antonio Spadaro and Marcelo Figueroa that struck me at the time, and still strikes me today, as remarkably ignorant and ill-willed. But it’s also emblematic of certain ongoing Roman views.
Continued below.
www.catholicworldreport.com
Francis X. Maier is a senior fellow in Catholic studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C., a contributor to CWR, and the author of the new book True Confessions: Voices of Faith from a Life in the Church, published by Ignatius Press.
He recently corresponded with CWR, reflecting on his many conversations with bishops, priests, religious, and lay people, while also sharing insights from the words and actions of “mature, faithful Catholics” in the United States.
CWR: Why choose the title True Confessions, and why write such a book now?
Francis X. Maier: We “confess” our faith every Sunday at Mass, but also through the witness of our daily lives. I wanted to capture what confessing Jesus Christ really looks like through the voices of people who are living, or at least sincerely trying to live, a faithful Catholic life.
And also, frankly, True Confessions, the movie, is one of my all-time favorite films; it’s not a pious story — it has some very rough edges — but in the end, it’s deeply Catholic.
As for why I wrote the book now: I’ve worked in and around the Church for a long time. It’s been one of the great blessings of my life, and I wanted to show why. I think the current leadership in Rome misreads the energy and generosity, as well as the fidelity, of the Church in the United States. Our problems get highlighted, and our strengths get ignored.
There’s a 2017 La Civilta Cattolica article by Antonio Spadaro and Marcelo Figueroa that struck me at the time, and still strikes me today, as remarkably ignorant and ill-willed. But it’s also emblematic of certain ongoing Roman views.
Continued below.
Book presents the voices, perspectives of faithful Catholics in U.S.
www.catholicworldreport.com
