Being Catholic Now

June 9, 2008
Sheer star power should draw a broad range of readers to this volume of 37 interviews, in which Catholics from diverse fields reflect on their church. Kennedy, daughter of the late Robert Kennedy, invited luminaries from politics, entertainment, media and the church itself to talk about their Catholic origins, current beliefs and what they would do if they could be pope for a year. Writer Anna Quindlen would ordain women and lift the ban on artificial birth control. Comedian Bill Maher, who confesses to hating religion, would end the church, while Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington, D.C., would “resign right away and get a good guy in there.” Other interviewees include Cokie Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Allouisa May Thames, Thomas Monaghan and Douglas Brinkley. In the preface, Kennedy adds her own views, explaining why she remains a Catholic despite differences with the church on issues like abortion and homosexuality. The collection makes for interesting reading, though at times the interviews, which consist wholly of the subjects’ responses, seem disjointed and rambling without the context of questions.

July 15, 2008
Human rights activist Kennedy ("Speak Truth to Power"), one of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy's 11 children, here shares her own religious remembrances and motivations as well as those of 37 others, many of them writers (e.g., Doris Kearns Goodwin and James Carroll) or performers (e.g., Susan Sarandon and Martin Sheen). Not all are "Catholic Now," as the title suggests; some never deepened in their birth-faith. Together, their journeysthe loss, discovery, and recovery of their faithattest to the power of parental or other influences and reflect a search for truth and justice. The eclectic selection manifests a wide range of attitudes, from orthodox devotion and practice, to selective acceptance of church teachings, to total rejection of religion. A photograph accompanies each individual's essay-interview. Among the recurring challenges cited are the priest pedophilia scandals, abortion, poverty, war, and labor issues. Most of the interviewees express hope in the future despite institutional failures of the past. An optional purchase for general collections or where there is an interest in contemporary religion.Anna M. Donnelly, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2008
What does it mean to be Catholic in todays society? Is there a necessary disconnect between traditional Catholicism and contemporary reality? What role, if any, does faith play in spirituality? Catholics who have asked themselves similar questions and curious non-Catholics will be interested in the comments of37 prominent Americans collected bythe author, the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy. Sheexplores what it means to be Catholic via a series of interviews with public figures with roots in the Catholic Church. Included among those tapped by Kennedy to interpret their faith are Anna Quindlen, Bill OReilly, Cokie Roberts, Nancy Pelosi, Susan Sarandon, Dan Aykroyd, Martin Sheen, Bill Maher, and Frank McCourt. The diversity of responses, from both staunch believers and lapsed Catholics, reflects the ambivalencethat many American Catholics attempt to come to terms with as they grapple with both institutional and spiritual issues.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)