The Truth at the Heart of the Lie

February 15, 2021
More than four decades after laying aside his clerical collar, Carroll calls for a complete dismantling of the Catholic priesthood. In making that call, Carroll revisits the investigative journalism he did in the past to expose both the widespread priestly sexual abuse of innocent young parishioners and the ecclesiastical cover-up. But that nightmarish chronicle fits into a broader indictment. Why, Carroll asks, did Catholic hierarchs support the horrific Cold War doctrine of mutually assured destruction? Why did they obsess over the ways human sexuality draws people into carnal sins? Why were they so deaf to women's distressed voices? Catholicism has simply forgotten Jesus' healing gospel of peace and love, Carroll provocatively asserts, because--influenced by dark thinkers such as Augustine and Anselm--it has abandoned the simple egalitarianism of the early church. Only by revoking the godlike status conferred upon fallible men can the church actually help members find a merciful Jesus. To many Catholic readers, Carroll's argument will look like a surrender to liberal Protestantism, but the hard questions Carroll poses will stimulate vigorous debate.

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March 1, 2021

Born into a devoutly Catholic family as the son of an army general, Carroll attended Catholic schools all through college and entered the Paulist order, receiving his seminary education as Vatican II was progressing. Assigned as chaplain to the Catholic Newman Center at Boston University, he participated (much to the chagrin of his parents) in anti-war protest. Five years after ordination, he left the priesthood to become a full-time writer. He has written 12 novels, several works of history, many essays, and a previous memoir. The present work combines a reflection on his life with a critique of what he sees as the clericalism of the Catholic Church; the ground, in his view, of its misogyny and the abuse crisis. He offers several suggestions for returning the Church to something more attuned to what he believes Jesus intended. As with most of his works, the author's passion comes through even as he recounts historical events, very much through his lens, for which he has sometimes been criticized by academic historians. VERDICT A well-written, passionate critique of the current state of the Catholic Church by one who, to a certain extent despite himself, still respects and admires it.--Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJ

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March 1, 2021
A deeply personal exploration of what has broken the modern Catholic Church. Using his own vast experience, former priest and accomplished religion journalist Carroll, author of such landmark works as An American Requiem and Constantine's Sword, demonstrates to readers why the Roman Catholic Church is in a state of international crisis. The author's detailed, honest, and brutal treatment of his subject matter is consistently captivating. He identifies the primary issue as "clericalism," a dysfunctional, exalted view of the clergy that has led to systemic, generational misogyny and, ultimately, to the reprehensible child molestation crisis that has become, over decades, horrifyingly widespread. Carroll looks back on centuries of warped theology and abuses of power while also telling his own story of growing up in the pre-Vatican II church and finding disillusionment later. He describes 21st-century corruption as stemming from the work of thinkers who died centuries ago. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) and Anselm of Canterbury (circa 1033-1109), both of whom were later designated as saints, advanced theological beliefs about sex, the body, and women that celebrated the sanctity of the priesthood in damaging ways. Augustine, writes the author, formed an "anti-human theology," and through Anselm's influence, "death trumped life in the Catholic imagination." Over time, the ossified, male priesthood became an exceedingly powerful force, featuring extraordinary abuses of power and a distorted view of Christ and his church. Carroll saw this firsthand in his interactions with priests and monks throughout his youth and early adulthood. Disenchanted with the church after it ignored the attempted reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the author left the priesthood and, eventually, almost left the faith. He is still a believer, however, and urges others to join him in enacting "an anti-clericalism from within," delivering a book that seamlessly combines moving, forthright autobiography and searing critique. Balanced yet uncompromising, an urgent call to action for believers and a fitting capstone to a fruitful career.

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