Back To The Future Of The Roman Catholic Church

This book explores the notion that the Roman Catholic Church risks imploding from within as a result of its inflexibility towards movements in favor of reasonable change and modernization. Attendance at Sunday Mass has dramatically decreased; the loss of the youth in these churches is a case in point. At the same time, the lack of vocations to the priesthood and religious life is at crisis proportions as is further evidenced by the closing of parishes and the curtailing of religious services including the rising phenomenon of "priest-less Parishes." Young men today--even if they aspire to the priesthood--experience both unrest and rejection at the continued demand of the Church's leadership that priests commit themselves to the lifelong discipline of celibacy. Back to the Future of the Roman Catholic Church addresses the root causes of the various developments that have provoked discontent with Church policies and defections from parish life on the part of those who appear to have lost faith in their hierarchical leaders at the highest levels of Church governance. Finally, this book probes the ways in which the Church can emerge from its crises to become, once again, faithful to its origins as founded by Jesus Christ.

The purpose of this book is to bring to light how and why the Roman Catholic Church became embroiled in a life threatening crisis that presently, or in the very near future, may bring it to the edge of a struggle for its survival. For the Church to endure into the future it must return to the practices, rituals, and ways of thinking that had been established by Jesus Christ himself, which is that of Christ-like love, forgiveness, understanding, and compassion for all people, saints and sinners together. I have attempted to show how this crisis, presently existing in the Church, can be confronted and overcome by the implementation of reasonable changes and modifications in Church leadership thinking, practices, and selected laws, and rules that have become outdated and no longer relevant in today's Catholic Christian world.

One of the world’s foremost religion journalists offers an unexpected and provocative look at where the Catholic Church is headed—and what the changes will mean for all of us. What will the Catholic Church be like in 100 years? Will there be a woman pope? Will dioceses throughout the United States and the rest of the world go bankrupt from years of scandal? In THE FUTURE CHURCH, John L. Allen puts forth the ten trends he believes will transform the Church into the twenty-second century. From the influence of Catholics in Africa, Asia, and Latin America on doctrine and practices to the impact of multinational organizations on local and ethical standards, Allen delves into the impact of globalization on the Roman Catholic Church and argues that it must rethink fundamental issues, policies, and ways of doing business. Allen shows that over the next century, the Church will have to respond to changes within the institution itself and in the world as a whole whether it is contending with biotechnical advances—including cloning and genetic enhancement—the aging Catholic population, or expanding the roles of the laity. Like Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat, THE FUTURE CHURCH establishes a new framework for meeting the challenges of a changing world.

A New York Times columnist and one of America’s leading conservative thinkers considers Pope Francis’s efforts to change the church he governs in a book that is “must reading for every Christian who cares about the fate of the West and the future of global Christianity” (Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option). Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936, today Pope Francis is the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Francis’s stewardship of the Church, while perceived as a revelation by many, has provoked division throughout the world. “If a conclave were to be held today,” one Roman source told The New Yorker, “Francis would be lucky to get ten votes.” In his “concise, rhetorically agile…adroit, perceptive, gripping account (The New York Times Book Review), Ross Douthat explains why the particular debate Francis has opened—over communion for the divorced and the remarried—is so dangerous: How it cuts to the heart of the larger argument over how Christianity should respond to the sexual revolution and modernity itself, how it promises or threatens to separate the church from its own deep past, and how it divides Catholicism along geographical and cultural lines. Douthat argues that the Francis era is a crucial experiment for all of Western civilization, which is facing resurgent external enemies (from ISIS to Putin) even as it struggles with its own internal divisions, its decadence, and self-doubt. Whether Francis or his critics are right won’t just determine whether he ends up as a hero or a tragic figure for Catholics. It will determine whether he’s a hero, or a gambler who’s betraying both his church and his civilization into the hands of its enemies. “A balanced look at the struggle for the future of Catholicism…To Change the Church is a fascinating look at the church under Pope Francis” (Kirkus Reviews). Engaging and provocative, this is “a pot-boiler of a history that examines a growing ecclesial crisis” (Washington Independent Review of Books).

One of the world’s foremost religion journalists offers an unexpected and provocative look at where the Catholic Church is headed—and what the changes will mean for all of us. What will the Catholic Church be like in 100 years? Will there be a woman pope? Will dioceses throughout the United States and the rest of the world go bankrupt from years of scandal? In THE FUTURE CHURCH, John L. Allen puts forth the ten trends he believes will transform the Church into the twenty-second century. From the influence of Catholics in Africa, Asia, and Latin America on doctrine and practices to the impact of multinational organizations on local and ethical standards, Allen delves into the impact of globalization on the Roman Catholic Church and argues that it must rethink fundamental issues, policies, and ways of doing business. Allen shows that over the next century, the Church will have to respond to changes within the institution itself and in the world as a whole whether it is contending with biotechnical advances—including cloning and genetic enhancement—the aging Catholic population, or expanding the roles of the laity. Like Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat, THE FUTURE CHURCH establishes a new framework for meeting the challenges of a changing world.

Prizewinning historian Garry Wills argues that changes have been the evidence of life in the Catholic Church. It has often changed, sometimes with unwanted consequences, more often with good. In this brilliant and incisive study, he gives seven examples of deep and serious change that have taken place (or is taking place) within the last century. As Wills contends, it is only by examining the history of the Church that we can understand Pope Francis's and the Church's challenges.

When Jesus asked us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and visit the imprisoned, he didn’t mean it literally, right? Kerry Weber, a modern, young, single woman in New York City sets out to see if she can practice the Corporal Works of Mercy in an authentic, personal, meaningful manner while maintaining a full, robust, regular life. Weber, a lay Catholic, explores the Works of Mercy in the real world, with a gut-level honesty and transparency that people of urban, country, and suburban locales alike can relate to. Mercy in the City is for anyone who is struggling to live in a meaningful, merciful way amid the pressures of “real life.” For those who feel they are already overscheduled and too busy, for those who assume that they are not “religious enough” to practice the Works of Mercy, for those who worry that they are alone in their efforts to live an authentic life, Mercy in the City proves that by living as people for others, we learn to connect as people of faith.