What to Buy for all the Bishops in Your Life

If you are wondering what to get all the Catholic bishops and clergy in your life as Christmas bears down on us in exactly one month, why not try a copy of a new book which has the merit of being short and quite blunt, sparing them the time and effort of trying to figure out what the author really means? If you and they are frustrated by lack of concrete proposals for reform in the Church to deal with the endless sex abuse crisis, think about sending a crate of these books to every official in your chancery and parish office.

I refer, of course, to my own book, Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed: Ridding the Church of Abuses of Sex and Power. It comes with a slew of endorsements from bishops, theologians, and other scholars of Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox backgrounds.

You can read about the genesis of the book here and here. You can also read about one of my major themes and interlocutors in the book here. If you want a short radio interview on the book, here I am on our local NPR affiliate.

And finally here is the publisher's blurb:

The most serious sex abuse crisis in Catholic history demands the most serious and far-reaching response. This book is a contribution to that response. Its proposed changes would revolutionize Catholic structures from the parish to the papacy. Unlike other revolutions, however, this one is anchored with great care in both history and theology, including that of the various Eastern Churches.

This book shows that the current monocausal explanations of abuse and cover-up (either “clericalism” or “homosexuality”) both overlook the structural issues of governance. The current centralized structures, which monopolize power in the hands of bishops and popes, must be reformed and in their place new structures of local accountability implemented, in order for the Church to move past the present crisis.

This is a radical book in the original sense of the word: a return to root practices that structured much of Catholic life for hundreds of years. It is thus a deeply “traditionalist” book rooted strongly in venerable Christian practices, but is also an openly “liberal” book that argues in favor of liberating the laics so they can resume with voice and vote their rightful role in the councils of governance.