Preserving and Recreating the Institutions We Need

Over at The Catholic Thing I make my debut in its pages arguing in response to recent writings of Massimo Faggioli and Robert Barron about the sex abuse crisis. Both have good points to make, but neither goes far enough in contemplating the institutional reforms we need, including the recovery of long-lost synodal institutions at all levels with voice and vote to force parish clergy and diocesan bishops alike to be accountable in real, serious, permanent, and inescapable ways. Absent such enforced mechanisms of accountability, the crisis will never end.

The article, of course, is a bit of a précis of a book you should be reading and sending to 932910 of your closest friends: Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed: Ridding the Church of Abuses of Sex and Power.

But don't just take my recommendation: how about that of the Romanian Catholic Bishop John Michael Botean of the Eparchy of Canton, who said this about the book:

"Adam DeVille's vision is at once forward-thinking and eminently traditional. Without a doubt this is a book that can raise quite a stir. And I hope it will. It deserves serious, prayerful reading."

Or the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, widely regarded as one of the finest theological minds in any Christian tradition in the last four decades:

“This book eloquently and cogently pleads for the Roman Catholic Church to be released from the captivity of an over-centralized, over-individualized model of authority, arguing that this model is at the heart of many other dysfunctionalities. A sober, theologically informed, and very significant work.”

Or the always sober-minded Russell Shaw, who worked for the American episcopal conference for many years and has written his own book about changes needed in the Church. He said this of my book:

“Readers with open minds and generous hearts will find this a provocative, helpful contribution to the badly needed debate about reform in the Church at a moment when reform is so urgently needed.”

The other endorsements you can read here, or inside the front cover of the book, which you can order here.