The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture - Softcover

Lawler, Philip F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1594033749 ISBN 13: 9781594033742

Publisher: Encounter Books, 2010

Synopsis

The Faithful Departed traces the rise and fall of the Catholic Church as a cultural dynamo in Boston, showing how the Massachusetts experience set a pattern that has echoed throughout the United States as religious institutions have lost social influence in the face of rising secularization.

The collapse of Catholicism in Boston became painfully apparent in 2002, with the full explosion of the sex-abuse crisis. But Lawler brings an insider’s knowledge and a journalist’s sense of drama to show that the sex-abuse scandal was neither the cause nor the beginning of Catholicism’s decline in Boston. In fact, the scandal was itself a symptom of corruption that was already well advanced.

Full of colorful anecdote and gripping social history, The Faithful Departed will be of interest not only to Catholics and to those acquainted with Boston’s rich political tradition, but to anyone concerned about the interplay between religious faith and public policy. The demise of Catholic influence in Massachusetts is an especially vivid example of a secularizing trend that is visible throughout the United States.

About this title

About the Author:

Philip F. Lawler is editor of Catholic World News. His writings have appeared around the United States and abroad, including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe.

Review:

Philip Lawler's stunning book is a fresh look at the causes and consequences of the Catholic clerical sex-abuse scandal.

Ground zero was Boston. Lawler tells the story of the Church's role in advancing a culture of morality and excellence within the 19th-century immigrant community. But all of that good crashes into a mid-20th century wall of indifference, amorality, and hostility to orthodoxy and "the power of Faith."

The same story holds true throughout much of the country. Depressing repetition meets depressing repetition.

Lawler places the blame squarely on the laps of the shepherds, the bishops who were more interested in their public image and meeting the mortgage payments, than the safety of souls. His is a powerful story of a dismal period in the life of the Church. -- Frank Keating, Governor of Oklahoma, 1995-2003

About this edition

• Publisher: Encounter Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1594033749
• ISBN 13: 9781594033742
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288