Catholics Coming Home
Smith, Karen Sue
IN BRIEF CATHOLICS COMING HOME: A JOURNEY OF RECONCILIATION, A HANDBOOK FOR CHURCHES REACHING OUT TO INACTIVE CATHOLICS, by Carrie Kemp & Donald Pologruto, C.S.P., Harper San...
...Because the authors are ministers and not writers, they are at their best giving specific practical suggestions and at their worst describing the big picture...
...In developing this new ministry, the family of the prodigal son becomes the metaphor for the church...
...still others comprise the group for which Carrie Kemp and Donald Pologruto have formed a new ministry...
...2. Euthanasia is a social issue because it involves both the person requesting it and the doctor who provides it...
...There is also doubt about how great an evil abortion is, if an evil at all...
...However, one thing all seekers have in common, though they may initially be unaware of it, is that the church to which they hope to return is not a tidy, calm nest...
...3. Abortion is no less a social issue, if only because it requires a woman who desires an abortion and a doctor willing to perform it...
...I share those doubts, and believe they should be decisive in shaping the law of the land on the subject--even though in my own case, at the personal level, I would resolve the doubt in favor of the fetus...
...its active mem558: Commonweal "I hate to leave, sir, but I've decided to start a cult of my own...
...bers and its institutional life swim (or tread water) in a sea of questions...
...Repeatedly, the authors state that the ministry to returning Catholics cannot be led by those who especially value obedience and absolutes or who devalue questioning as an important part of faith development...
...Rather, the process is "the beginning of a lifetime journey of faith and conversion for the seeker...
...Most of them would like reconciliation with the Catholic church, but have been too wounded, fearful, angry, or misinformed simply to return on their own...
...The sweeping generalizations about Catholicism before and after Vatican II, for example, are unreliable...
...My judgment is that it is a clear enough evil that it should not be socially legitimated, either morally or legally...
...in its succinct treatment here, abortion mistakenly appears as a women's problem...
...These Catholics, whom the authors call "seekers," may already have faith in God or a personal relationship with Jesus, yet it is not enough for them...
...What comes across most strongly is that the authors take reconciliation seriously...
...More than fifteen million people in the United States belong to the category commonly known as "fallen away" or "lapsed" Catholics...
...it also has major social implications...
...that is not now pertinent to the euthanasia debate since none of the disputants disagree that competent individuals requesting euthanasia are persons...
...It is also a social question because of the debated status of the fetus, which requires a communal judgment...
...Many are so alienated or indifferent that they want no further association with the Catholic church...
...What seekers seek, of course, differs...
...some have found a home among Protestants...
...Since 1984, through parish bulletin announcements and newspaper ads, Kemp and Pologruto have invited "seeking Catholics" to share their stories of alienation in group settings with others like themselves as a preliminary step toward healing...
...Nor should it be misrepresented as such...
...I have...
...The church today is in a period of transition...
...At the root of this evangelistic ministry is the belief that (1) the church is big enough for all Catholics (those on opposite poles of "issues" and all in between) and that (2) reconciliation is basic to the church's own identity...
...But these are minor flaws that do not weaken the book's usefulness...
...The book also begins somewhat vaguely, using data less helpful than what the authors themselves have found...
...4. Unlike the status of the competent individual requesting euthanasia, there is considerable moral doubt whether the fetus (at least the early fetus) should be considered a person...
...The authors insist that theirs is not a numbers game...
...This book is the story of what the authors have discovered about seekers-their past experiences of the church, their questions, needs, and steps toward re-entry--and what parishes need to become and to do if they are to provide an authentic welcome to Catholics coming home...
...But my convictions on that latter point are not strong enough to impose on others...
...Some admonishments are made so often they become belabored...
...IN BRIEF CATHOLICS COMING HOME: A JOURNEY OF RECONCILIATION, A HANDBOOK FOR CHURCHES REACHING OUT TO INACTIVE CATHOLICS, by Carrie Kemp & Donald Pologruto, C.S.P., Harper San Francisco, $14.95, 224pp...
...KAREN SUE SMITH CORRESPONDENCE (Continued from page 530) the concept of"personhood" at this point...
...they are not recruiters...
...Judging by their explanations of what the church is and by their treatment of specific subjects, such as the Catholic hierarchy, weak preaching, guilt, divorce/remarriage/annulment, women's issues, changes since Vatican II, and sexual issues, I would describe the authors as theological centrists (on most issues), who manage to put Catholic teaching in a quite positive light...
Vol. 118 • September 1991 • No. 16
