Faithful Dissenters: Stories of Men and Women Who Loved and Changed the Church

by Robert McClory

Overview

Faithful Dissenters tells the stories of people who took risky stands and sometimes paid heavily. Yet the benefits of their dissent have unquestionably enriched the church and all of us. Here is a respectful and enlightening reexamination of a word that is at once charged, misunderstood, and filled with potential to heal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570753220
Publisher:	Orbis Books
Publication date:	11/27/2000
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.24(h) x 0.54(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Introduction: A Rich Tradition	1
1.	John Courtney Murray: Religious Freedom Triumphant	7
2.	Galileo: The Earth Moves	25
3.	John Henry Newman: A Sense of the Faithful	40
4.	Mary Ward: No Ordinary Woman	54
5.	The Jesuits and Usury: A Doctrine Not Received	67
6.	Catherine of Siena: "Blind Is the Pastor"	78
7.	Matteo Ricci: An Open Door to China	90
8.	Hildegard of Bingen: The Feminine Divine	105
9.	Yves Congar: A Passion for Unity	119
10.	Creative Differences	133
	Theodore: One Person, Two Natures	133
	Hincmar: Vatican II Precursor	137
	Thomas Aquinas: The Aristotle Mystery	139
	Sor Juana: In Defense of Women	142
	The Brothers Purcell: Slavery No More	145
11.	Standing Firm	150
	Mary MacKillop: "The Excommunicated One"	150
	Grossteste: "I Do Not Obey"	154
	Mother Guerin: Courage under Fire	157
	Afterword: Costly Fidelity	161
	Notes	167
	Index	175

Editorial Reviews

Dissent from official church teaching is a much-discussed topic in Roman Catholic circles these days, and McClory, who teaches journalism at Northwestern University, focuses on it through an intriguing historical lens. Using more than a dozen examples from church history, he examines how such figures as Galileo, Hildegard of Bingen, St. Thomas Aquinas, and other luminaries and lesser knowns challenged the church authorities or teachings of their time. His carefully chosen and well-researched examples include those Catholics who openly questioned long-held doctrines, some who simply ignored mandates or opposed positions taken by church leaders, and others who pushed the envelope of ecclesiastical authority. Although McClory believes that dissent is healthy for the church, he writes mostly as a journalist, choosing not to debate the merits of nonconformity, but to report each story and allow the facts to speak for themselves. Each case illustrates powerfully how history often takes a kinder view of those known in their day as dissidents. McClory writes, for example, of Mary MacKillop, an Australian nun who was excommunicated in 1871 for challenging a bishop's efforts to govern her religious community. More than a century later, Pope John Paul II declared her "blessed." Although not every Catholic will agree with McClory's premise that dissenters can be faithful, he offers a strong historical perspective that could inform the church's current debates. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

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