Ten Commandments for Church Reform: Memoirs of a Catholic Priest

by John Wijngaards, DD, LSS

Overview

The autobiography of a Catholic priest and theologian who has spent a lifetime advocating for the reform of several outdated policies and practices of the Church. Born in Indonesia in 1935, he was in a Japanese POW camp with his family for four years, starting at age six. Ordained a priest when he was 23, he served for 14 years as a Mill Hill Missionary in India, where he was a professor and lecturer in a Catholic seminary. A prolific writer of Christian literature and film scripts, he was the founder and director of a center for faith formation in London, which continues today as the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research. This book reveals his "Ten Commandments" for Church reform--ranging from the inclusion of women in the priesthood to the appointment of open-minded, pastoral bishops rather than hard-line traditionalists.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940160884356
Publisher:	Acadian House Publishing
Publication date:	01/26/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

JOHN WIJNGAARDS, DD, LSS, is an internationally renowned theologian and Scripture scholar and is the founder of the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research, headquartered in London. His is one of the leading voices in the worldwide movement to include women in the Catholic priesthood.
He was a Mill Hill Missionary priest, and from 1964 to 1976 he was stationed in Hyderabad, India. There he taught Scripture to future priests at St. John’s Major Seminary, founded a formation centre for religious sisters, and co-founded the Catholic Biblical Association of India. Later, he served as vicar general of his Congregation, from 1976 to 1982.

In 1998, he resigned from the priestly ministry mainly because of a conflict of conscience over the Church’s refusal to ordain women.

In a prolific writing career that has spanned six decades, he has authored over two dozen books related to spirituality and theology, some 20 booklets and pamphlets, and 10 film scripts. His books include What They Don’t Teach You in Catholic College, The Ordination of Women in the Catholic Church (in 5 languages), Experiencing Jesus and Background to the Gospels (in 7 languages).

In 1982 he founded Housetop International Centre for Faith Formation in London, which produced video courses and films for adult faith formation, such as the award-winning Journey to the Centre of Love. The Centre developed into the Wijngaards Institute, which runs 16 educational websites and coordinates research on questions of church reform, such as church governance, artificial contraception in family planning, and the ordination of women as deacons and priests. (See www.wijngaardsinstitute.org.)
He is married to Jackie Clackson, a former art teacher, and they reside in Denham, England, a suburb of London.