Being Catholic Now: Prominent Americans Talk About Change in the Church and the Quest for Meaning Book

I was a little cynical staring this book. A book of essays compiled by a Kennedy progeny. . .what were the chances of this being a fluff contribution to the season's sales figures? But I was surprised. A lot of the essays are serious contributions to the challenges of being Catholic and are honest about the issues Catholics and the Church need to confront. Each essay, in closing, answers the question of: What if I were the Pope? It's interesting to see the different answers. And, as a Catholic school graduate who takes some pride in her education, it was disheartening to see how Catholics, in varying degrees, have given up on their church leaders in one way or the other. But the devotion of Catholics to help the poor comes out through and through. There's some unnecessary Muslim-bashing which Kerry Kennedy would have been wise to edit out, and which I didn't appreciate. But the essays by a variety of notables, like Bill O'Reilly and even Bill Maher, make for an interesting read and a frank portrait of a faith challenged.