Reviews for The anatomy of the Catholic Church

The average rating for The anatomy of the Catholic Church based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-11-20 00:00:00 Michael LeBlanc Hey its been over ten years since i read this, but i was thinking about the Roman Catholic church earlier today and it popped into my head - its a great "cataloging" of the Catholic right groups supported by the Reagan Administration and the pope John Paul II along with his putbull Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (today himself the Pope), as well as Ratzinger's role in clamping down on radical left Catholics. Not sure if i'd like it as much now, but i did love it at the time...

Review # 2 was written on 2020-06-19 00:00:00 Adam Patek The author spent 7 years as a seminarian, then left the Church only to return after 20 years. He has written several books on the papacy. This book is his look at the Catholic Church in current times and the problems it faced in the new century. The Church had a divide between conservative and progressive factions. The conservative wing wants the Church to be a top down hierarchy with the pope as the sole determinant in all facets of the Church. The progressive wing wants more decentralization of the Church giving bishops and laity more say in doctrinal issues and how the Church operates. The main issues of division are the power of the Curia, the role of women including becoming priests, intellectual freedom to question doctrine and the issues of sexual nature. This last category has many facet: the sex abuse scandals, divorce, gay rights, contraception and premarital sex. The current pope has ruled against the use of condoms even to prevent the spread of HIV/ AIDS. This has severely contributed to the spread of the disease in Africa and other third world countries. The refusal to accept divorce has lead to the banning of the sacraments to divorced or remarried laity. The Church is also suffering from the reduced interest in becoming priests or joining religious orders. This is a problem facing many denominations today. The author suggests that the Church must change how it operates if it is to continue as a universal body.