CANADA
Winnipeg Free Press
Reviewed by: Roger Currie
Posted: 03/2/2013
THE surprising news that Benedict XVI became the first pope in more than 600 years to abdicate as head of the world’s Roman Catholics has given added currency to the latest book by Garry Wills, one of North America’s most prominent Catholic scholars.
In Why Priests?, The Real Meaning of the Eucharist, the Pulitzer Prize-winner, whose previous books include Papal Sin and Why I Am a Catholic, wonders aloud about the history of the priesthood. In light of sexual abuse scandals that have plagued the church in recent years, especially since Benedict succeeded John Paul II in 2005, Wills spends almost 300 pages exploring the idea that the church could survive quite well without priests.
He emphasizes repeatedly that he has nothing personal against priests. Indeed, as a young man he spent five years in a Jesuit seminary, studying to become one. But now he seems to argue that the priesthood may have been a major mistake in the evolution of the church since the time of Jesus Christ.
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