MAN OF GOD

by Charles Meyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 8, 1974

The crisis of priestly identity in the Catholic Church is far from resolved, yet, as Meyer points out, the Church has the means by permitting priests to meet -- not only in their exterior lives but also in their concept of their own priesthood -- the exigencies of the ministry in a technologized, secular society. Such flexibility, paradoxically, is traditional, and the author cites precedents aplenty to demonstrate that such newfangled arrangements as priest-lawyer, priest-doctor, priest-politician, and even priest-soldier, are almost as ancient as the Church herself. The criterion of acceptability of such functions, Meyer argues, is not whether they are in keeping with the ""dignity"" of the priesthood in its post-Tridentine form, but whether they serve some ""necessary or highly useful objective in the apostolate of the Church in the world at this time in history."" On that pragmatic basis, the author examines the conjunctive roles of the priest as apostle and mystagogue in the present and the future -- emphasizing integrity of life, sincerity of belief, and attainment of authentic identity in the ministry. Meyer's work is no polemic, but a reasoned, carefully researched work of analysis and synthesis which establishes guidelines and offers hope to a clergy harried by confusion and doubt.

Pub Date: Feb. 8, 1974

ISBN: 1579109152

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION