The Changing Face of the Priesthood
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The Changing Face of the Priesthood is a remarkable survey of the state of American Catholic clergy today. Donald Cozzens, the president-rector of Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in Cleveland, combines personal reflection and analysis of empirical data in this brief but wide-ranging book. To explain the shrinking of clerical ranks that has occurred in recent decades, Cozzens tells a familiar story:
As the vision of the [Second Vatican Council] became ever clearer, the cultic, pre-conciliar model of priesthood entered into a creative balance with the servant-leader model. The clear identity, the unquestioned status, the exalted privilege--features that helped priests deal with the sacrifices and crosses inherent to their vocation--began to blur. With astonishing candour, Cozzens also zeroes in on some of the more provocative issues among clergy; his discussions of celibacy, homosexuality and sexual abuse of children are particularly insightful. Each of these discussions is driven by the author's fascination with the way that priests since Vatican II have "haltingly acknowledged a need, linked to the very soul of their spirituality, for authentic, human intimacy". This is a smart and loving way of understanding some of the biggest problems of the priesthood. And readers who learn to emulate this book's clear-eyed compassion will gain great advantage in that never-ending process of helping to heal the Church. --Michael Joseph Gross
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First Sentence
Even in our secular, postmodern culture, the collar and black suit can still rustle memories of the gentle cheerfulness and soothing presence long associated with parish priests. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Even in our secular, postmodern culture, the collar and black suit can still rustle memories of the gentle cheerfulness and soothing presence long associated with parish priests. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
Cozzens wrote: "The very face of the priesthood - the external cues and customs, the internal hallmarks of identity and function - seemed to be changing..." (P. ix). I read this book seeking these "internal hallmarks" and found them most clearly expressed in Part I. In Part I Cozzens defines his topic for reflection, that is, the human transformation necessary for a priest of Jesus Christ, and then he turns his attention to external cues and customs current in the U. S. Catholic Church. Only after reading Cozzens' book (twice) did I read the customer reviews on the Amazon US site. To my mind, the reviews written by DelMonico, irisharsh, Merryman and Zee grasped the deeper significance of Cozzens' book for the spiritual life. This is, in fact, primarily a book on the deeper concept of spirituality, not a book on the sociological or psychological insights of the spiritual life. The enduring value of this book is that Part I touches on the human psyche and pneuma and effectively introduces the principle of "gratia praesupponit naturam" (grace builds on nature). In this context, I found it helpful to read Cozzens' book in light of James Forsyth's (1997) work, "Faith and Human Transformation: A Dialogue Between Psychology and Theology", which thoroughly elaborates Aquinas's second principle "gratia perficit naturam" (grace perfects nature). Cozzens' book is about the Catholic Church in the United States which provides the sociological and psychological context for his external cues. However, to my mind, the book's fundamental concern is the appropriate understanding of spirituality of the part of the individual seeking to discern the internal hallmarks of Christian identity.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a very timely and honest book, and every churchgoer in Britain, whether Catholic or not, should read it too, as it sheds light on important issues. Cozzens' analysis of the types of men who enter the priesthood is uncannily accurate and may shed some light on how the non church-going public views the Catholic Church today. In particular, this book is brave enough to hint at the problem of sexual abuse of children by unmarried men, whether celibate or 'openly gay'. This is an extremely serious issue that I've seen brushed under the carpet too much even in so-called thinking Christian circles, in a misguided attempt not to hurt adults; this book is balanced in its approach to both adults and children involved. The fact is that this is one of the major reasons why most people do not trust the hierarchical churches in the western world anymore. A male-only clergy is going to attract paedophiles who prey on large numbers of young boys and recruit them to form more sex-rings. The same is true in the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England. It is often such men who are most opposed to the ordination of women. Neither the 'left' nor the 'right' of the theological spectrums of the Churches will find this comfortable, but this is the case. A pity that Cozzens did not tackle the structure of Roman Catholic dogmatic theology, which does not help when attempting a theological critique of this problem. So-called 'liberal catholic' theologians have been known to see male group sex as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity, and to see the close relation between God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ as an incestuous one. It is time for a thorough investigation of not only Roman Catholic ecclesiastical structures of authority, but of all Roman Catholic dogmatic theology and the true locus of its authority. This book is an honest contribution to such a project. The very fact that there were calls in the USA to ban this book suggests that there is a very dangerous contingent within the Church that does not really wish to do anything about child sexual abuse. It's time this cowardly culture of silence in the name of adult sexual pleasure was challenged.
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book by Cozzens does not give a good picture of the overall state of seminaries in the Church today. It might have been a little more timely had it been printed in the 80's but he fails to see, probably because of his views are confined to his personal experiences and don't go beyond his own nose, that seminarians today are of a different breed and tend to be much better orientated and embrace celibacy as a gift from God rather than a sacrifice or curse mandated by the Church. Please, don't believe everything you read.
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