Confessions Of A Parish Priest

by Andrew M. Greeley

Covering Andrew Greeley's controversial career over five decades of change in the Catholic Church, this autobiography, offers personal insight into the major issues confronting a modern priest, from the birth control encyclical, to clerical celibacy, to the role of women in the Church

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Biography

507 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1988

About the author

Andrew Greeley was a Roman Catholic priest, sociologist, journalist, and author of 50 best-selling novels and more than 100 works of nonfiction. For decades, Greeley entertained readers with such popular characters as the mystery-solving priest Blackie Ryan and the fey, amateur sleuth Nuala Anne McGrail. His books typically center on Irish-American Roman Catholics living or working in Chicago.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/andrew...

Reviews

[Christy Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

My initial interest in Fr. Andrew Greeley's autobiography was a result of my having enjoyed so many of his mystery stories and novels over the years; I've yet to read his nonfiction sociological studies or book on Mary, but both are of interest to me. The parts of this that were best done were descriptions of the key historical influences on him in context: ethnicity and culture and religion as well as the time period, his family and, of course, faith. What I enjoyed was the ways in which he described story and how he came to understand its power to convey images of God and bring people closer into their own relationships, both human and with the Divine. He is, at heart, a storyteller and preaches best in his stories.

Having his view and inside account on what occurred during a pivotal point in Catholic world history with Vatican II and the encyclical on birth control that was issued and his assessment of how that occurred and its far reaching impact was helpful to someone such as myself who grew up in the faith, believed in the core ideas of universality in its original understanding, but was frustrated by what I saw, and he confirmed, as politics and rigidity in the face of science and changes in people and times (though, I also appreciated his critique of both far right and far left within the church for different reasons and nodded my head in agreement to his assessments).

If there was a flaw in the book or perhaps a weakness in the man, it was perhaps in the sometimes persistent complaining and frustrations of one who has been criticized far too long and is now coming across, with reason, as whining at times about being victimized by the structures and systems that have made life difficult and set up blocks. At times, I found the constancy of the complaints about the suppression he faced within the church to come across as tedious even as I believed it to be true and had no doubts that they tried to suppress his writing and disputed his sociological work and were a constant frustration. It's simply that after the point is made, the continuation of protest starts to sound like whining rather than mere statement of fact and doesn't make for terribly good reading even as it may be true. Overall, however, even as I made my way through those more tedious parts, the story the storyteller tells of himself was worth my time and helped me to understand him, the church and my own faith and the Catholic faith much better, giving me a greater sense of God and God's love, which is what I suppose he would most have wanted.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've wondered about Fr. Greeley and his books for years. I love his take on ministry and his insight on the intimate workings of church hierarchy. As a Catholic convert rather disappointed by some of the church's policies it's refreshing to learn that many in service have understood it for a long time.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the Roman Catholic Church in America and Father Greeley writes well of his life in the church. I was not disappointed. I had lengthy discussions with a RC Navy Chaplain while we were in the field and this book remains worth a read, even now, twenty years after is first publication. I am a Protestant and Greeley gave me an excellent window into his parish and his life.

[Martin Hensley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Andrew Greeley's novels, so I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, it is very little memoir and a lot of "I was right and unjustly persecuted; they were narrow minded and wrong." With a lot of work, you can piece together the timeline of his life and read some very interesting theological discussion. The problem is that both have to found by searching through reams of axe grinding. If you also love the novels, do yourself a favor and don't read this. You really don't want to know how the sausage is made.

[Gerry Czerak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since Greeley such a prolific novelist as well as influential Catholic sociologist, this was a must read for me. It was spotty and did not always hold my attention, but in the end it was worth knowing more about this man.

[Carroll Straus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not alone is some of my peculiarities... like being extremely sensitive! That I would like to Meet Father Greeley.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging autobiography of this interesting Chicago Irishman who was a Catholic priest, sociologist, and novelist

[CarolSue Pope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful! He was an amazing man, priest and author. I enjoyed it very much!

[Jennifer Hallock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it possible for an autobiography to be too absorbed with its subject? I have not yet read any of Father Greeley's novels, but they are arriving from inter-library loan soon. It is possible that I am too far removed, both through time and lack of exposure, to understand the controversy that Greeley feels he must respond to in this novel. Instead, I found the constant defense he felt compelled to do both self-serving and boring. Even more frustrating, though, was Greeley's need to constantly analyze long-past events from a contemporary perspective—how his parents affected his personality now, for example—that take the reader out of the moment. It is a lot of telling, not showing. Still, there was some interesting perspectives here, and parts were quite well done. I especially enjoyed his perspective on the major seminary experience, which confirmed the experience of other priests I've read.

[Della · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not get into this book so did not finish.