Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus

by Geoffrey Robinson

Drawing on his own experience in responding to abuse, Bishop Geoffrey Robinson methodically offers a critique of the church's use and misuse of power, from the pope proclaiming infallibly down to the preacher claiming a divine authority for every word spoken from the pulpit. Going back to the Bible and, above all, to the teaching of Jesus, he presents an approach to sexual morality that is profound, compassionate, and people-centered. He stresses the priority of the hierarchy of holiness over the hierarchy of power.He offers nothing less than a vision for a church of the third millennium 'a church that wants to see in its members the responsibility appropriate to adults rather than the obedience appropriate to children and wants to help all people to grow to become all they are capable of being.You will love or hate this book but not be ale to remain neutral.Through the story of sexual abuse and the church's response, I came to the unshakeable belief that within the Catholic Church there absolutely must be profound and enduring change. In particular, there must be change on the two subjects of power and sex.'From the IntroductionBishop Geoffrey Robinson, who has degrees in philosophy, theology, and church law, was Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Sydney from 1984 until his retirement in 2004. In 1994, he was elected by the Australian Bishops to the National Committee for professional Standards, coordinating the response of the Catholic Church in Australia to revelations of sexual abuse, and from 1997 until 2003 he was cochairman of this committee.

Genres: Sexuality

307 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2007

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of interest to non-Christians like myself. One quote: "In any religion, everything without exception depends on the kind of god that is worshipped, and in practice this means that everything depends on the human ideas that people impose onto their god. For those who believe in one God, the danger is that, unable to grasp this infinite God, they so impose their own ideas onto the god they believe in that they create their own god within their own mind and worship this ‘god’. It is just as easy for Christians to do this as it is for the members of any other religion. There is only one God, but an endless variety of human misunderstandings of God."

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read

[Anna001 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply fantastic- modern, well-thought out, and insightful