Journeys to the Heart of Catholicism.

Karen Danielson, Ph.D., is a research consultant at Laurentian
University who specializes in leisure, textiles, family life, and Japan.

Ted Schmidt reports on his long history of involvement in social justice issues ranging from poverty to global warming and weapons manufacturing. He argues that capitalism and the political right have contributed to these problems while the Catholic Church has failed to raise a countercultural voice on behalf of peace. Schmidt sees impotence in the silence of churches and warns that charity is not enough. Instead he calls for the Church to take inspiration from holy martyrs and participate in real movements along with activist groups.

Schmidt refers frequently to Vatican II, the 1962 ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Many reforms resulted from the council as the Church adapted to political, social, economic, and technological change. From Schmidt’s perspective as a Catholic, this generated a spirit of reform, a sense of democracy, and the opportunity for increased involvement in social justice issues. Recently he feels the Church has been moving in a different direction, and for him, this is a disturbing change. Nevertheless he continues to call for equality within the Church, including leadership by lay members, female ordination, and the elimination of celibacy as a condition for the priesthood. He suggests that these changes would facilitate engagement in current affairs and give the Church a more balanced and natural view of daily life.

Schmidt sees fundamentalism and fear of change in the current Church leaders, new young priests, and the general church community. He does acknowledge that his focus is on the Church as an organization. He also recognizes that others have a different communion-based orientation. Communion-oriented Catholics might respond with support for quiet private actions, random acts of kindness at the grassroots level, and separation from secular activities. Schmidt contends that such an approach facilitates neglect of serious humanitarian and environmental problems.

This book makes a strong call for dialogue and for re-evaluation of activism, secularism, and the social responsibilities of organized churches. Today as globalization and networking increase our awareness and alter our interdependence, these are difficult questions for people of many denominations and for those in secular environments as well.