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| The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture | 
 enlarge | Author: Philip F. Lawler
Publisher: Encounter Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $16.23
You Save: $9.72 (37%)
Buy New/Used from $13.72
Avg. Customer Rating:  (18 reviews)
Sales Rank: 31528
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 280
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 1594032114
Dewey Decimal Number: 282.74461
EAN: 9781594032110
ASIN: 1594032114
Publication Date: February 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Faithful Departed traces the rise and fall of the Catholic Church in Boston, showing how the Massachusetts experience set a pattern that echoed throughout the United States as religious institutions lost influence in the face of rising secularization. The collapse of Catholicism in Boston became apparent with the explosion of the sex-abuse crisis. Lawler shows that the sex-abuse scandal was neither the cause nor the beginning of Catholicism's decline in Boston.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Excellent Overview of the Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal October 28, 2008
This book is probably the best single volume analysis of the clergy sexual abuse scandal written to date. I say this because it does an excellent job of tying together the multitude of unique circumstances that lead to the scandal. The book does a wonderful job of tying in the unique history of Catholicism in the United States and how that helped shape the events as well as offering ample criticism of church leaders who allowed it to happen and who clearly put their own interests above those of their flocks.
The book does a great job of examining how the scandal has weakened the Archdiocese of Boston to such a degree that is for all essence an impotent force in politics. Much less then what it was even 20 years ago. The book does a great job of showing how the Archdiocese has done such a poor job of representing the flock not just in the scandal but in other areas such as the busing crisis of the 1970s and the closing of parishes just after the scandal.
This is an excellent book and anyone who has an interest in recent Catholic history would find this book an excellent read and time well spent.
 fire the editor October 2, 2008
The book was well written and the author's arguments were well developed. However, the editing (eg.,mistakes in tense and agreement) was shameful. To charge good money for such a sloppily produced product does not reflect well on the publishing house. If I were the author, I'd lodge a strong protest.
An Essential Book but only if you're Catholic September 2, 2008
This book really exceeded my expectations. It was interesting, well written and had the best anecdotes- like the disappearance of the Cardinal's dog on the day of his death, fascinating. There is a blog discussing the book ([...]) and its current black listing by some/most religious bookstores.
If you are like me and like history but find most of it dead boring, you'll like this book because it is a way to learn history and be entertained at the same time.
Best of all it is hopeful.
Facts & Analysis on Target August 16, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Lawler uses the failings of the Boston Archdiocese not only recently but over its history as a platform to review the scandals besetting the Catholic Church in America that have been so much in the news.
He rejects the notion that the sex abuse scandal was a series of aberrations, but had at its root the unwillingness of bishops and priests to be faithful to Catholic dogmas and discipline. Outstanding analysis - and a critically important book for understanding not only the sex abuse scandal but also the contemporary situation of the Catholic Church in America today.
 Stinging truth July 31, 2008
The author sees the basic problem clearly, the effort in Boston to "make it" by Catholics as if they constituted a sort of race rather than a religion. I think he errs in suiggesting that this atttude was universal in the USA.
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