A review of "On Being Catholics" by Charles Connolly

Abstract

This book proposes three 'right reasons' for becoming or remaining a Catholic. The reasons are the Catholic teaching on the Eucharist, the primacy and infallibility of the pope and the Assumption of Mary. The opening chapter by Michael Adams is so arrogantly and defensively written that it will scare away the most curious enquirers. One sample will suffice to illustrate the point: 'But the Catholic Church teaches dogmatically that Jesus of Nazareth /sthe metaphysical Son of God and is made present in the Eucharist (where he is liable to be mistreated by neglect and even abuse in churches of all kinds from adobe to marble, with spires piercing the clouds, like Cologne's, to churches underground in the modern catacombs)' (p. 15). Charles Connolly gives a very rigid scholastic presentation of eucharistie doctrine but makes only one statement about the social implications of participating in the sacra ment: 'We ought to be at peace with and sincerely love our neighbour' (p. 46). He then rushes off to discuss the obligation of confessing mortal sin before receiving holy communion. The remaining two essays on the papacy and the Assumption are a slight improvement on those just mentioned.