The Future of the Catholic Church with Pope Francis

In response to those who fear changes that Pope Francis may bring to the Catholic Church, historian Wills (Why Priests??) demonstrates here that change has been ongoing in the institution despite its reputation for immutability and that the church's survival has resulted from adapting to the world around it. Change, according to Wills, is Catholicism's "means of respiration," a reanimating force that has not and cannot be brought about by a pope alone. The author maintains that the challenges the church now faces must be understood in the context of its history, which he examines via "resourcement," reading forward rather than the more common approach of looking to the past. Much of what is accepted as early church history, the author notes, resulted from speculation and invention where records were lacking. Among areas addressed in this volume are the transition from Middle Eastern to Roman ways and the adoption and decline of the Latin language; the assumption and loss of temporal power; the rise of anti-Semitism in what was originally and remains an essentially Jewish institution; and the development of misogyny, which Wills terms an evil gift from Aristotle via Aquinas.