Among the ruins
Subtitle: the decline and fall of the Roman Catholic Church
By: Paul L. Williams
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 366
ISBN-13: 9781633883031
Subjects: Child sexual abuse by clergy; Corrupt practices; Clergy; Sexual behavior; Catholic Church; History
Description: This critical review of the Roman Catholic Church since the pivotal changes initiated in the 1960s by Vatican II paints a disturbing picture of decline and corruption. Dr. Paul L. Williams, a self-professed Tridentine or traditionalist Catholic, traces the various factors that have caused the Church to suffer cataclysmic losses in all aspects of its life and worship in recent decades. Williams illustrates the decline with telling statistics showing the stark difference between the robust number of clergy members, parishes, schools, and active church-going Catholics in 1965 versus the comparatively paltry number today. The author is highly critical of Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis for steering the church so far away from its traditional teachings and for a lack of oversight that allowed corruption to fester. Symptomatic of this failure of leadership are the recent pedophilia scandals, the ongoing financial corruption, a gay prostitution ring inside the Vatican, and criminal investigations of connections between the Holy See and organized crime.⁻?
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-333) and index.
Table of contents: title: Apologia: The long procession; title: The grand illusion; title: The seismic shift; title: The Catholic Masons; title: Spiritual suicide; title: The thing with two heads; title: The kiss of Judas; title: Holy Mother Chruch's sex change; title: Dissent, delusion, and desertion; title: A criminal organization; title: Years of lead; title: Catholic condor; title: The contagion of corruption; title: The gay church; title: Year of three popes; title: The Ambrosiano affair; title: The box of bones; title: Vatican, Inc.; title: Stealing from the collection plate, living large; title: The plague of pedophilia; title: The mark of the Antichrist; title: Resignation; title: Epilogue: You can't go home again.