by Father Thomas Berg
On this August day in 2018, everyone knows from the title the importance of journeying forward as we deal with the awful sins of our Church and society. The author is a professor of moral theology and vice-rector of the Seminary in New York. He has a website www.fatherberg.com. The book is written for Catholics (others could benefit from it) who have had a painful experience in the Church. With the plethora of reports written one would concur that this book will be helpful to many.
The professor of moral theology has a great deal to offer in regard to remedying the hurt. He is also spreading a larger web in regard to hurt. He is referring to a lack of charity with each other in our rectories, churches, meeting places and Church itself. He did not set out to deal with clericalism but includes it with a deep and abiding respect for one another. In the introduction the author states the seriousness of the emotional wounds we impose on one another. There are three main sections to the book: Part I explores the many ways we hurt in the Church beginning with the author’s own story and including the stories of others; Part 2 aims at offering wounded Catholics remedies for the hurt and offers a process of healing as well as a new and beautiful understanding of the Church and what it means to be a follower of Christ; Part 3 turns our attention from our individual wounds to the wounds of the Mystical Body of Christ.