Saving Those Damned Catholics

by Judie Brown

OK, now that I have your attention, this book is not an attack on the Catholic Church implying that it is a false religion. This is a book by Judie Brown, co-founder and president of the American Life League. It is a prophetic call for Catholic bishops, priests & laity in the USA to actually stand up for what the Catholic Church teaches about birth control, abortion, euthanasia, contraception, and embryonic stem cell research.

There is a problem out there, too many people are confused about what the Church teaches on these issues. The reasons are many. But a big problem is that too many bishops & priests don't accurately present them. Judie Brown divides the way things are presented into 3 classes, black, white & gray. Black is for those who totally pervert or misrepresent the Church's teaching, grey is for those who muddle things up, making it cloudy while not totally denying the teachings. White is for those who accurately present the teaching.

She starts each chapter with an example of each of the 3 types. Often for black or grey she uses a fictional Bishop (or Father) Grey or Black. This is not because she is making up the statements, but, I supect, mainly to protect those who told her about what was said from retaliation by the person quoted. Other times it is because so many are saying what she quotes that it is impossible to signal out just 1 person. However, Judie Brown does name names, including bishops, where she can. For white, just the opposite is true. She usually says exactly who said it. & while she is critical of the majority of Bishops, she does give examples of Bishops who do the right thing & encourages them. Unfortunately Bishops like Archbishop Chaput & Bishop Bruskewitz are few & far between.

It is not just bishops & priests who don't stand up for the truth that she goes after. She goes after prominate lay Catholics, liberal & conservative. Ted Kennedy, Bill O Reilly, Sean Hannity, Nancy Pelosi & others she points out have all disented on some part of the Church's teachings on these life issues. She shows how & why they are wrong.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) also comes under the gun. She takes an honest look at the USCCB bureaucracy & the damage it has done. In her research she was told by 1 priest that the USCCB should be "abolished". & she supports his assertion with facts that show why he is right.

This book could have been an angry attack on those who are failing to proclaim the truth. It isn't. Instead her deep love for the Church & desire for it to fully be what it should shines throughout. & when she names names it is not a condemnation of the person, it is a call for them to repent.

Saving Those Damned Catholics is not for the fainthearted who prefer to ignore the real problem in the Catholic Church, those who disent from the Church's teachings. It is not a comfortable book to read for those who love the Church because it doesn't pretend all is well. But it is well worth reading because it will encourage those who love the Church & want its priests & bishops to stand up & speak out to work to get the truth out there. & in the end, her main purpose for this book is, as she puts it, her concern about "the loss of souls." As she points out in an interview about the book: "(T)here is an eternal price to be paid for denying the truth. These bishops have to take that seriously and they have to do everything within their power to help people see the truth. And if, at the end of the day, as it says in the Bible - if you tell the truth and the person to whom you have told the truth decides not to do anything about it anyway, God will not hold you accountable but if you fail to tell the truth - you will be held accountable - thus the name of the book."

Hopefully many people will read this book & be led to action, speaking out, calling priests & bishops to uphold the Church's teaching, to proclaim it & to encourage all Catholics to do the same. This book is a must read for those who are concerned about the moral relativism that is everywhere these days. It is an excellent resource for dealing with the relativism & the harm that it is doing. It is a definite must read.

I applaud Judie Brown for her courage in writing this book. & I pray that her efforts she put into this book will bear much fruit.