Married to the Church Book

"What a wonderful book! And how very important it is too. I believe Hedin has everything right...The analysis of those who left the priesthood is the most penetrating I've ever seen on the subject." - Fr. Andrew M. Greeley. "Startling, methodologically important, and quite moving...This is a first-rate work of religious and cultural analysis." - Robert Orsi, author of The "Madonna of 115th Street". In the 1950s, Raymond Hedin was one of a group of adolescents who entered seminary at a time of dramatic changes within the Catholic Church, changes which they experienced and embraced. In the 1960s, when they emerged "into the world" as young men, they discovered a place a good deal more complicated than their protected environment had led them to expect. They found that their sense of themselves as special, chosen by God, afforded them no special protection from the turmoil they encountered - without and within. "Married to the Church" tells the story of those men, the personal and professional changes they have undergone, the strategies they have developed to keep themselves going. It offers a compelling look at a generation of priests, former priests, and ex-seminarians who embody many of the central issues that currently besiege believers and ex-believers.Read More