Beautiful...a beautiful way to begin the new millennium as we reflect upon excerpts from our most fearless and patient leader.

A priest read a page at a mass during a homily and I was hooked on the idea to make this a daily devotional part of my prayers. These short insights into the human condition allow me to pray for us all.

As a theology student I have had Father Markey as a professor. He is brilliant and anything that he would have to say or write about the church will be well thought out, grounded in sound doctrine, and deeply informative. Read this book! Know the Constitutional documents of our church! Be an informed parishioner!

This book provides a concise and very readable summary of John Paul II philosophy of the human person. The main section of the book presents John Paul's philosophy of education by gathering together his many written thoughts on the matter -- works from both before and after becoming pope.
The entire book is very readable and understandable for all, whether or not you have a good grounding in philosophy. It gives some good "food for thought" for all educators.

Vegetius' compilation of the military wisdom and costoms of the Romans has been the most influential military work written in the western world. Compiled for the Emperor Valentinian II about 390 ad, just before Rome was captured and burned by Alaric, King of the Goths, it was circulated for a thousand years in manuscript form. First printed in English in 1489. This work helped to bring back discipline and cadenced marching. "discipline is superior to strength; but if that discipline is neglected there is no longer any difference between the soldier and the peasant."

copied from introduction of book

This work by two investigative reporters is extremely interesting and well-written. How accurate it is I do not know, but I know thatI found it to be extremely absorbing reading. E.g.: The authors say that Cardinal Benelli had 70 votes and if he had gotten 75 he would have elected Pope. Since Benelli died Oct. 25, 1982, if he had been elected the whole history of this latter part of the 20th century would have been different!

"McNally's study is thorough, balanced and professionally critical: a spendid addition to our accumulating knowledge of the Irish Catholic Church." E.R. Norman, Peterhouse, Cambridge University. The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 185-86.

Myadil writes in his conclusion, "St. John of the Cross can be a bridge to Hinduism for Christians, while the Gita can be the same for the Hindus." I would say it works in the reverse too. This is a wonderful introduction to St. John of the Cross for a Hindu.
His scholarship on St. John and the exposition of his work is great, I never realized what creative, imaginitive discourse was available in the Catholic Canon.
My thought is that St. John of the cross is like Arjuna, except he's telling his own story. Theres a sensual longing, and indentity with the senses and material reality in the Bhagavad Gita, especially in the context of the Mahabharata, the story of a civil war. Same goes for St. John of the Cross, he finds God in the darkness after escaping jail, and the description encompasses deep religious hope in an almost homo-erotic vision.
St. John's "darkness" is different from the Hindu emptiness in its tone, the differences outweigh the similarities. Myadil does not try to historically connect the two, though he summarizes the scholarship that does.
The author betrays his Christian bent only minimally and without any self-consciuos deception. I think its a beautiful book, simply written.
But it leaves something to be desired, I guess, as all religious literature can do sometimes, when it is good. Most importantly, Myladil sees this short study as a beginning, of a conversation between Christians and Hindus to develop mutual respect and appreciation. A great book, also, for those who might be very down on the Catholic Church. I am convinced the Church can rid itself of corruption and be a positive non-repressive model for the world one day.

Ambassador Melady has succesfully brought together prominnet catholics from various fields to present to the catholic community the vocation and calling that each of us has from God. The essays in this book show how each of us, no matter what our occupation or station in life, have a unique and important role as catholics.

While the overall scholarship of the new commentary is impressive, there are some serious, significant and grave errors which compel me not to recommend this book. Instead of relying on sound jurisprudence, this edition degenerates with theological dissent, speculation and confusion. Book Three (the Teaching Office of the Church) is where it begins. The footnote on page 913 in reference to canon 749 on Infallibility attacks ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS when it says: "the statement by the CDF [Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith] of October 28, 1995, that the teaching to the effect that the Church has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women requires the definitive assent of the faithful since 'it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium' is an exaggeration" Classifying the authortative interpretation of the CDF on Ordinatio Sacerdotalis as being an 'exaggertion' is going well beyond the bounds of judicial commentary and now enters the realm of theological dissent. Cardinal Ratzinger's Responsum ad Dubium (10-28-95) made it clear that while Ordination Sacerdotalis itself was not an EX CATHEDRA statement (like the papal document MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS of Pius XII defining the dogma of the Assumption of Mary in 1950), nevertheless the TEACHING (doctrine) that only baptized males can be ordained (deacons, priests and bishops) IS infallible as it has been a consistent element of the ORDINARY MAGISTERIUM. "All members of the faithful are required to give their assent to the teaching stated therein." The Commentary continues in the footnote to attack the infallibility of the teaching when this is not a canonical issue, rather it is obviously doctrinal and the proper authority (CDF) has made a definitive ruling, not the CLSA.

Canon 752, according to the new Commentary "leaves room for dissent." This is based on the mistranslation of OBSEQUIUM by the Commentary. Ironically, the translated text in the same book reads "religious SUBMISSION of intellect and will" must be given to the authentic Magisterium (as opposed to an ASSENT of faith required of infallible teachings) whereas the commentary below the translated text keeps translating OBSEQUIUM not as SUBMISSION but as "RESPECT" or "DEFERENCE". Austin Flannery, OP, had no problem using SUBMISSION for OBSEQUIUM when he translated LUMEN GENTIUM #25 upon which canon 752 is based.

Another of many examples of an underlying agenda is shown in Book Four as well as Book Three. Canon 914 explicitly and unequivocally mandates First Penance BEFORE First Communion, yet the Commentary (p. 1110) suggests ""if the parents, who have the primary responsibility for the child's catechesis, should determine that their child is not yet ready for first penance but is ready for first communion, the child should not be denied the right to the sacrament." If that is not encouraging the faithful to oppose the law, what is it? Certainly not orthodox teaching or canonically licit behavior.

All in all, it is sad that the good scholarship has to be eclipsed by the creeping heterodoxy and subtle dissent in major portions of the book.

It took me a while to figure out what this Commentary is all about. For one, I am not a catholic and secondly, I did not even know there is such thing as canon law. My curiosity compelled me to research and read more about the topic. In my profession as a foreign medical doctor, I have been trained to search for the "why's" and "how's" of every given thing. The commentary gave me not only a path to follow but ways to understand this so-called canon law, the absolute purpose of which according to its last law is "the salvation of souls". The commentary is very well written in a style and manner that reflects the author(s) intimate knowledge of the complexities of human life and the god that wants to save it. It is not always easy to find books (or commentaries for that matter) that can help one to understand issues, topics and events that are alien in one's mind and faith. The authors have successfully presented opinions and interpretations based on their obvious love and respect for the church they belong and the god they believe. If all laws are approached that way, perhaps not only souls but also lives will be saved as well. My compliments to the writers.

This text is a clear and concise explanation of Canon Law as found in the Code of Canon Law 1983. This text can be used by both the professional Canon Lawyer as well as the pastoral minister in a parish in order to understand what the law means. This text provides the best explanation of the law, which is meant to be used in real situations in the Catholic Church.

The first 72 pages of this book are a history of the Papacy which I didn't need to read. The last 20 pages of the book, Cahill spends bashing Pope John Paul II's Papacy! There is some good information in the middle. Obviously Cahill is a liberal Catholicand unhappy at the Orthodox position that the John Paul II Pontificate has taken and which was needed for the Catholic Church. I do not think that John XXIII 's vision was what the Church became after Vatican II.

I just completed reading this book and found it to be a concise biography of a great man. I do admit that it left me wanting more.

It is obvious that Thomas Cahill has enormous respect for Pope John XXIII and feels that he is the most important pope of the modern era. I do agree with this.

I am a "cradle" Catholic who had lapsed for about 10 years and recently returned to the Church. However, I still have many problems with the conservative nature of the Catholic Church today and reading a book like this (as well as Hans Kung's book on the Church) gives me hope that the Church can return to the spirit of Vatican II.

This is a wonderful biography of the pudgy man born to a poor peasant family who became, in his old age, the much-beloved (at least by the people) Pope John XXIII. I was a ten-year old Protestant boy when Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli ascended to the throne of St. Peter. I remember reading about him and his Vatican Council over the next five years and hearing my Catholic friends talk favorably about the new pope. Then in 1963 the pope died and a few months later the young American president was assassinated and the whole world changed (or at least it seemed--and seems--to me).

Thomas Cahill's addition to the Penguin Lives series of brief biographies is the best so far. Cahill's prose is easily read; his history flows smoothly. The book open with an account of the church's history and its long line of mostly undistinguished popes. Then Cahill focuses on the long life of Roncalli: his service in the Italian army during World War I; his rise to some significance in the church in Italy; then his unexpected posting to mostly Orthodox Bulgaria; and then to the plum job in sophisticated and free-thinking Paris. Somehow this widely varied experience combined with his native empathy for people and love of the soil to deliver a remarkably liberal and unfettered man to the head of the Roman Catholic church for a brief, but monumental, five years.

Cahill concludes with a negative, almost searing, overview of Pope John's successors including a pretty nasty picture of Pope John Paul II who he thinks represents a weird, Polish kind of Catholcism. I can't comment on the fairness of that, but am encouraged that Cahill feels that the waters representing John's humanism and warmth run near the surface and will emerge again. Frankly, I hope so.