This is a very disturbing book.

Through my fellowship with Protestant Fundamentalists I have become familiar with many of the classic books on non-Christian Cults, with their isolation techniques, their destruction of families and individuals, and the power that they have over their members.

This book describes three organizations, Focolare, Communion and Liberation, and Neocatechumenate, that meet the classic definition of a mind control cult; secret ceremonies, brainwashing, ego-destruction, and massive intimidation. Only, these organizations are not fringe groups. They are accepted and approved groups within the Roman Catholic Church. You might read an announcement for one of their formation meetings in your parish bulletin and your local Bishop might preside over their initiation rites.

Urquhart's book traces his personal involvement with the Focolare movement and documents the development and problems of the other two organizations.

What I found disturbing about this book, in addition to the basic fact that that these groups exist, was:

• They appear to have the unquestioned approval of very high Church authorities, such as Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger, and Bishop Paul Josef Cordes, the current top contact for the Charismatic Renewal.
• Many of the official and unofficial church statements that they quote, to show their approval by the Church, are equivalent to the ones that we, as members of the Charismatic Renewal, quote to show how "Catholic" we are.
• A similar group, the Divine Will movement, is active in our neighborhood. It also seems to manifest many of the same traits and is also on track to receive Church approval. I previously had assumed that would not happen, but am now afraid, based on this book, that it may actually be granted.
• I have seen the roots of similar abuses in some of the Charismatic groups that I've encountered over the years. In fact, the Washington Post documents one such group, Mother of God that did become a real, mind-control cult.
• But most of all, it has shaken my trust in the institutional church's ability to discern evil and to protect its members from evil.

There are a couple of references to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. A few show how our leadership in Rome has cooperated with these groups in major gatherings. But the clearest distinction between the Charismatic Renewal and these groups is contained in a third party testimony. (page 96) A woman, named Laura, compared her experiences with Neocatechumenate group and a Charismatic group.

" With the Neocatechumenates, you all had to sit in a circle and do what you were told to do; very different from the charismatics, which are so free. The Renewal told me, 'God does not condemn you, God heals you, God loves you': and it was coming the other way from the NC, which was saying, 'You cannot be like Jesus Christ'. So what -- He came to do what we can't do. Every week you would sit in a circle in a cold church with catechists who looked very withdrawn and serious, telling us about their past life. I used to think: You sound like you were better before. It was always about the cross and death and the crucification and the blood and the gore and the sin. 'I'm in bondage, I'm in chains, I'm a sinner.' I used to say: 'Oh, how awful -- I'll pray for you, I'll get my friends to pray for you.' Where was the kindness, the love, helping each other? "

Do I recommend this book for everyone? No. It is too disturbing and not very edifying. Do I recommend this book to those in leadership of any sort in the Church or the Renewal? Yes! If only to make you aware of the possibilities for abuse in the role in which you are currently serving and to prepare you to minister to those who are trapped in a group that is enslaving, not healing, them.

Is this a "call to action" for an all out attack against these groups? I don't know. I am asking, in prayer, what my response should be. For one thing, this is only one reference. I have found confirmation of the support the Church has given these movements, but limited confirmation on the negative side. I am reluctant to use one man's position as a foundation for an attack against any group of Christians, but I am also familiar with the power that is present in group dynamics and in our natural tendency to submit to authority. [1]

The CATHOLIC LEAGUE for Religious and Civil Rights considered this book to be an attack on the Church in general. (Catholic League's 1998 Report on Anti-Catholicism) I disagree. Urquhart never attacks the Church as a whole or the fundamental doctrines of the Church. He is, however, clear in his condemnation of the Church's failure to respond to the danger he sees in these groups.

There used to be a web site dedicated to documenting the abuses of the Neocatechumenate can be found at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Ronald_Haynes/, but it has gone the way of many websites, into oblivion.

[1] Obedience to Authority, by Stanley Milgram, ISBN: 006131983X

Based on its title, I expected this book to be a Protestant diatribe on the papacy. I could not have been farther from the truth.

Garry Wills is a devote Catholic and an adjunct professor of history at Northwestern University. He has written a text that is both thought provoking and painful to read. Thought provoking in that he clearly identifies and details the sources of his information and clearly documents each challenge to what the Church is saying and doing. Painful in that it challenges my knee-jerk acceptance of many of the things I have heard or read out of the Vatican.

Most of what the he discusses are not ancient misdeeds that have been lamented time and again. In this book he is addressing the problems the Church faces today and is holding up to the light factors that show that the Church is not being a beacon of truth on a hill top, but is cowering in the darkness created by lies and halftruths.. His fundamental premise is that the organizational Church is trapped in "structures of deceit" that mislead people into agreeing and supporting the falsehoods "for the good of the Church".

He divides the book into four sections:

Historic Dishonesties:
He shows that there is a pattern of historic revisionism relative to the many recorded anti-semitic statements by the Church in its latest efforts to "clear up" its record on the Holocaust.

Doctrinal Dishonesties:
He discusses the Church's less than open responses to a broad collection of issues, including, but not limited to; contraception, exclusion of women, priestly celibacy, the methods of receiving grace, gay priests, Marion politics and abortion.

Honesty Issue
He uses an historical analysis of the first Vatican Council and the issue of Papal Infallibility to again demonstrate a pattern of deceit.

The Splendor of Truth
Finally, the last section is an introductions to St. Augustine's teachings on truth. The Splendor of Truth is excellent and of itself worth the read. In fact, this is worth many a re-read and could stand to be developed into a separate, stand-alone document.

Some of his discussions reminded me of things that I was taught as a child, that many people today try to claim the Church never taught. Some are just things that I had thought about, but set aside, assuming I was seeing things wrong.

Like any good college text, there is a complete bibliography and index. Unlike most books about the Church that I have read, there are also massive footnotes and references for furture study.

The author is definately liberal in his interpretations, leading me to disagree with many of his conclusions. Also, the independant action of God does not seem to be a factor in his analysis, which I, as a Charismatic find to be a weakness. However, his facts are presented clearly and his arguments deserve a response.

I would recommend this book for two groups of people. First, anyone who is involved in leadership in the Church, lay or ordained, needs to read this book, if only to see the wrong message many of their actions are sending to the world. Hopefully, simply knowing that there is a perceived problem could be the first step toward addressing the related issues. Second, anyone involved with Apologetics should read this book, if only to be prepared when it is discovered by your "friends" and used to discredit the Church.

This exciting new apologetics book offers a refutation of 30 major arguments raised against the papacy. Using Scripture, Church history, and common sense (with a dash of wit added for good measure), Patrick Madrid explains why these commonly believed "pope fictions" simply don't hold water.

The myths and misconceptions about the papacy covered in Pope Fiction include: The persistent "Pope Joan" myth about a ninth-century female pope, the popes' involvement in the Crusades and Spanish Inquizition, what the New Testament reveals about Simon Peter's role in the early Christian Church, the attitude of the early Church toward the bishops of Rome, the scandal of bad popes, the Galileo Affair, the papacy's track record on slavery, the Seventh-Day Adventist myth about the bogus "Vicarius Filii Dei" papal "title," historical issues pertaining to the papacy, specific examples of popes who allegedly taught error, and the facts surrounding Pope Pius XII's attitude toward the Jews during the Holocaust.