Book Description

"Draws from the practices of the first three centuries of the Catholic Church to provide a plan to restore the sacraments and governance of the Church to lay people's hands. [Marren] contends that the present hierarchy of the Catholic Church have disqualified themselves as leaders of the Church by their total lack of communication with the laity, their outrages against children, their failure to admit guilt or do penance for those crimes, and their arrogance in electing themselves to the posts they hold without consulting the laity. Their writ has expired. Instead of elections, which tend to divide people into warring camps, this book recommends consensus decision making, which draws on ancient Christian tradition to discern the Church's leaders. What's in this book? Church history and theology from a lay viewpoint; the first practical handbook for lay reform of the Church; a return to early Church custom before priesthood began; mass and the sacraments restored to lay celebrations; lay people returned to full membership in the Church; the groundwork laid for the popular election of bishops; the mass made widely available in the Third World; women brought to the table now as mass presiders; celibacy eliminated as a requirement for mass presiders; Vatican II's promises fulfilled for the people of God; for lay people, a long-sought control over hierarchy; [and] an indispensable "toolkit" for committed Catholics"--