Why Stay Catholic? is a lively, timely book about the "good stuff" within the Catholic Church today.

A Harvard graduate, Rhodes Scholar, and devout Catholic tells you everything you need to know about keeping your faith at a modern university. Drawing on her recent experience, Aurora Griffin shares forty practical tips relating to academics, community, prayer, and service that helped her stay Catholic in college. She reminds us that keeping the faith is a conscious decision, reinforced by commitment to daily practices. Aurora’s story illustrates that when you decide your faith matters to you, no one can take it away, even in the most secular environments and under strong peer pressure. Throughout the book, she shows how being Catholic in college did not prevent her from having a full “college experience,” but actually enabled her to make the most of her time at Harvard. Aurora encourages students who are about to begin this formative journey, or those now in college, that the most valuable parts of college life -- lasting friendships, intellectual growth, and cherished memories -- are experienced in a more meaningful way when lived in and through the Catholic faith.

On March 13, 2013, the Catholic Church changed dramatically when Pope Francis I, the Argentine slum walker, immediately began to redefine the papacy. His refreshing yet humble leadership collides with the approach of previous popes and revives the themes of the Second Vatican Council. In Church Chat, author Tom Smith catalogues that remarkable transition in an entertaining and thought provoking style. A collection of previously published columns dating from 2009 and into 2014, Church Chat fearlessly displays some flaws of the Catholic Church while applauding the leadership of Pope Francis. It is written by a progressive, and still practicing, Catholic who insists "It's my Church, too!" Transition times stir things up, cause unusual hopes and fears, bring stuff at the bottom to the top and take one set of priorities and replace them with another. Things move quickly during major transitions, what was standard at one time is replaced by a new approach. Since this new period is just beginning, we don't know how it will turn out, but one thing is certain: these are historic times in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis is moving quickly on many fronts and the vision of Vatican II is growing some flesh. Finally. "Every Catholic -- liberal, conservative, or confused -- will benefit from Tom Smith's intelligent book Church Chat. I highly recommend this lively and loving book." -Michael Leach, author of Why Stay Catholic? Unexpected Answers to a Life-Changing Question "Church Chat is a great read for veteran Church reformers as well as for people in the pews. The issue treatment is very comprehensive and right on... all done in a friendly conversational style. The reader thus comes away with a window into a hope filled near future for the People of God as well as a warm connection with Tom on his soulful journey forward." -Dan and Sheila Daley, Co-Founders of Call to Action

A kaleidoscope of spiritual values in Catholicism that don't divide but bring people together and will instill peace and love in those who take the time to better understand them. Here are beautiful, simple, profound ideas that few people think about these days when they talk about the Catholic Church. Yet they are truths that make a positive difference in peoples' lives. They include: Catholicism is a community that remembers Jesus Catholics draw on a rich tradition of spirituality They always have something to celebrate The church is a family It has splendid heroes and heroines It takes staunch stands on peace and justice It has universality At a time when many Catholics have grown frustrated with their church, The Best of Catholicism reminds them of the positive values and practices that they will never read about in the daily news.

What's so great about being Catholic? If you posed this question to the average Catholic, there’s a good chance they’d look a little puzzled and confess, “I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it.” Well, national best-selling author Michael Leach has thought about it—a lot! In Positively Catholic, Leach joyfully explores and explains 25 really good reasons for Catholics to love their faith, live their faith, and ultimately share their faith. From Mary to the Mass, from guardian angels to parish festivals, each chapter offers yet another often surprising reason for Catholics to rejoice—and rediscover their faith. For anyone looking for reasons to be positive about, and encouraged by, the Catholic faith, Positively Catholic provides inspiring ideas that will lead to a stronger engagement with the faith as a whole, to a more passionate participation in the local parish, and to a heartfelt celebration of all things Catholic.

In the first book written specifically for the 11 million divorced Catholics in the United States, Lisa Duffy—CatholicMatch.com columnist and creator of the “Journey of Hope” divorce recovery program—combines personal experience, Church teaching, and more than twenty years of ministering to those wounded by divorce to offer a guide that shows how faith can be a catalyst for healthy dating and relationships. Encouraging yet forthright, The Catholic Guide to Dating After Divorce offers sound advice to anyone who has experienced the deflating effects of divorce, but is not ready to give up on love. Affirming the universal need for intimacy, Duffy—a relationship expert, CatholicMatch.com columnist, and creator of the "Journey of Hope" divorce recovery program—shows how faith can be a catalyst for healthy relationships, helping to identify and uproot emotionally harmful habits and boosting authenticity and confidence. Duffy identifies five essential characteristics of spiritually healthy people—being available, affectionate, communicative, faithful, and magnanimous—and shows how cultivating these qualities can bring out the best, most confident, and most attractive version of anyone. Quizzes, journaling questions, and action steps will help the reader grow in these areas. The book concludes with an appendix on resources for those who need help working through an annulment or who are in need of other post-divorce resources.

The Roman Catholic Church has long been the target of suspicion and hostility. But how much of this is based on ignorance and prejudice and how much is the fruit of thoughtful consideration of the facts? This book separates fact from fiction. Without excusing or justifying wrongdoing, author Christopher Kaczor clarifies official Catholic teaching and demonstrates that much popular opinion about Catholicism is based on misunderstanding and misinformation. He also provides robust and lucid arguments for Catholic belief and practice. No one book can answer everyone's questions or objections about Catholicism, but this work examines seven of the most controversial and most common myths about the Catholic Church. The Seven Myths: The Church Opposes Science: The Myth of Catholic Irrationality The Church Opposes Freedom and Happiness: The Myth of Catholic Indifference to Earthly Welfare The Church Hates Women: The Myth of Catholic Misogyny Indifferent to Love, the Church Banned Contraception: The Myth of Opposition between Love and Procreation The Church Hates Gays: The Myth of Catholic "Homophobia" The Church Opposes Same-Sex Marriage Because of Bigotry: The Myth That There Is No Rational Basis for Limiting Marriage to One Man and One Woman Priestly Celibacy Caused the Crisis of Sexual Abuse of Minors: The Myth of Priestly Pedophilia

What might one expect to learn from a probability sample study of the Archdiocese of Chicago? Can one form a national portrait of Catholics in the United States from data about Chicago? Certainly, Chicago is unique in its judgments about its clergy. As the eminent Catholic sociologist Andrew M. Greeley argues, it is this very difference that makes rigorous comparisons between Chicago Catholics and other Catholic subpopulations possible. He suggests that history and geography provide a basis for understanding the development of the Catholic Church not just in this specific area, but also in the entire United States. The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago it composed of two counties, Lake and Cook. At the same time the Catholic population has been pushed up against the boundary of DuPage County by racial change in the city, so that much of the west and south side Catholic population of the city has moved into the southern and western suburbs. In this research area, half of the Catholics have attended college and half of those have attended graduate school. Thus, the conventional image of Chicago as a mix of ethnic immigrant neighborhoods has to be modified-although there are still many new immigrants attending special immigrant parishes. Greeley argues that the official church in Chicago, and by inference elsewhere, has not recognized the community structures that permeate the neighborhoods, that it does not grasp the religious stories that shape its peoples' identity, and it does not understand the intense, if selective, loyalty of the archdiocese to its leadership. As part of this argument, Greeley includes transcriptions of in-depth interviews with former Catholics. This study provides a fascinating window into the world of Catholicism in twenty-first century urban America.

Taking as its theme 'beauty from ashes' the beautiful image from Isaiah 61:3, All the Beautiful Things: Finding Truth, Beauty and Goodness in a Fractured Church is written at a time when the Catholic Church and its people are reeling from years of scandal. This book asks questions throughout and attempts to answer them based on the author's lived experience; but it also engages a wide range of conversation partners. These answers are the result of interviews, surveys and conversations with people who love the Church, but seek reform and renewal. It is a 'cri de coeur', a cry of the heart to try to reclaim what has been lost. It is a taking up of a cross and walking on a journey paved with all manner of challenge. In the end, the author's hope is to help others to rediscover the truth, beauty and goodness that still exist within Catholicism.

Michele Dillon investigates why pro-change Catholics continue to remain actively involved with the Church.