Catholic Books for Your "Must Read" List


The Best American Catholic Short Stories has just been published by Sheed & Ward, and it’s an impressive, absorbing book. J.F. Powers, Flannery O’Connor, and other mid-century Catholic masters are here, but so are contemporary writers: Richard Russo, Ron Hansen, Tobias Wolff, Tim Gautreaux, and others. Click here for a list of the contents. The book was edited by Daniel McVeigh and Patricia Schnapp of Siena Heights University. The editors take a stab at the vexed question of how to define “Catholic fiction.” These stories, they say, “spring from a mind familiar with the creed, with the paradox of the Trinity, with belief in the Eucharistic presence, and, perhaps especially, with the crucial tenets of the ‘forgiveness of sins’ and ‘life everlasting.’”

Via People of the Book.

George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia, has issued a rare written endorsement of a unique Vatican II document study guide entitled Harvesting the Fruit of Vatican II – Part I. (Salve Regina Publications, Inc., U.S.A.)

In a letter to the guide’s American author, Louie Verrecchio, Cardinal Pell said he considers the guide “to be a rich and detailed resource covering some of the key documents of the Second Vatican Council.”

Though the Council formally closed over 40 years ago, surprisingly little related study material has been published. Since distribution began in 2004, Harvesting the Fruit has been used by parish study groups and individuals in various parts of the U.S. Feedback from both clergy and laity alike has been enthusiastically positive.

Harvesting the Fruit of Vatican II – Part I bears the Imprimatur of Most Reverend W. Francis Malooly, auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore. Mr. Verrecchio’s work also enjoys the endorsement of several well known American theologians, including Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Ph.D., and Fr. Peter Stravinskas, S.T.D., Ph.D., who wrote in the book’s foreword, “if we would have had a guide like this thirty years ago, we would be much closer to living the Council’s vision of a renewed Church at this moment.”

Part I of the multi-part series that will eventually explore all sixteen of the conciliar documents, covers Pope John XXIII’s Opening Speech, the Dogmatic Constitutions on Divine Revelation and on the Church, and the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, in eight weekly lessons. The conciliar documents are contained therein, as are frequent references to Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as suggested responses to each of the study questions.

“The text reflects both a sincere love of the Church, and a solid understanding of Scripture,” Pell said.

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