The Exercise Of The Primacy

In June, 1996, retired Archbishop of San Francisco and past President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops John R. Quinn delivered a lecture at Campion Hall at Oxford on the relationship between the Pope and the bishops, offering both an acute assessment of the present situation and bold proposals for reform. In order to carry forward the discussion occasioned by Archbishop Quinn's lecture, this volume presents the text of the Oxford lecture, responses by five prominent Catholic thinkers who examine the issues raised from a variety of perspectives, and a final response by Archbishop Quinn.

Phyllis Zagano is a founding cochair of the Roman Catholic Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion—the world’s largest society of scholars of religion—and author or editor of fifteen other books. She holds five academic degrees and has taught at major universities on the East Coast.