The Changing Face of the Priesthood: A Reflection on the Priest's Crisis of Soul - Hardcover

Cozzens, Donald B.

4.03

38 ratings by Goodreads

9780814627549: The Changing Face of the Priesthood: A Reflection on the Priest's Crisis of Soul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0814627544 ISBN 13: 9780814627549

Publisher: Liturgical Pr, 2000

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Few today would contest that the priesthood is in a state of crisis. The nature and implications of that crisis, however, remain the subject of considerable discussion and debate. InThe Changing Face of the Priesthood, Fr. Donald Cozzens offers insight into the crisis by reflecting on the issues, challenges, concerns, and realities of the priesthood today.

The same year that Pope John XXIII surprised the Catholic world with his call for an ecumenical council, Cozzens began his formal study of theology. As a seminarian he felt the shaking of the priesthood's foundations. The very face of the priesthood was evolving even as he arrived at his first parish assignment. A generation later, the face of the priesthood continues to reveal new contours, fascinating features, and sadly, some tragic blemishes.

In The Changing Face of the Priesthood, Cozzens takes a long, honest look at the present state of the priesthood. He provides this examination not merely from an empirical, scientific perspective but also from a personal, pastoral perspective. Drawing on clinical data, church documents, and his nearly forty years of pastoral experience, Cozzens gives shape and form to the changing face of the priesthood. Through his reflections he leads readers to both concern and hope for the priesthood of the twenty-first century.

Chapters are Discovering an Identity," *Guarding One's Integrity, - *Loving as a Celibate, - *Facing the Unconscious, - *Becoming a Man, - *Tending the Word, - *Considering Orientation, - *Betraying Our Young, - and *The Changing Face of the Priesthood. -

Donald Cozzens, PhD, a priest and writer, is author of two award-winning titles,Sacred Silence and The Changing Face of the Priesthood, and editor ofThe Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest, all published by Liturgical Press. He is writer in residence at John Carroll University where he teaches in the religious studies department.

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Review:

The Changing Face of the Priesthood is a remarkable survey of the state of American Catholic clergy today. Donald Cozzens, the president-rector of Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in Cleveland, combines personal reflection and analysis of empirical data in this brief but wide-ranging book. To explain the shrinking of clerical ranks that has occurred in recent decades, Cozzens tells a familiar story: "As the vision of the [Second Vatican Council] became ever clearer, the cultic, pre-conciliar model of priesthood entered into a creative balance with the servant-leader model. The clear identity, the unquestioned status, the exalted privilege--features that helped priests deal with the sacrifices and crosses inherent to their vocation--began to blur." With astonishing candor, Cozzens also zeroes in on some of the more provocative issues among clergy; his discussions of celibacy, homosexuality, and sexual abuse of children are particularly insightful. Each of these discussions is driven by the author's fascination with the way that priests since Vatican II have "haltingly acknowledged a need, linked to the very soul of their spirituality, for authentic, human intimacy." This is a smart and loving way of understanding some of the biggest problems of the priesthood. And readers who learn to emulate this book's clear-eyed compassion will gain great advantage in that never-ending process of helping to heal the church. --Michael Joseph Gross

About the Author:

Donald Cozzens--priest, writer, and lecturer--teaches in the religious studies department at John Carroll University. He is the award-winning and best-selling author of The Changing Face of the Priesthood and Sacred Silence: Denial and the Crisis in the Church.

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