The Tablet Reviews Global Catholicism

“Every bishop and priest in the Catholic Church should sit down and read this remarkable book.”

So begins a review from The Tablet of Ian Linden’s Global Catholicism: Pluralism and Renewal in a World Church. The Tablet, which is Britain’s most important Catholic publication, goes on to say:

“Ian Linden has quietly demolished canards levelled against those who believe that the reforming work of the Second Vatican Council is not yet complete. Instead of imagining that life beyond the Council is ever upwards and onwards, he takes as seriously as Pope Benedict the ever-lurking reality of sin.”

The review highlights Linden’s focus on how the Church has both failed and succeeded in realizing the vision of the Second Vatican Council throughout the Catholic world. Despite the failings of the Church leadership, Linden argues for the possibility of a more relevant and invigorated papacy:

“While women Religious were standing on the front line of Catholic witness and laywomen, in the absence of priests, were running parishes, the Vatican closed eyes and ears to such resources and preferred on such matters as sex and marriage the views of its old all-male club. It is not surprising that many faithful Catholics quietly make a detour around an organisation which seems no longer “fit for purpose”. This is understandable but, in the end, sad. Here is a great opportunity for the papacy to shake itself free from its shackles, to become what it was always meant to be, the rock of support for front-line troops and the strong band of love, which can hold this glorious variety together.”