103 personal interviews reveal biggest hopes, challenges and fears . . . along with frank critiques of Church life

SAN FRANCISCO — Why do faithful Catholics stay in the Church at a time of internal conflict and confusion? What are their feelings for Pope Francis?  What is the perspective of parish priests trying to fulfill their vocations while sometimes feeling unsupported by bishops? How are bishops – themselves under growing cultural pressure — guiding the American Catholic Church post-COVID . . . and how do they rank the biggest challenges facing the Church and her lay faithful?

Candid answers to these and other urgent questions are answered in the new book, TRUE CONFESSIONS: VOICES OF FAITH FROM A LIFE IN THE CHURCH (Ignatius Press), by Francis X. Maier. Maier conducted 103 personal, in-depth interviews with Catholic bishops, priests, lay people, investors, donors, immigrants and laypersons from December 2020 through May 2022.

Maier is a senior fellow in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C. He served for 23 years as a senior aide and special assistant to Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M., Cap., in Denver and Philadelphia. He previously served for 15 years as editor-in-chief of the National Catholic Register, and earlier still as a screenwriter and story analyst based in Los Angeles.

The interviews, both charitable and often bracingly frank, featured in TRUE CONFESSIONS offer a snapshot of the Catholic Church in the United States post-pandemic and in the third decade of the 21st century.

“Only someone with the vast experience of the author, a layman who has spent most of his working life in clerical circles, could have produced this remarkable portrait of the state of the Church in America today,” said Mary Ann Glendon, emerita professor at Harvard Law School; former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See; and author of In The Courts of Three Popes. “Francis X. Maier brings us face-to-face with the challenges and opportunities, the strengths and weaknesses, the frustration and hopes of clergy and laity alike in a time of profound cultural change. TRUE CONFESSIONS is a real gift for all the faithful seeking to discern a path forward.”

For more information, to request a review copy, or to schedule an interview with Francis X. Maier, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com) of Carmel Communications.          

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