"The Church in Crisis" new book

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From promotion:
“In A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward , Martin offers a detailed look at the growing hostility to the Catholic Church and its teaching. With copious evidence, Martin uncovers the forces working to undermine the Body of Christ. But with courage and honesty, he also offers hope to those looking for clarity.”

Ralph Martin has been a reliable voice for renewal and orthodoxy for over 50 years. Is anyone planning to read this?
If I knew Mr. Martin, I would ask:
  1. Who are the intended readers?
  2. What kinds of hoped-for actions might readers take as a result of reading it?
 
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Could you give some context for those of us who don’t know who Mr. Ralph Martin is?

E.g., is he a historian? Theologian? Journalist? Novelist? Chemist? Public school teacher?

What’s his area of expertise, examples of past key works he’s produced, etc?
 
MNathaniel said:
Could you give some context for those of us who don’t know who Mr. Ralph Martin is?

E.g., is he a historian? Theologian? Journalist? Novelist? Chemist? Public school teacher?

What’s his area of expertise, examples of past key works he’s produced, etc?
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He’s an evangelist and Theology teacher, with a doctorate.
Martin came to some prominence with an article in the mid 1960s that his college, University of Notre Dame, was not fulfilling it’s Catholic mission. He was a national leader in Cursillo and Catholic Charismatic movement. He has written many books but the one most relevant here is 1982 “A Crisis if Truth: The Attack on Faith, Morality and Mission in the Catholic Church”.

I don’t mean to start a Book promo thread. I think he has good insights, have no doubt we are in a crisis, just wondering what beneficial actions are likely from this or similar books.
 
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I’m obviously not the intended reader, because I think the subject has been done to death by the endless parade of books and articles and blogs etc about the alleged “crisis” in the Church. Every day is a crisis these days, although the specific crisis discussed might vary like a soup of the day menu.
I’m beginning to think that for many, being a Catholic is being in a state of perpetual crisis over something. Not for me, I’m here to find peace in our Lord Jesus Christ, and I usually manage to do that pretty well when authors aren’t laying their “crises” on me.

Also, when I saw “Martin” I thought it was going to be Fr. James.
 
commenter said:
I don’t mean to start a Book promo thread. I think he has good insights, have no doubt we are in a crisis, just wondering what beneficial actions are likely from this or similar books.
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Hard to tell until the book is released. However, Martin is known for having studied the liberal attempts to change the Church’s teachings after Vatican II. That gives him expertise to understand what is happening now.
 
Of course there is a crisis in the Church. Our Lady told us of the attack on marriage and the family that is currently happening so just the title alone piqued my interest.
commenter said:
What kinds of hoped-for actions might readers take as a result of reading it?
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Well I guess we can rule out the present most important action (on par with prayer and fasting)…voting to re-elect President Trump…the book comes out after the election.

We hear from many theologians and commentators that there is a crisis. We know there is a crisis, check. And they tell us prayer and fasting, check. But then they slide into the ‘seamless garment’ nonsense under the guise of well we can’t tell you who to vote for, etc., etc. I will read it to see how Mr. Martin reacts to the crisis.

Anyway we already have Cardinal Burke, Archbishop Vigano, Bishop Schneider, Taylor Marshall and the folks at The Remnant that are very clear about what is going on and how to combat it.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
I’m beginning to think that for many, being a Catholic is being in a state of perpetual crisis over something. Not for me, I’m here to find peace in our Lord Jesus Christ, and I usually manage to do that pretty well when authors aren’t laying their “crises” on me.
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I noticed on another thread that you’re familiar with the TLM, which might be why you feel a lot more comfortable with the current state of the Church than most.

So there is an action item right there: seek a parish with a rich liturgical life. It’s not that the TLM (or Anglican Use or Eastern Rites or etc.) is better than the Novus Ordo, but rather that a parish that has made a decision to prioritize liturgy likely cares more about everything else being good. Lex Orlandi, Lex Credendi.
 
Actually, I think those that attend the TLM tend to be more aware that there is a crisis. Also being aware of the crisis does not mean one is not at peace. I watched some of the CIC conference that The Remnant hosted this past weekend and there was no tension or doom. Just speakers outlining what is going on and how we got here.
 
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yankeesouth said:
. I watched some of the CIC conference that The Remnant hosted this past weekend and there was no tension or doom. Just speakers outlining what is going on and how we got here.
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Did the Catholic identity conference provide any practical suggestions some listeners might plausibly be able to act on, that they wouldn’t have if they hadn’t heard the conference? In the summaries I read from past conferences, it was all background info, nothing practical for the typical individual.

Historically the Identity Conference has not had any approval from the local Ordinary. Ralph Martin has always had approval from his Ordinary for his many ministries.

In his 1982 book Martin wholeheartedly endorsed the pope.

It will be interesting to see if the book has any practical suggestions for the individual reader.
 
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I only viewed a few talks and did not take notes as I knew I would have access to all videos to watch at a later date. The sub title of the Conference was Uniting the Clans and the general purpose to get Catholics more inline at least acknowledging that there is a problem. I remember one comment, not exact, was that ‘watching/listening to EWTN commentary now might be indistinguishable to listening to Michael Davies on William Buckley. Who would have guessed that happening?’

Obviously liberals won’t acknowledge there is a crisis but I have noticed myself, high profile theologians that in the past you would not associate with The Remnant’s position but are now leaning in that direction.

There was no bashing the Pope in what I heard but yes criticism and even that was mostly of the Vatican in general. One subject that was prevalent was of a new world order. Four talks, including Bishop Schneider had that in the title.

I caught a bit of… The Queen Of Heaven: Our Lady’s Essential Role In Uniting The Clans by Chorbishop Spinoza. It was very good and I am looking forward to watching it more in depth.
 
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yankeesouth said:
Obviously liberals won’t acknowledge there is a crisis
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This is not correct. Plenty of Catholic “liberals” think there is some type of crisis in the Church, but they usually define it differently than how traditionalists define it. “Liberals” might perceive the “crisis in the Church” as involving things like clergy sexual abuse, clericalism, inequality of women, lack of engagement on racial justice or economic justice issues, anti-gay bias, etc.
 
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yankeesouth said:
I would have access to all videos to watch at a later date. The sub title of the Conference was Uniting the Clans and the general purpose to get Catholics more inline at least acknowledging that there is a problem.
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I am sure they recommend prayers. But if you find other practical suggestions individuals can carry out, consider posting. I hope Ralph Martin’s book does.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
“Liberals” might perceive the “crisis in the Church” as involving things like clergy sexual abuse, clericalism,
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I would probably say that most all Catholics see these as a crisis, especially the clergy sex abuse issue. If someone doesn’t see it as a crisis there is definitely a problem.
Tis_Bearself said:
inequality of women,
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This is usually a "why can’t women be priests? issue and the crisis behind that is the lack of understanding of the Sacrifice of the Mass.
 
I’m not saying whether this or any “crisis” is well founded. I personally think both sides have some crises that are legitimate and some that are poorly founded. I’m simply saying that a group within the Church sees the issue as a “crisis”.

One reason I avoid “crisis” mentality, besides the fact that it’s usually unproductive, is that those within the Church have a variety of ideas on what the “crisis” actually is. You would need an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of all the purported Church “crises” alleged to be out there.
 
Wait a minute, isn’t this the guy who regularly releases videos with purported charismatic “prophecies” that he claims are revealed to him or others? Nope, not supporting that.
 
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