The Good Enough Catholic: A Guide for the Perplexed [Paperback]

Paul Wilkes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 1997

Many Catholics face a dilemma: how can one be faithful to traditions, yet remain open to new discoveries, both about yourself and Catholicism?

In The Good Enough Catholic, Paul Wilkes plumbs the hunger in Catholic souls for a relationship with God and a spiritual life, and boldly confronts the controversial issue of Church authority. After each chapter, there is an invitation to put into practice what has been explored through a rich mixture of doctrine, history, current thinking, and the personal experiences of "good enough" Catholics across America.

With this book, Wilkes beckons us to look to the essence of our religion for the guidance and strength to live lives filled with spiritual transcendence.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ever since Vatican II in 1963 revolutionized the liturgical practices of the Roman Catholic Church, attracting the scrutiny of its laymembers, the church has suffered from a crisis of authority, particularly in the United States. American Catholics remain extremely loyal to their church, and yet the majority of the laity still feel free to disagree with its teachings on such defining issues as contraception, abortion, the role of women, and celibacy of priests. This tension between respect and disobedience causes a degree of guilt-ridden angst. In The Good Enough Catholic Paul Wilkes, a noted writer on religion, addresses troubled Catholics who are, he says, "spiritually hungry" and "morally unsure," suggesting that the tension is resolvable with good faith and a thoughtful, practical approach to Catholic dogma. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Taking the "good enough" concept from Bruno Bettelheim's The Good Enough Parent, layman Wilkes (In Mysterious Ways: The Death and Life of a Parish Priest, LJ 9/1/90) transfers it to today's Catholic faithful, who face complex challenges in a time of profound transformation in their church. Asserting that the church is experiencing a spiritual adolescence, he offers readable and practical suggestions to guide conflicted and imperfect but sincere seekers toward a moral life within the church. Wilkes reviews thorny issues such as celibacy, birth control, papal authority, and women's ordination, with references to historical contexts and theological developments over the centuries. He recommends "thoughtful obedience" as the church moves into the new millennium. Realistic and refreshingly positive in tone, this book is interspersed with relevant quotations on personal views by Catholics from all walks of life. It might well be used as a guide for parish discussion groups. Recommended especially for Catholic collections.
Anna M. Donnelly, St. John's Univ. Lib., N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Trade Paperback edition (October 21, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345409620
• ISBN-13: 978-0345409621
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,494,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Wilkes, author of the newly released Holding God In My
Hands from Liguori Publications, is one of America's most
respected writers on religious belief and personal spirituality.
He is the author of over twenty books, and the host, writer,
director or producer of seven PBS documentaries.
His book, In Due Season: A Catholic Life, was chosen by
Publishers Weekly as one of 2009's 100 outstanding books.
In a review, PW called In Due Season "an exquisite memoir
that often reads like a novel ."
Paul lectures across the country about the role of religious
belief in individual lives as well the place and impact of
religion in public life. As a commentator on religious issues,
he has appeared on all major television networks.
His book, In Mysterious Ways: The Death and Life of a Parish
Priest, was a Book of the Month Club selection, and won a
Christopher Award. In addition to MERTON, which aired
on PBS, Paul Wilkes was host, writer, and associate producer
of the acclaimed television series, SIX AMERICAN
FAMILIES, which won a DuPont-Columbia award for
documentary excellence.
He has written for numerous national magazines, such as The
New Yorker, The Atlantic and The New York Times Magazine,
and is a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun and the Boulder
(Colorado) Daily Camera.
He has been a visiting writer and guest lecturer at Clark
University, Columbia University, the University of
Pittsburgh, College of the Holy Cross, Boston University and
Brooklyn College. He was Welch Visiting Chair at Notre
Dame, and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University
of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Paul has been honored for his body of work with a
Distinguished Alumnus Award from Columbia University's
Graduate School of Journalism, where he received his
advanced degree, and with a By-Line Award from
Marquette University, where he graduated.
A practicing Catholic, active in his parish, he lives in
Wilmington, North Carolina, with his wife Tracy, who
founded DREAMS, an arts program for at-risk children. The
Wilkes have two sons, Noah and Daniel.
In 2006, Paul founded Homes of Hope India-US to assist
orphanages and schools for street children in India. He is a
co-founder of CHIPS (Christian Help in Park Slope), a
Brooklyn center that has served the poor and homeless
young mothers and children for over thirty-five years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not "Good Enough", November 20, 2003

By 

Frank J. Wassermann (Cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Good Enough Catholic: A Guide for the Perplexed (Paperback)

This book written in 1996 is by a Catholic layman, journalist and religious writer who appears to be in his late forties. His intent is to describe, especially for the lukewarm or fallen away Catholic, how one can be "good enough" to consider and call oneself a Catholic despite both personal faults and misgivings/disagreements regarding church teaching. Wilkes developed this notion from his reading of Bruno Bettelheim's writing about good enough parenting. The notion is that you aim for excellence, do your best, accept your limitations, but most of all don't exclude yourself or become discouraged because perfection isn't available - either in yourself or the church generally.

This strikes me as a valid and useful approach to get people alienated from the church to rethink the value of participating in organized religious life (which is by far the strongest case Wilkes makes). Unfortunately, however it becomes the rationale for a generally liberal and tolerant (some would say loose or even aberrant) approach to Catholicism. Wilkes is anxious to dispel what older Catholics would certainly take as church teaching - that you can't feel free to pick and choose what you like from official church teaching and practice and still consider yourself a Catholic in good standing. Wilkes warns against a too easy "cafeteria" Catholicism, urging serious consideration of official teaching, but the ultimate authority is one's own conscience. He doesn't seem to consider the traditional Catholic notion of obedience and assent in the face of doubt. Perhaps this is what leads him to suggest that one can dissent on a broad range of controversial issues (as he evidently does) and still consider oneself a faithful Catholic. He also neglects the distinction between private disagreement and open challenge that can be disloyal and disruptive depending on the circumstances. That distinction is important to any organization, religious or secular.

The risk of such an approach is revealed by much of his discussion of these controversial issues. Though Wilkes is generally well informed, especially for a layperson, he is no scholar or theologian. His assessment of these issues is uneven, somewhat cursory, and sometimes contains factual misinformation. No one should rely on his analysis for deciding these matters. Yet a reader could easily get the impression that Wilkes has come to his own positions with little more than he presents in this book. Such is the danger that the Catholic Church has tried to avoid (in contrast to Protestant Christianity) by maintaining a strong sense of the teaching authority of the church.

There is no question that such authority has eroded in fact within the Catholic Church. The hierarchy bears much of the blame by exercising that authority too often in an arrogant manner in which it fails to follow consultative processes that have strong historical precedent and theological support, and are unquestionably appropriate in the modern post Vatican II environment. But the individualism of popular culture is also to blame because it distrusts authority in principle, lacks discipline, and eschews loyalty and commitment to institutions of all kinds. There is a vicious circle in which the Vatican tries to shore up its teaching authority against the onslaught of relativism and skepticism, and its efforts only provoke greater distrust and resistance. We end up with polarization.

Wilkes tries to bridge this divide by finding common ground. But he does it in a way so lacking in rigor that one suspects he neither dissuades the disaffected from rebellion or indifference nor abates the fear of the hierarchy and traditionalists that Catholic identity will continue in its free fall by being picked to death by dissenters. Still, I found the book a good reminder of the many values of Catholicism even for those who may find themselves alienated and half-hearted. But a true renewal that will both attract the straying and satisfy the committed will await a more dynamic and convincing vision than that presented by Wilkes.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and helpful, a guide to live by, February 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Good Enough Catholic (Hardcover)

As a history teacher and life long Catholic by choice, I approached this book with trepidation. Too many books by Americans rebel against the Church and use the "Cafeteria" method. Wilkes is a devout Catholic by choice. He knows the history of the church and more than just the history, the reasons why. It is a guide for to any thoughtful Catholic wondering about dealing with our modern world, its problems and keeping their faith. I believe it could easily be used as the basis for an adult study class in most parishes in America. Pat Gibson St. Martin de Porres Parish Dripping Springs, Texas

13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good reading for the lapsed Catholic..., November 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Good Enough Catholic: A Guide for the Perplexed (Paperback)

thinking of returning to the church but at odds with some of the church's teachings. The author brings up virtually all of the controversial points of Catholicism and tells why you don't necessarily have to leave the church even if you disagree with some of the teachings. However, I hated the title, and I objected to the overall tone of the book. It implies that you can justify anything and still consider yourself a Catholic. No, the church isn't perfect, but I think you have to wrestle long and hard with your conscience to still consider yourself a Catholic when you disagree with church teaching . You aren't supposed to feel good about it! This book just doesn't convey that.