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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Loving Account of an Extraordinary Man and Priest, March 10, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: My Brother Joseph : The Spirit of a Cardinal and the Story of a Friendship (Paperback)
Like my fellow reviewers, I agree that Kennedy is hardly an objective, dispassionate biographer. As he makes clear from the outset of the book, he and Cardinal Bernardin were close, personal friends for many years, and the latter's death in 1995 was a deep personal loss to the author. I certainly would have appreciated a few more words about Bernardin's personal flaws, a subject which Kennedy glosses over. Nonetheless, Eugene Kennedy is one of America's most highly respected Catholic thinkers and, if this book is somewhat lacking in evenhandedness, I remain convinced that what appears within its covers is accurate and reliable. Because of his direct access to Bernardin, Kennedy is able to give us a "behind the scenes look" at some of the most fascinating episodes in recent church history: the 1978 election of Popes John Paul I and II; the scandal involving John Cardinal Cody, Bernardin's predecessor as Archbishop of Chicago and the target of a federal criminal investigation; the politics surrounding the drafting of the bishops' pastoral letter on nuclear arms; the shocking allegations of sexual misconduct by Bernardin (later retracted by the accuser); and the Cardinal's courageous handling of the news that he was dying of cancer. But this book is more than just an ecclesiastical "tell-all"; it's also a loving account of a very special man and priest. What I find so extraordinary about Bernardin -- and EVERYONE who knew him attests to this -- was his humility, gentleness, and total lack of pretension. How, I wondered, does a man who rises so high in both Church and society remain so down-to-earth, so unaffected by the honors and the "hype". Somehow, Joseph Bernardin knew how to do this.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Anyone who ever had a best friend will cherish this book., July 15, 1998
Writing a memoir about friendship is a tricky endeavor. Events and conversations, times of consolation and alienation, moments of intimacy -- all those elements that go into making up the best of relationships -- are suddenly on display. Living through them, you somehow thought they would never catch the light of day. Now they are out there for all to see. Eugene Kennedy's poignant and inspiring tale about his more than thirty years of friendship with Joseph Bernardin, the late archbishop of Chicago, convinces us that it is worth the risk to share the details about these precious relationships. Anyone who has ever had a best friend will cherish this book. My Brother Joseph, however, is much more than the tale of a friendship between two men. The book also provides us with an understanding about how Bernardin grew into a much-admired and loved churchman who provided energetic and visionary leadership to the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Catholic church in the United ! ! States. Kennedy helps us appreciate that Bernardin was niether a dealmaker nor a crafter of compromises; he was instead a genuine consensus builder. His genius as a leader lay in his ability to maintain that delicate balance between loyalty to the institution and respect for the person. Bernardin also refused to typecast people. This capacity helped him work effectively with fellow bishops holding different points of view and was one of the gifts he used eventually to produce the US bishops' pastoral letter on war and peace. Most memorable in Kennedy's book, however, is the very human person who emerges in its pages. We see Bernardin in those unguarded moments that we all have with good friends -- moments when, free of self-censorship, we say exactly what's on our mind. We are also privileged to witness the growth of his ever deepening spirituality. The friend that Kennedy had in Bernardin was no plaster saint. Yes, he was ambitious. While still Archbishop of Cincinnat! ! i, for example, he confided to Kennedy that he would very m! uch like to head the Chicago archdiocese. While tolerant of others, their idiosyncractic behavior was not lost on him. He cloaked his reactions to these annoyances, however, in subtle humor. Kennedy has done us an enormous favor in sharing with us his years of friendship with Bernardin. We come away from this book convinced that God did have a dream for Joseph Bernardin and that this exceptional man spent his life discerning just what that dream was about and living it out. Each step along the way helped make him what he was at the end: an extraordinary leader, a compassionate pastor, a dear friend. Simply put, he was the very best of men.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Witness and Reconciler, August 25, 2010
This review is from: My Brother Joseph : The Spirit of a Cardinal and the Story of a Friendship (Paperback)
Eugene Kennedy pens a description of his friendship of many years with Chicago's Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, one which is obviously partial and laced with emotional scenes and views. It is also riveting in its familiar and at times intimate portrayal of this beloved churchman. Kennedy and later also his wife became very close to Bernardin, especially in his last years. He was privy to the private Bernardin and weaves behind-the-scenes glimpses of what he experienced of Bernardin's reflections and feelings into this short profile. What is covered for the most part is that part of Bernardin's life in which Kennedy in some way played a role or in which he was a confidant.
The two first met when Bernardin chaired a national study of the priesthood. Gradually their friendship grew. Even though geographic separation was a barrier they continued frequent telephone and written contact. They remained close up to the time when Bernardin finally died of cancer.
What clearly attracted Kennedy was Bernardin's approach and skill in the role of a Roman Catholic bishop, and even more his humanness and loyalty as a friend. They apparently were very open with each other at many important times of their lives--Bernardin's mediating role in many Church issues, his ordeal as an accused sex abuser, his years of undergoing cancer treatment and final illness, and when Kennedy decided to leave the priesthood and marry.
Kennedy provided feedback and sometimes ideas for some of Bernardin's public statements. So we have in this short book truly an insider's view of Bernardin in many ways. What I found most interesting and moving were the descriptions of Bernardin's framing life issues as a "seamless garmen,t" his "Common Ground" initiative and how he finally witnessed to the faith he professed by his open and courageous facing of death.
A reader will gain some insight into the man whom friend Kennedy said could have been Pope. Many still look to him as a model in negotiating the often politically charged atmosphere of church and state with skill, grace and truth. Reading this book can also help a reader reflect on life and faith priorities and look at death in that light.
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