The Desolate City: Revolution in the Catholic Church (Paperback)

by Anne Roche Muggeridge (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 265 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; Rev Exp edition (April 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060660465
• ISBN-13: 978-0060660468
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #862,689 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, October 26, 2004

By	mike duffy (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The desolate city: Revolution in the Catholic Church (Hardcover)

Many books have been written criticizing the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council, but this one, besides being very well written, expresses a sense of sadness and loss about what was left behind in the Church's rush to modernize that few other writers have ever achieved. While she summarizes the struggles between liberals and conservatives in the US and Canadian Church very well the best parts, in my opinion, are when she writes about her personal experiences as a lonely faithful fighting against a relentless liberal bureaucracy bent on imposing its will despite what Vatican II actually wrote, what the pope has to say on the subject, or what individual lay people think. I have read it over and over - it's that good - and recommend this book to anybody interested in the subject. It was written in 1986 and updated a few years later, so by now it is a little obsolete.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Counter Revolution Continues, October 22, 2007

By	Agape "Deus Caritas Est" (Atlantic Canada) - See all my reviews

This was an eye opening book on the forces within the Catholic Church who tried to turn the Church into a form of liberal Protestantism.
Anne Roche Muggeridge first examines the forces of modernism that started in the early 20th century, the truly revealing part of the book however are the sections of the book that cover the time immediatly before, during and after Vactican II leading to Paul VI's encyclical Humane Vitae.
The usual suspects are present including Schillebeeckx, Kung, Curran, Chardin, Rahner etc, etc. The lesson we Catholics who are faithful to the Magisterium can learn from this book is that dissenting Catholics hide there intentions behind orthodox language and obfuscation.
Muggeridge shows that the liberal Catholics purposefully hid their intentions to try to force their agenda on Catholics during Vacican II.
The book was written in 1986 so it only touches on the "Counter Revolution" started by Paul VI with Humanae Vitae , continued by John Paul II and is being fought today by Benedict XVI.
Excellent book with a wealth of information in its 194 pages.

The best book on Vatican II that I have read.

Highly recommended

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a classic, February 11, 2006

By	j.mart (Virginia Beach, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The desolate city: Revolution in the Catholic Church (Hardcover)

This one is a contemporary classic. There are surprisingly few accessible books on Vatican II. Muggeridge gets the tone and perspective right and manages to condense a dizzying amount of data into an engaging narrative. The only drawback is that the story stops shortly after the arrival of JPII, while the real-life dama's resolution remains to be witnessed.