A fine primer to the Catholic Church

by Gunther Simmermacher · August 2, 2013

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: What Everyone Needs to Know, by John L Allen Jr. Oxford University Press (2013). 298pp.

Reviewed by G�nther Simmermacher

When a Catholic journalist commands the respect of both the liberal British journal The Tablet and conservative US commentator George Weigel, then that writer is well-placed to compile a fair overview of the Catholic Church today.
John Allen, perhaps the most prominent Anglophone journalist on the Catholic beat, has produced a comprehensive and accessible primer on Catholicism which will be helpful for all who engage in debate about the Church.

Although he writes for a progressive Catholic newspaper, the National Catholic Reporter, and clearly occupies personal positions which might be described as progressive, Allen�s overview of the Church is mostly neutral. One would expect as much from a man whose liberal biases did not preclude taking a quite sympathetic view of Opus Dei in a book about the controversial movement published in 2005.

The Catholic Church is written with a non-Catholic audience in mind, and Allen shows respect for that readership � so much so that he uses the secular �common era� dating system.

The book is not intended to be a catechism, but it could well be used in that way as Allen covers all the important areas of the Church: its structure, beliefs, main doctrines, liturgy, prayers, mysticism, use of Scripture, finances, factions and so on, as well as its successes, failures and challenges. He even explains the nine categories of angels!

He does acknowledge that on some subjects the Church is rather fuzzy, such as the nature of hell or the precise protocols governing salvation and purgatory.

In the course of explaining the Church, Allen also dismantles a series of popular myths which tend to get in the way of rational discussion, especially with atheists whose insistence on the empirical sometimes wavers when it gets in the way of their critique of Catholicism.

The reader also acquires some less known facts, such as the role Pope John XXIII played in averting a nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962.

Because it is written chiefly for non-Catholics, Allen takes care not to get too technical � and that can also serve Catholic readers well. He addresses some questions which Catholics themselves can fruitfully reflect on, such as what we mean by the term �Church� and how we use it in different contexts.

Allen does well in explaining the apparent contradiction of the Catholic Church as a highly centralised and yet thoroughly decentralised body. In his view, it is the diversity within the Church, one most critics seem to be unaware of, which �is often an enormous challenge, but it�s also a large part of the adventure�.

In explaining the globalised �Catholic brand�, Allen writes: �Though you don�t want to push the analogy too far, Catholicism is a bit like the McDonald�s of organised religion. Both are global brands that once enjoyed a near monopoly on their home turf, but now face stiff competition from a variety of competitors. In both institutions, older franchises are struggling, but they�re seeing explosive growth in new locations. Both, too, try to blend a standard menu with a variety of offerings that appeal to local tastes.�

This is important in light of the astonishing growth of the Catholic Church in Africa and Asia, and the need to inculturate the Church in those regions. Allen takes the time to outline the challenges and opportunities this inexorable southward shift in the Church represents.

Inevitably, there are points in his book with which one might quibble. Some will argue that it is not at all �probable� that the date for Christmas was arrived at on account of the pagan feast of the winter solstice. And a list of worst popes surely cannot exclude the degenerate 11th century pontiff Benedict IX, the only pontiff to actually sell the papacy.

It is also unavoidable that in some details a book such as this will be quickly outdated. Although it was published in April, it still refers to Pope Benedict in the present tense, and other events have proceeded to new stages since the time of Allen�s writing.

The front cover graphic depicts a group of bishops and patriarchs, but no laity. Future editions of a book that is so keen to emphasise the importance of lay Catholics might do well to revisit that design.

These are, of course, minor issues. The Catholic Church is a balanced, thoughtful and well-written compendium of all things Catholic which will do much to foster greater comprehension of an institution (and its body of followers) which often is misunderstood�by those who attack it and, not infrequently, by those who try to defend it.

Allen attempts to establish a common premise from which a fair discussion of the Catholic Church can proceed. In that sense, this is an important book.