Reluctant Dissenter: A Catholic Bishop's Journey of Faith

by James Patrick Shannon

Bishop Shannon resigned from the episcopate when he could no longer reconcile his personal convictions about family planning with Vatican policy. Now happily married, he writes about a more democratic and inclusive church in an age of increasing authoritarianism.

228 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 1998

Reviews

[Jeb Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the history of the Minnesota Catholic Church in the 20th century, the perspective on Vatican II, and the discernment of a person who stayed in while attempting to change the organization.

[kesseljunkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While much of this will be of interest to those with a foreknowledge of papal decisions and Catholic doctrine, there is not a lot of meat outside of it. Bishop Shannon's views are his own, but by the end his split over Humanae Vitae sounds not like a reason to leave the episcopacy, but an excuse. He is notoriously silent about the woman he married until there is no way to avoid her -- and it is my humble view that he is omitting details about their relationship to give the discussion on Humanae Vitae more weight.

I subtract nothing from Bishop Shannon's good works, nor his principled decision not to misuse his position and falling out with the papacy as an excuse to start a splinter church in America. I respect his life. I just suspect that his confession in this book has some omissions that would be of note.

[Susan Fetterer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is personal. Jim Shannon was a friend and someone I admired very much. His wife has been a good friend for nearly two decades, and hearing his story, piecemeal during that time, left me awed. He was a modest and brilliant man who never left the church after leaving the priesthood. This amazing story needed to be told, and is an inspiration both to non-catholics, like me, and to catholics.