Why I Am A Catholic: A Forceful Statement of Faith and Loyal Criticism―Two Thousand Years of Church History, Reform, and Papal Transformation

by Garry Wills

In this provocative work, which could not be timelier, Garry Wills, one of our country's most noted writers and historians, offers a powerful statement of his Catholic faith. Beginning with a reflection on his early experience of that faith as a child and later as a Jesuit seminarian, Wills reveals the importance of Catholicism in his own life. He goes on to challenge, in clear and forceful terms, the claim that criticism or reform of the papacy is an assault on the faith itself. For Wills, a Catholic can be both loyal and critical, a loving child who stays with his father even if the parent is wrong.
Wills turns outward from his personal experiences to present a sweeping narrative covering two thousand years of church history, revealing that the papacy, far from being an unchanging institution, has been transformed dramatically over the millennia -- and can be reimagined in the future. At a time when the church faces one of its most difficult crises, Garry Wills offers an important and compelling entrée into the discussion of the church's past -- and its future.
Intellectually brisk and spiritually moving, Why I Am a Catholic poses urgent questions for Catholic and non-Catholic readers alike.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Catholic, History, Theology, Christianity, Spirituality

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Garry Wills is an American author, journalist, political philosopher, and historian, specializing in American history, politics, and religion, especially the history of the Catholic Church. He won a Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1993.
Wills has written over fifty books and, since 1973, has been a frequent reviewer for The New York Review of Books. He became a faculty member of the history department at Northwestern University in 1980, where he is an Emeritus Professor of History.

Reviews

[Luke LeBar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garry never disappoints. You can be assured that whatever you pick up from Garry Wills will be at the very least, extremely well written, well argued, and compelling. This is a strange book. It was borne from questions he got from readers of his previous book, Papal Sin: Why are you still Catholic then? This book he says is the answer to that question.

It starts with a narrative of his life growing up Catholic. Wills grew up going to Catholic school. He ended up going to a Jesuit boarding school and then entering Jesuit seminary. In seminary he had a crisis of faith. He movingly talks about the Jesuits who helped him and supported him, as well as G.K. Chesterton, whose concept of the mystical minimum revived Wills’ faith. Wills would leave seminary and then become one of the great historians and journalists of the last century.

The next three sections detail a sweeping history of the papacy. The point being that the history of the papacy is muddled, messy, and not at all saintly. Wills’ writing on the early Church and how it was governed is extremely eye opening. While there was some sort of leader in Rome, Peter and Paul first, followed by groups of elders, and then bishops, there was no papacy as we would understand it until like the 200s. In fact, until the 1000s the bishop of Rome had no supremacy over the Church at all. Wills goes on to detail the abuses and successes of the medieval popes. He then covers the terrible renaissance popes, and finally modern popes.

One of the main points of this book is that the Church is not the papacy, the Church is the people of God. It is us, the people of God who renew the papacy when it fails and supply the papacy with the strength it needs to endure. The pope himself is not infallible but the entire Church, assenting to the teaching authority of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit who is infallible. The pope is one man, and usually not a particularly good, talented, or intelligent man. The pope is not the rock on which the Chruch is built, Jesus Christ is the rock.

So why is Garry Wills still a Catholic, at least at the publication of this book? Because has he says “there is more life and light within the Church than in groups that split off from it. The Murrays and Rahners and de Lubacs agree with Chesterton that “the severed hand does not heal the whole body.” Or in the words of Peter, “My Lord, to who else would we go?”

[Ci · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are three distinct segments of this book (1) the author's Catholic upbringing and growth (2) the church history without and with papal primacy, key changes of Vatican II (3) the author's understanding of the creed.

In the part (1), the author described his childhood to his formative years in the Catholic educational system, and influence of G.K. Chesterton in his moment of spiritual crisis. I found this segment emotional genuine and engagingly personal. The part (2) largely eluded me at this point since I knew nor care little about the history of Papacy. However the part (3) may be most intellectually insightful and relevant for the title "why I am a Catholic". Here Wills demonstrated both his scholarship and his devotion to the core of Catholicism -- Apostle's Creed and Lord's Prayer. It surprised me that Lord's Prayer is interpreted by the author in the eschatological context (page 337), since the "temptation" is not the usual concept of alluring by evils but the great "Trial" or "Test" at the end of the time. That is really a different thing all together. Checking on other sources, it turned out that Wills' version is a known one, along with non-eschatological interpretations.

This book is well researched with dense historical data and analysis. But it is not an academic exercise nor a pure biography. It has balanced on the meeting point of theology and personal history.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now why is he a Catholic? I forget.

[John-Paul Teti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wills is a terrific writer. The history in this book is fun and the case against the modern papacy devastating. The attack on JPII is funny but the meanness undercuts his case somewhat. Some of his argument about Vatican II and Ratzinger seems to contradict itself (is dissent from the Vatican without feeling oneself a “bad Catholic” new or is it old? Wills seems to think the answer is “whichever suits the argument I’m currently making.”) The explication of the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer at the end is really wonderful; a good reminder of why God made Jesuits.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

First 100 pages or so is the story of the author's Catholic upbringing and education. I could do without all that--I skipped most of it--but I understand the author's reasons for including all that background: (1) he wants you to understand where he's coming from; and (2) it's very important to the author that you know he doesn't hate the Church--indeed that he loves it. The author's last book, Papal Sin, really pissed off a lot of people and sort of got the author kicked into an outer circle. Still, all that background seemed to me unnecessarily self-indulgent. Oh, and it was boring.

So if you want to skip the author's life story and get straight to the meat of the book, you're not missing anything important. Read the introduction and you'll get that the author loves the Church, then skip to the historical and theological analyses. The analyses are a little too stream-of-consciousness for me and the author generally assumes too much knowledge on the part of the reader (sorry, dude, but I am not a Jesuit-trained theologian and I'm not going to be). Still, there's a lot of good stuff in there; very informative and enlightening stuff, and he argues his points of view pretty well. I also appreciate the way the author takes you step-by-step from Peter to Paul to Ignatius and the other early bishops, and so on through church history; it's methodical and easy to follow. The history is well presented to make the author's points about what he loves--and doesn't love--about the Church.

You will find Why I am a Catholic especially useful if, like me, you're new at this Catholic thing but you're not new to Christianity. If you're new to Christianity this will be too advanced, definately assuming more knowledge than you're likely to have. But if you have a strong historical and theological background, either from academics or from a strong Protestant background (I'm in the latter category), this book is just about right.

[JD Waggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fair warning right up front: this is a really dense book that is not for the casual reader. Wills opens with some charming reminiscences of his early forays into the faith and what it meant to Be Catholic, then launches into a detailed history of all the reasons any right-minded person would run like hell from Catholicism. It's an epic survey of the history of the Church through the lens of the popes; Wills catalogs their successes, their (many) failures, their impact (or lack thereof) on the people of the Church, and the ways in which they have been bypassed or otherwise lovingly circumvented over the years. It's a fascinating overview that I will definitely keep around as a reference tool for future classes, but it is a lot of information, so be warned.
After you reach Johnny Paul (this was written before Emperor Papaltine became pope), you're pretty sure the title is a flat-out trick, because surely no one wants to be involved with that kind of church. But then, in the third part, Wills teases out each piece of the Creed with such love, acceptance, and patience that you realize exactly why this matters to him. His re-translation of the Pater Noster is also just brilliant, and, while I myself am not converting any time soon, I totally get why he is a Catholic. A magnificent work that is well-worth the read.

Secondary review here.

[Karina]

This book was mentioned in The New Anti-Catholicism, and I'd like to read it sometime to see for myself why on earth the author still chooses to call himself Catholic. Jenkins quotes from this article regarding another book by Garry Wills:

"In the course of the book, he rejects the teaching authority of the Church if exercised without lay involvement and agreement, the concept of papal infallibility and any possibility of divine guidance to papal teaching,the ordained priesthood, the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Eucharist, and that the priest has the sacramental power alone to consecrate the Eucharist. Apostolic succession, the Immaculate Conception and Assumption, and Church teaching on homosexuality are dismissed as well. For the most part, the right for the Church to teach at all in the area of sexual morality is generally dismissed if it involves the actions of consenting adults."

There's more. Apparently, women should be ordained, and priestly celibacy should be abolished. Weird, right? Those are pretty significant differences, but he still thinks himself a Catholic. Oh well, I'll read it sometime, not a priority.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was impressed with the honesty of the book and, in the end, the real simplicity of faith that underlies his choice to remain a Catholic. I find it a common choice, truly, for many Catholics who have explored their faith with an intellectual and historically minded perspective. I do think that if you are not vested in following his line of thought through to its end, you would find the litany of papal failings disheartening. I very much enjoyed his examination of The Lords Prayer, which I had not considered previously, I must admit. I found it useful to examine the idea of daily bread referring to a less literal and mundane meaning -- his take on it resonated with me and I wondered I had never considered it from this angle after decades of using this prayer. It was good to say it now with deeper meaning. I think the final chapters seem rushed, which can give one pause given this is really where he proclaims the root of his faith. Perhaps, however, our faith often has a simplicity, in the end, that ends up seeming abrupt compared with the litany of doubt we humans are capable of generating.

[Nick Kinsella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough criticism of the worst parts of Catholicism and history of papal abuses. In the end, however, the author beautifully exegetes the Apostles Creed and the best parts of Catholicism. Has given me much to think about.

[Stephen Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not know what to expect from this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. After a few chapters on his religious upbringing, education, and development of faith, Gary Wills presents the historical development of authority within the church, while elaborating on how significant disagreements were ultimately resolved, from Apostolic times through the Papacy of John Paul II (when the book was written). Highly researched and substantiated, the book is dense with nutritious and delicious brain food of church history. Wills’ hero and role model is G.H. Chesterton, who Wills cites throughout the text. This book is Wills’ version of Chesterton’s book, Orthodoxy.

In the final chapters, Gary Wills gives a historically informed meditation on the clauses in the Apostle’s Creed and Our Father, which I found illuminating. Near the end of the book, but before the meditation on the creed and the Our Father, Wills writes, “‘The question addressed to me was ‘What precisely do you believe if you continue to call yourself Catholic?’ There is no way to give that question an impersonal answer. What is at issue, for the moment, is not the truth of the creed but the truth of my own profession of it.’”

A scholar who writes a book like this and who also says the rosary daily has great credibility with me–he writes not merely as an intellectual but as a man of faith, of faith seeking understanding. The following paragraph was a lesson for me: “The creed and the Lord’s Prayer were the two things baptized Christians were told to meditate on and pray with for the rest of their lives. The first century Didache (8.3) says that the believer should say the Lord’s Prayer three times a day. Those of us who say the rosary say it six times just in the course of that. (We also say the creed as part of it–uniting the two prayers originally called for on the part of the baptized.) In this way the rosary, often derided by ‘enlightened ’ Catholics, is close to ancient practices.”

One lesson of the book is not to get angst over present conflicts within the church. (I am thinking of the papacy of Francis.) The church has frequently experienced severe conflicts throughout its history, often far more difficult in our time. Much of the history of how and why the Popes exercised authority is horrible and disturbing. Wills expresses many specific, substantiated criticisms of both then Cdl Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II, but these criticisms are nothing compared to that of the Popes before the 20th century.

The Popes of the 19th century rationalized that they needed temporal power to exercise spiritual power. Their temporal governance of the Papal States was particularly incompetent. They did nothing for the common good of the people. Whether exercising temporal or spiritual power, Pope Pius IX and Pope Pius X were anti-intellectual, oppressive, and disturbing.

If you are an authoritarian Catholic–one who is content to blindly believe and obey whatever those in authority tell you, then this book is not for you.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was raised Catholic. As a terrible segue, Garry Wills was also raised Catholic. In this particular book, Wills explains the reasoning behind his faith, and why he has stuck with his faith despite the hiccups along the way.

Going into this book, I thought it would focus on the big scandals in the Catholic Church. The one with covering up the pedophilia of certain priests and merely moving them around to different locations. However, I was quite surprised by what he actually discusses. While it is true that he talks about his reasons behind being Catholic, he focuses more on how the Pope is not infallible and how questioning the Pope’s edicts is not the same as disrespecting your faith.

Questioning the Pope actually has a bit of history to it. Wills discusses the personality of Simon Peter, how he was the most filled out character of all the apostles, and how it showed him in all of his flaws. Yet Jesus chose him to be the Rock upon which he built his church.

So this book was pretty good, and it subverted my expectations for it.

[Joseph J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether it is the Catholic Church or Lincoln's greatest speech (that's the Gettysburg Address) Garry Wills is always compelling and provocative. In these pages he probes the Catholic Church establishment=from the personal journey of his years in Jesuit formation to Papal encyclicals. Published after Papal Sins, the book is critical of John Paul II and the regression he started from the spirit of Vatican II. Cardinal Ratzinger also is a point of contention in this work published some two years before his papal election. But this work is not dated. Its speaks to many (a majority perhaps) of Catholics who view the hierarchy-and sadly often pastors and priests- often out of touch with the realities and challenges of their daily lives.

[Jorge Martínez S · Rating 5 out of 5]

La diferencia entre ser católico crítico y ser hereje, es que el segundo valora más su crítica que su catolicismo.
En gran parte guiado por el tomo del mismo título de Chesterton, Wills expone los hallazgos históricos y exegéticos que lo hacen ser enormemente crítico de la jerarquía y de muchas creencias católicas, para afirmar las razones por las cuales es crítico, pero no hereje.
En particular su crítica al papado es fuerte y termina con el pontificado de Benedicto XVI. Sería interesante conocer su postura sobre el papa Francisco.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not really a spiritual memoir although it has parts that are. Maybe those are the parts I appreciated the most. I skipped through some of the criticisms of the various popes. I appreciated very much the musings on the Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer. As much as Wills may criticize the Catholic Church, he gives it credit for its stability over the ages and credits the importance placed on Peter and on Mary for holding the church togther.

[J.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Question Not Answered

This was more of a history of the papacy than the good qualities of the Catholic Church. It did not answer my inquiry. I was disappointed, to say the least. The only reason for not giving it one star was the fact it's historically accurate. However, it was not what I was looking for.

[Martha · Rating 2 out of 5]

heavy history of Catholic theology

[Kathy]

I stopped reading this book. The title intrigued me but the content became so difficult to read that I could not finish it.

[K · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only finished this one day because I had started it.

[Steve Herman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wills wrote this book after his best-selling Papal Sin led many to believe he’d abandoned Catholicism. He remained a devout Catholic, and wanted to explain why.

The first fifty pages describe his upbringing as a devout Catholic. He wanted to become a priest, and attended a seminary, but rejected its conservative viewpoint and left. But he remained a devout Catholic.

The next 250 pages review papal history, a stream of sin, corruption, and incompetence. Wills notes that when Lord Acton—one of his heroes, and a devout Catholic in Protestant England—said “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” he was speaking of the Renaissance papacy. Wills concurred, and added that medieval popes were even worse. In fact, the only pope Wills praised was John XXIII, who served less than five years. Wills also omitted the fact that John’s mandate of secrecy contributed greatly to the Church’s coverup of clerical pederasty, an atrocity that Wills addressed at length.

In the final few dozen pages, Wills explains that he loves the Church because it upholds the Apostle’s Creed, and believes it does so better than other Christian alternatives. He believes this more than compensates for its profusion of sin, crime, and error. I suspect that very few non-Catholics share his opinion, and I am unaware of anyone converting to Catholicism because of the Apostle’s Creed. In fact, I think the apostles would have serious reservations about it.

While Wills intended this book to justify Catholicism, I think it is better viewed as Volume Two of Papal Sins, an elaboration of the Church’s failings. Wills continued devotion to Catholicism reminds me of someone who idealizes his mother’s cooking, even when few outside his family find it commendable.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read two or three of Wills' other books and thoroughly enjoyed them - mostly because they are so down to earth, well researched and within the scope of my own beliefs. Wills is a first rate historian of the Catholic Church and he understands its issues personally, professionally and theologically with his own spirituality based on The Creed of the Apostles as a base for himself. My own Catholicism comes from a different place but it helped greatly by reading this book. The man knows that there is room for all under the Catholic umbrella and that makes us kind of soulmates.
Some people may wonder why Wills doesn't address the issue of sexual abuse and I can't answer that but, it seems to me, that showing how the Papacy has been used and abused and has used and abused many over the millennia covers that issue. I remain a Catholic in spite of the sexual abuse issue because I know that this kind of thing happens in every organization where there is an imbalance of power. Wills correctly advocates that the voice of the laity be more prominent and attended to - in all areas where there is a disconnect.
I would encourage anyone to read this book because it is well written, well researched and shows the Churches flaws. I think that doing that made Wills' sharing of his own faith and the reasons he remains Catholic much more poignant and powerful. I would say that there are many other reasons to be Catholic but Wills made the main points.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reading this book now. In spite of its name, it is not written to persuade one to be a Catholic. Gary Wills, an adjunct professor of history at Northwestern University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, wrote this in response to the reaction to another book he wrote, "Papal Sins". "Why I am a Catholic" is a history of the papacy from the beginningof the church. Rather than persuading one to be Catholic, it reveals the progression of the politically motivated, frequently evil, usually extremely conservative popes from the first to John Paul the second. It certainly is not a primer on why Catholicism is good. (I am waiting with bated breath to see how he ties in the title.)

A fascinating, but very heavy read.

[Rachel Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book meant as a sequel to the author's previously published critical work called Papal Sin. I didn't go looking to read this (I'm not Catholic), but once again it was one of those titles that called to me over and over again from the library stacks until I took it home.

It's heavy reading. Especially for someone with limited / generic knowledge of Catholic history through the centuries. It's interesting reading all the same and I found myself seeing parallels between Mr. Wills relationship with Catholicism and my own with my religion. This was especially true when he delved into Peter's relationship to the church (as an allegory for future Pope's / leaders relationship to modern churches).

[Steve Malley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insights about why the author wrote: Papal Sins. Interesting information about life in the Jesuit Seminary in the 50's. Interesting information about the history of the church and lack of absolute authority in Rome for the Roman Catholic Chruch. OK, it's gotten too boring to finish, but for any Catholic that wants to know just HOW crazy the formation of the formal church was, this is it, the main reference work on the topic. Congrads to Wills for having the fortitude to write it. God bless you.

[Audrey Babkirk Wellons]

I skipped the beginning chapters of this, which deal with the author's personal experience, and went straight to his explanation of why papal infallibility is bunk and how it came to be. This thesis comprises the main portion of the book and reads like a mini Lives of the Popes. And boy, are the popes baaaaad. Entertaining as it was reading about the machinations of old-time popes, it eventually became too much of a slog (they all start to blur together after a while) and I didn't make it through. Still, I can't deny that I highly enjoyed what I *did* read.

[Brent Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first foray into Catholic and Church history. Many of the early chapters lost my interest, although I learned that Rome as the center was a relatively late achievement - and the Peter serves as an excellent metaphor for the Pope (very flawed but central to the Church).

The best chapters for me were more recent history, particularly the Second Vatican Council. Fascinating and informative!

Wills sounds like a really cool guy; I've read several essays in the New York Review of Books. Good to see his personal side - this is almost a memoir.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the title, a person might think this book is simply a litany of reasons to be Catholic. Instead, the author confronts the mistakes and shortcomings of the Catholic Church throughout history. During the beginning he talks about his own experience, and the end contains his own opinions and why he remains a Catholic. However, the middle of the book (about 50%) is a historical account which should be interesting for anyone who is not well read on history of the Catholic Church (but has some basic knowledge)
Overall, I enjoyed it.

[Megan Uy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title seemed to be chosen more for selling books than what the book was actually about. Instead of "comparing notes" with those who are conflicted yet remain with the Church (as he claims his purpose to be), Wills delves far too deeply into Church history, seemingly in an effort to AVOID talking about himself. He is far more interesting when he stays with the memoir aspects of the book and explains his beliefs despite the ways those beliefs challenge the doctrine (particularly the sexual teachings) of the hierarchy. A frustrating read overall.

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book after a significant loss and was hoping it would help resolve my anger. Clearly, I was not in a state of mind to select appropriately. The book reads like a text book; heavy thinking & nothing for a casual reader. The author is all about himself at the start. The chapters then progress to some interesting history which I knew I would never keep straight. The latter half of the book is good to have as a resource yet I doubt I would read it cover to cover again.

[Dergrossest · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book which explains why the author, who is very critical of the Papacy, still considers himself a good Catholic. Unfortunately, the book was not what I was looking for since it is very personal and does not really explain why the rest of us should remain Catholics. It's too bad because I think that Mr. Wills is the most insightful and intelligent author writing about Catholicism today.

[Conrad Haas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another opportunity to hear a candid view of the church. The historical span from the early church through current times was nicely capped with Will's thoughts on what the creed means to him. Hopefully, church leaders and the followers will pay attention and respond with appropriate actions. What would Jesus do?