Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit

by Garry Wills

Look out for a new book from Garry Wills, What The Qur'an Meant , coming fall 2017.

"The truth, we are told, will make us free.   It is time to free Catholics, lay as well as clerical, from the structures of deceit that are our subtle modern form of papal sin.  Paler, subtler, less dramatic than the sins castigated by Orcagna or Dante, these are the quiet sins of intellectual betrayal."
--from the Introduction

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills comes an assured, acutely insightful--and occasionally stinging--critique of the Catholic Church and its hierarchy from the nineteenth century to the present.

Papal Sin in the past was blatant, as Catholics themselves realized when they painted popes roasting in hell on their own church walls.  Surely, the great abuses of the past--the nepotism, murders, and wars of conquest--no longer prevail; yet, the sin of the modern papacy, as revealed by Garry Wills in his penetrating new book, is every bit as real, though less obvious than the old sins.

Wills describes a papacy that seems steadfastly unwilling to face the truth about itself, its past, and its relations with others.  The refusal of the authorities of the Church to be honest about its teachings has needlessly exacerbated original mistakes.  Even when the Vatican has tried to tell the truth--e.g., about Catholics and the Holocaust--it has ended up resorting to historical distortions and evasions.  The same is true when the papacy has attempted to deal with its record of discrimination against women, or with its unbelievable assertion that "natural law" dictates its sexual code.

Though the blithe disregard of some Catholics for papal directives has occasionally been attributed to mere hedonism or willfulness, it actually reflects a failure, after long trying on their part, to find a credible level of honesty in the official positions adopted by modern popes.  On many issues outside the realm of revealed doctrine, the papacy has made itself unbelievable even to the well-disposed laity.

The resulting distrust is in fact a neglected reason for the shortage of priests.  Entirely aside from the public uproar over celibacy, potential clergy have proven unwilling to put themselves in a position that supports dishonest teachings.

Wills traces the rise of the papacy's stubborn resistance to the truth, beginning with the challenges posed in the nineteenth century by science, democracy, scriptural scholarship, and rigorous history.  The legacy of that resistance, despite the brief flare of John XXIII's papacy and some good initiatives in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council (later baffled), is still strong in the Vatican.

Finally Wills reminds the reader of the positive potential of the Church by turning to some great truth tellers of the Catholic tradition--St. Augustine, John Henry Newman, John Acton, and John XXIII.  In them, Wills shows that the righteous path can still be taken, if only the Vatican will muster the courage to speak even embarrassing truths in the name of Truth itself.

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

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2000

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

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wills gives an honest, well written reflection on his own Catholic tradition and the conflicting voices within it. He chooses among those voices, deciding for himself which ones best reflect Jesus' teaching. Like many Catholics before him, he concludes that we're called to use our freedom wisely, not give it up completely. We are urged to a personal relation with God, not blind submission to a human authority who claims to mediate between God and other people.

Wills also takes Jesus' teaching on forgiveness and sacrifice with the seriousness it deserves. Where Jesus reportedly argued "If you had known what that text means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice', you would not have condemned the innocent," Wills boldly concludes: "... Jesus is not a sacrifice. His Father is not the one whose aggressions need to be bought off. Jesus is not an item of barter in the exchange system set up by sacrifice. God does not accept victims. He sides with the victim against the slayers, reversing the whole logic of placation." (p. 307)

[William Korn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Garry Wills wants you to know he is a Catholic, a very devout Catholic. He also wants you to know how very much he despises the current Roman Catholic church for abandoning what he believes what Catholicism should be all about.

Wills can be a great writer. His histories and his books on religion ("What Jesus Meant", "What Paul Meant", etc.) are enjoyable and informative. But when he gets a great big burr up his fundament, as he obviously has in regard to the Vatican and all its works, he becomes very strident, repetitive, and boring. He is a much better historian than he is a polemicist.

I hold no brief for the Roman Catholic church. I'm not a Catholic, and I disagree with a lot of its positions on a lot of issues. However, reading this book is like being trapped in a giant metal drum, with Wills beating on the outside with a great big hammer. I have not finished the book and do not intend to finish it.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garry Wills is an exceptionally good writer. Although an historian at Northwestern University, he is trained in Classics and well-versed in Theology. This work is a point-by-point critique of the Catholic Church positions on a variety of topics such as papal infallibility, contraception, abortion, celibacy, free speech, the sacerdotal position of women et cetera--all to the point that the institutional Church has tended to weigh consistency over the centuries over the truth.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is ultimately too scattershot to be effective at what I think Wills was trying to do, i.e. call for a general renewal of the Church that would return it to the practices and governance structures of the earliest days. But he puts everything with which he disagrees at the same level of importance. Humane Vitae is coupled with the sexual scandals, papal infallibility, the banking scandals, the elevation of Mary's role at the expense of the Holy Spirit's, abortion, the bifurcation between the clergy in the trenches and the magisterium in regard to homosexuality, all of these issues and more are treated in what is, after all, a pretty slim volume. Wills argues well for his various points of view, and is undeniably on the money about the division between the hierarchy and most ordinary Catholics. But his treatments are cursory. The chief value of the book for me, at least, is that it has sparked my interest in reading a decent biography of Pio Nono and spending more time with St. Augustine.

An interesting read as a jumping-off point for further exploration.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although not Catholic myself, I appreciate what Wills has attempted to do: working from inside the Catholic tradition, Wills reaches deep into the historically-entrenched doctrines of the church in a valiant attempt to bring them back into alignment with Scripture. I do not agree fully with all of his interpretations, of course (most notably his conclusions regarding human sexuality and several stray comments regarding the work of the Holy Spirit), but he is to be commended for his desire to use Scripture as the basis for his arguments, underscoring the culture of intellectual sleight-of-hand and outright deceit that has been practiced over the years to support the Catholic teachings regarding (among other things) the requirement of priestly celibacy, a belief in the Immaculate Conception, the banning of women from active roles in ministry, and the culture of silence regarding homosexuality and pediastry among a supposedly-celibate priesthood.

[Emmett Hoops · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wills writes in a clean, intelligent style. His arguments against corruption are, naturally, unassailable; but they are more than that. They are compelling. Writers such as Wills have, I believe, had a major impact on the Catholic Church.

And yet...I was disappointed in this book. To my mind, all religious systems are structures of deceit in which believers are, to varying degrees, complicit. Such are my own beliefs -- so I should not really have been surprised that Garry Wills remains complicit in perpetuating a grand deceit. He just wants that deceit to be less lascivious so that Catholics can more blithely enjoy the ceremony and nonsense that is Catholicism. His criticism is blunted by his desire to believe in the religion of his childhood. As someone who was raised as a Catholic but left the church as soon as I escaped 8th grade in a Catholic school, I wish he had been able to think more outside the box than he allows himself in this book.

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about the dishonesty of the Catholic Church over the last, oh, 1800 years. Gets tiring fast, but it's great as an academic exercise. One interesting note? Some of the most inexplicable things from the last 30 years, such as the further tightening on contraception and sexuality within the Church, the same name keeps popping up. That name? Joseph Ratzinger, better known as Pope Benedict XVI.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 things I learned in this book.

1. Every single diosece in the US has had at least one pedophile
2. The Catholic church believes that using a condom is a mortal sin even between married couples when one has AIDS
3. Priests have 4-8x a higher rate of AIDS than the general public.

Also a lot of information about the deception the Vatican and various popes have used. Very disturbing. Great information, but a little dry.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Garry Wills wrote this book 20 years ago but it is still very relevant because the church has made little progress in addressing the big issues it faces. According to Wills this is because the Catholic Church is built on a structure of deceit. When policies such as papal infallability, an entrenched power system, and secrecy pervade an institution, it is impossible to move forward. If you can never admit you are wrong about anything, how is it possible to address the issue of women in the church, contraception, abortion, sexual abuse and the shrinking number of priests. I listened to a recent talk Wills gave in connection with the publishing of another of his books. It was interesting to hear him talk about Pope Francis and what he has brought to the church in terms of how he lives his life -- what he wears, where he lives, what kind of car he rides in. When asked why Protestants seem to like him so much he answered: "Perhaps it is because he reminds them of Jesus." Wills answered a question about women in the church by saying that things are changing. Because there are so few priests, lay people, often women, are taking on more and more leadership in local parishes. But at the same time, they cling to the idea that women can never be priests. It is so tragic to think of all the misery that the church has caused because they can never admit they have been wrong. "Christ, Augustine said, is the way to the truth and is the truth...That is why the church lie was the worst lie in his eyes--the use of falsehood to proclaim the truth."

[Papalodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pius IX seemed to be pretty much a pita when it came to being reasonable. Keep a dictionary handy as there are soooo many phrases that have not been used since the 4th century; also having a Bible handy might not be a bad idea. The phrase that stuck with me (a lying mouth, murders the soul) or depending on when the translation was made or edition King James, Standard American etc. (a lying mouth slays the soul - book of Wisdom 1.11 is not in some versions. Augustine and Jerome go at it a lot; that is a fun read.
As for judging a pope, from my personal experience at St. Peter, - the Swiss Guard entered carrying two poles on their shoulders. Upon the poles a chair was balanced. Upon the chair Pope Paul VI was balanced. As the Guard and the Pope reached the center aisle a ten gallon hat came sailing thru the air towards the Pope. Paul VI caught the hat, and with a saintly smile threw the hat back. Paul VI must have had a few years developing his frisbee toss technique. Then the Pope addressed the tourists in English and Italian. Then he blessed the audience and was carried away.

[Faith Flaherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garry Wills is Catholic and loves his church, that's why he's always criticizing it. I cut him a lot of slack. I understand because I love the people in my family, yet I can't help wanting them to be perfect and all too often nag, harangue, criticize, and plain old annoy them. Wills reminds me of me.
I'm not a theologian, so I can't criticize his theology. I look at his critique as his opinion, not the last word. I googled a bit and surmised that secular publications liked this book, Papal Sin, and Catholic publications picked it apart.
What I liked best about Papal Sin is the history behind the topics he chose to write about: Holocaust, Humanae Vitae, Marianology, Maxmillian Kolbe, Edith Stein, etc. Of course, Wills cherry picked to prove his points, but his view is food for thought.
And it's only his view, his opinion. Read Papal Sin for Garry Wills' smooth writing articulation. He has a way with words. He is clear, succinct, clever, and writes for the masses. Just keep in mind, that theologians contest his views and challenge his Catholicity. He is a church going Catholic and that's why he criticizes.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be a book about evil popes, which is always fun, but it's actually a book about how Papal theology in the past century has failed to address the major crisises brought about by modernity and how Popes have favored doctrines of consistency and infallibility over widely popular ideas among Catholic worshipers (fighting Nazis, birth control, abortion, female priests, celibacy in priesthood, protecting children). Ironically, he ends up making the same argument that Protestants made about the structural problems of Catholicism in the sixteen century, but doesn't advocate for becoming Protestant.

[David Medders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garry Wills takes the reader on an intriguing journey through the dark side of the modern history of the Catholic church. He unpacks the political path and theological development behind over a dozen current positions taken by the Church and exposes the centuries old structures that predisposed the church's leadership to deceit, abuse of power, and theological error. He spares no punches but offers a balanced understanding of how decisions were made . . . beginning with the pope's engagement with Nazi Germany and deft disavowal of any support for anti-Semitism during the Holocaust, the circumstances leading to the affirmation of papal infallibility, and the unintended consequencies of priestly celibacy. The history of the church's decisions on these and other positions and issues all lead to the very unfortunate and damning conclusion that there has been a long standing pattern of deceit reinforced by structures that led to compounding patterns of untruth. A very sad but enlightening read. You can feel and emphasize his passionate closing appeal for his church to be a bastion of truth.

[Jim Curtin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lot to get through. I felt like the thesis wasn't clearly stated at the beginning, when the author just had a laundry list of complaints against and refutations of church doctrine. The strongest writing was the final few chapters, when the author discussed the structures of the church and the very strong theological writings against infallibility and the need for the papacy to own past mistakes.

[Space_cadet]

DNF so I can't give a proper review.

I love the idea and the way the author approached writing the truths about the Catholic church, but as someone who is not a historian, I found it very difficult to finish it.

Props to the author for writing about extremely difficult topics. This book is really valuable to exist. It is just labourous to exist. If I was a historian or theologist, I've would've totally used it in academic essays.

[Bill Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting summation of inconsistencies in the administration of the Catholic Church. I found the writing easily accessible and its presentation persuasive.

Faith, the assumption of the cross, remains a daunting journey though highly rewarding and a powerful path to daily meaning.

Though Wills highlights numerous issues the church could handle in a more truthful manner, the church community remains a vibrant part of our daily lives.

[Paulcbry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important book especially for Catholics. The author deals with key issues currently facing the Church. Though he leans left politically the author provides some cogent arguments for his very strong beliefs. While I didn't agree with all the issues he raises (i.e. abortion) the author for the most part hits the nail on the head. He made me aware of Newman and Augustine and I look forward to reading those authors as well.

[Nick Kinsella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book. I've read other books from Catholics dissenting from current Catholic teaching but most are like "lol this stuff is dumb obviously". This book backups up dissent by thoroughly documenting Church history and thought. If you're Catholic or want to become Catholic but struggle with some of the dumber stances the church has, this is a good book to read.

[David Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far there is nothing new in this book, but I am learning names, dates, and possible reasons why the decisions were made. For some odd reason it is a slow read for me.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF 46 percent - I get the point but it moves too slow and is a bit dense

[Michael]

I got this book for free in Vermont. I didn't intend to read the whole thing; just the part about Humanae Vitae: Of Human Life. I skimmed much of the rest. Basically, this: contraception, celibacy, divorce, the role of women, abortion homosexuals...the Vatican sucks at all of it.

Pope Francis is great (this book was written 18 years ago) but he is one man. He will not last. I suspect a conservative backlash when he goes.

Depressing.

[C. Varn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two central questions of this book at crucial to coming to an understanding of the Church: "can one man be the church." Both conservative and reform-minded Catholics have a long tradition to answer that question, particularly after Vatican II. Wills argument then is there the modern Papacy has a "schism" between doctrine and practice.

Understanding Lord Acton and Cardinal Newman's response to Pio Nono is key to the book, and should be key to some of the modern questions reguarding the Papacy. Indeed, those chapters are amongst the best in the book. The book's fallacy is that it assumes that it would lead one to liberal conclusions. Many traditionalists start from a simaliar place as Wills regarding the individual actions of the modern papacy but they often come to very different conclusions. Wills implies that the conservative notion is deceitful and that seems both uncharitable and itself intellectually dishonest.

Well, Wills does give a compelling visions of some of the 20th century Popes, but seems positively baised towards John XXIII and negatively baised towards Pio Nono. The last chapters on St. Augustine of Hippo seemed tacted one and true somewhat questionable conclusions.

Note: This book is good for understanding some of the unforunate political implications of the Church and also that the Vatican does have its political operations. Its conclusions are rhetorical and its history, while true, is very selective. While I would suggest anyone read this book who is interested in the Chruch, it should be balanced by a more conservative or traditionalist book, such as "The Church Confronts Modernity" by Dr. Thomas Woods.

[Marguerite Hargreaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really useful supplement in my theological education. Wills puts the papacy in the long context of its history and offers the modern papacy a challenge. I found Wills' book thoughtful and reasoned (also laboriously researched) and handed it around to a number of fellow Catholics. I think he ought to revisit the issue of AIDS and the papacy, however. The Mexico City Amendment and Bush administration policies, together with the Vatican's anti-condom message could add up to genocide. One of Barack Obama's first acts in office was to reverse the ban. But not before an estimated 30-some million people across the globe are HIV-positive.

[Sarah Beaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book thinking I would be reading about the secret lives of popes, but Wills mostly wrote about issues with papal decisions and statements. I agree with Wills that there are some papal decisions and stances that do not make sense and are at times in discord with themselves, but Wills doesn't seem to state enough sources or explain how he gets from one point to another. At times, his argument seems to go, "if this, then therefore, that," without supplying clear explanations or sources for how he comes to certain conclusions. I did enjoy the last couple chapters discussing Augustine, which is why I gave the book two stars rather than one.

[Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me Papal Sin is really a study of human nature. Specifically, the need felt by many faithful to defend policies and doctrines which have been received from those who the church considers inspired and perhaps beyond the human tendency to err. Wills also gives tremendous examples of how humans create sometimes bizarre rationale to defend doctrines and policies which may or may not have been inspired.

There are tremendous parallels to other religious organizations which face very similar situations.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garry Wills presents his case for the existence of an informal structure within the Roman Catholic Church that compels its leaders to deceit in the interest of maintaining unchangeable doctrine. Wills complains from the inside, and many of his arguments have some merit. There are some factual errors that indicate laziness in research or sloppiness in editing, and the case is highly overstated. Wills also seems to overlook the concept of doctrinal development, but the work is thought-provoking and his summary of Augustine's understanding of honesty is powerful.

[Dinah Küng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isn't it funny that this ended up on "Notable Atheist Books" because Wills is a profound and stimulating author who is also a practicing Catholic and certainly not an atheist. I suppose the list means "Notable Books for Atheists"? Anyway, there should be a button for "re-reading" because in times of deep despair about a great faith brought low by the thugs/pederast apologists in the Vatican, here's a little history to buck up your hopes that the current Pope can be survived by atheists and practicing Catholics alike.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interesting to be reading this while a pope resigned and another one was chosen. Wills plunges right in to Catholic church history, especially in the 19th century with Pope Pius IX and his encyclicals. Since I wasn't raised Catholic and didn't know a lot of this church history, it was something of a steep learning curve. And I'll admit that I faded through the last few chapters. But all in all, it was a very useful read and gave me a little more insight into the 20th century Catholic church and its pronouncements.

[Justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a sizzling book on the doctrine of Papal infallibility (on things like abortion, the Holocaust, contraception), told in an erudite and historically fascinating approach. We all know about Lord Acton (a British Catholic scholar) and his dictum, "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Did you know he said it ABOUT the uneducated Innocent IX, who proclaimed it as a unsophisticated, desperate response to the changing society of the mid-19th century?

[Peregrinus · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a discussion of historical issues surrounding the Papacy, Wills does a fairly good job. I'm not always agreed with his stances (though I must admit that I am, a majority of the time) but I think he's a particularly important writer to read now that the Church's scandals are coming out. Many who approvingly quote him attacking the Church seem to forget that he's (as of this writing) still a Catholic, and that this hasn't made him any less strident in calling for the Church to reform itself.