Cardinal Mahony

At first I worried that this great novel would not get the attention it deserved because it seemed to appeal to Catholic insiders but after a second reading, I think it will sell. The characters, dialogue, plot are all too good not to ring the bells. It is true that every Catholic you ever heard of is in here including the pope and including my own Catholic hero, Michael Moore, whom I learned, to my disappointment, is not a regular church goer. I learned this when one conservative bishop in a typical remark by a conservative bishop, said, "Well, I hear he never attends Sunday Mass." You will read it straight through whether you give a hoot about the Catholic Church or not. But if you do care about the Church, which to some eyes, seems on its last legs, you will see it doesn't have to die a sudden or lingering death. One good thing about the book is that it makes out the Church and its hierarchy to be worse than it is, and the book proves that even at that, the Church is well worth saving, in fact, one of the world's last best hopes.

What a delightful read! This mix of fact and fantasy keeps you reading as you try to figure the names of the real "characters" in the tragic story line in the Church today. Kaisers characterizations were right on target. We all need a little humor and thinking outside the box during these dark days and this book might just be the right medicine for what ails us.

Robert Blair Kaiser has written a new and exciting book that is a blueprint for reforming the Roman Catholic Church right here in America. The book is also a textbook about church history. It also addresses all the key hot-button issues many reformers and Catholics in general struggle with: papal authority, sex (mais oui!), the church's culture of secrecy, the priesthood, married priests, women priests, foreign priests whose sermons you can't understand, nuns who administer priestless parishes, closing parishes, ownership of parishes, canon law, the election of bishops by the people they will be serving, and on and on. The great thing about this blueprint for reform/church history/compendium of hot issues book is that it is disguised as a novel that's fun to read. Author Eugene Kennedy rightfully calls it a "mesmerizing work."

Could not put it down; read it all in one sitting! Kaiser has put our hopes and dreams into a wonderful new adventure with a basis in FACT! A must must read for all.

What a captivating read! Wishful thinking? Of course not, although I never had expected to find courage for church reform in a novel. However, in order to clean up the horrific scandals the Church gives to the world, we will have to step up and take action. In the story of CARDINAL MAHONY, a Novel, by Robert Blair Kaiser, answers are given chapter and verse, as the plot unfolds. What ought to happen is the following: We do not need kidnapping as we have Canon law. 1. This work by Robert Blair Kaiser should be compulsory reading for all students in Catholic colleges and universities, because they are hopefully going to be the future leaders of integrity for the faithful. 2. It should be required reading for all adult Catholics, who have become demoralized and discouraged. They will find hope in Kaiser's book. But most importantly, all the faithful people who are in denial about the abysmally evil deeds done by the clerical leadership need to read this. "You cannot change what you don't acknowledge." You do not want to become complicit by denial, and distortion of documented facts, or silent consent, do you? 3. Where are the charismatic leaders among the faithful, to sacrifice their time and effort; to claim the rights and live up to their baptismal responsibilties, by implementing the canons provided in this book? Catholic organizations have to make common cause with the help of this book, standing on those canon laws. There is strength in numbers to restore credibility to our beloved church Jesus founded. 4. With the laity taking the lead, hopefully, the partially coward and partially corrupt hierarchy will have a real conversion of spirit. Reform has always come from the bottom up, not from the top down. Just brush up on Church history.