She is trying. She has just asked two things: that I not talk to my dad, because he will use it as an excuse to tell her "I told you so" (he's not a church-goer any more); and that I not talk to my sister, because she is afraid I will try to convert her.
I'm not anywhere near trying to convert anyone. I'm not even going to convert myself. I am still RC, just an RC attending an Episcopal church. I'm quite sure becoming Episcopalian is not going to fix anything, anymore than staying RC is going to.
Current reading:
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH (David Holmes): Very interesting stuff on Henry VIII and the liturgial reforms of the 19th century, which I did not know about.
OUR FATHERS: THE SECRET LIFE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AN AGE OF SCANDAL (David France): Journalistic retelling of the sex scandals of the late 20th and early 21st century RC church. The facts are things I mostly knew: many kids were abused by priests who were shuffled from parish to parish so that they could abuse more kids. The depiction of New England/Boston Catholic culture and the discussion of sexuality is fascinating.
GRACEFUL EXITS (Debra Campbell): Terribly disappointing. Very academic. I had hoped for something more along the lines of SOUL SURVIVOR, but this simply wasn't it. Ah well.
