ISBN 1-58939-446-1, virtualbookworm.com Publishing Inc.

reviewed by Dr. Pravin Thevathasan.

Oswald Sobrino is a Catholic writer and attorney. Unpopular Catholic Truths, consists of five essays on abortion, chastity, contraception, the all-male priesthood, and the primacy of Peter in Rome. All five themes are unpopular, but true, and Sobrino convincingly demonstrates this.

It is pro-abortionists who are running away from scientific truth when they deny that life begins at conception. Their emphasis on "fetal viability" is nonsensical, and it leads to infanticide and euthanasia. To give credit where it is due, at least Peter Singer is consistent!

A lack of chastity is a "lack of personal integrity, because it lies about our bodies, our dignity, our origins." If we really believe in human dignity, we are bound to believe in the truth about chastity. Although some secular feminists express concern about date rape and brutal effects of pornography, only those who believe in God have the "anchor" that secures our human dignity.

"The only arena where personal integrity demands sexual union is in the fall commitment of marriage." Contraceptive acts violate this personal integrity. Those Catholics who oppose abortion but not contraception are ignoring the fact that they are fruits of the same tree. Even the Supreme Court to the United States has recognized the connection.

The priesthood was testified to the maleness of Jesus "as a historic fact, and as an expression of the mystery of God's covenant today with his people." Christ is the bridegroom, the Church his bride. There is a symbolic testimony of the male priest to the fact of the Incarnation and the depiction of the covenant. Women's ordination is a practice the Church has no authority to introduce -- not even the Pope. It is interesting how "papist" some dissenters become when it suits them!

Were there bishops in the first Century? Not if you define a bishop as a residential pastor of a city. The apostles were missionaries who move from place to place, as was their duty. Mitres may have been scarce in the first Century, but not bishops.

This is a fine work of Catholic apologetics and I look forward to reading More Unpopular Catholic Truths. We're surely called to defend these truths in particular.

Dr. Pravin Thevathasan

Theotokos Catholic Books - Book Reviews Section - www.theotokos.org.uk