Why Catholics Are Right by Michael Coren (McClelland & Stewart, $28.99, p. 228)

Reviewed: Paul Tuns

            Michael Coren's latest book is audaciously titled Why Catholics are Right, but then the author has never shied away from a fight, and this time Coren comes out swinging with passion and logic against the critics of the Church.

            Coren, born in England to secular family with a Jewish father, converted to Catholicism in his 30s.  Unlike many cradle Catholics who do not have a strong knowledge of the faith, Coren's journey to Rome was obviously intellectual as well as spiritual.

            Erudite, but accessible, Coren takes us through a sweeping journey into four major controversies and several minor ones. He focuses on Catholic history (the Crusades, Inquisition, and Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust), Catholic theology (why the Church and not Sola scriptura is the root to truth), Catholicism and life (Culture of Life vs. Culture of Death), and the scandal of clergy abuse.

            It is important to acknowledge, as Coren does, that so much of anti-Catholicism is rooted in opposition to its moral teachings on sexuality. On the life issues, Coren is relentlessly common sensical. He uses logic and humour to answer ridiculous criticisms of the Church's teaching on love and sexuality such as wondering how can Catholics with large families be “anti-sex”? Catholic teaching on marriage and contraception, Coren notes, is pro-fertility, pro-child, pro-love, and pro-life, but not anti-sex.

            Coren's chapter on Catholic theology is sweeping – a solid introduction to a number of misunderstandings about what Catholics really believe. Two of the more significant topics he explains is transubstantiation and the role of Mary.

            Coren notes that few Christians believe and many Catholics fail to understand the Real Presence in Holy Communion. The bread we receive on our tongues is the body of Christ, and Coren notes that while the word transubstantiation “may not be used in the Bible ... the teaching most certainly is.” Coren explains the words of Jesus (John 6:47 and 6:53) were repetitive and literal, stressed by Christ because it is “one of the most significant elements of Christian belief” and yet the Sola scriptura crowd would have us believe at this moment of this speech, Jesus was “suddenly at His most figurative.”

            Coren's treatment of Mary is thorough, and he is devastating in taking on Protestant critics of the important role Mary plays in the Catholic Church as a way of knowing and thus getting closer to Jesus: he quotes early Protestant Reformation leaders such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli. Luther said: “It is a matter of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and a Virgin.” Zwingli said: “The more the honour and love of Chirst increases among  men, so much the esteem and honour given to Mary should grow.” As Coren observes, “a delightful and intensely accurate Catholic approach to the entire subject.”

            I doubt Coren will convince the doubters and haters, but for whose knowledge of the faith is minimal – if, say, you were educated in the Catholic schools of the past 30 years – there is certainly much to learn in Why Catholics are Right.

            The fact is most Catholics do not properly understand their church, especially its theology. Coren's thin volume packs a fair bit of introductory material for the Catholic layman to better understand the Church. Why Catholics are Right would make a good graduation gift this Spring for those entering or leaving high school or university.

            It is unclear for whom this book has been written. Is it for Catholics searching for intellectual arms in the culture wars or to better understand their own Church? Is it an answer to anti-Catholic bigots who misunderstand the Church's teaching and history? Is it for those who are honestly seeking the truth about the holy Roman Catholic Church?

            Probably a little of each. While a committed anti-Catholic is unlikely to be persuaded by the facts and arguments Coren brings together in defence of the Catholic Church and Catholic faith, those reading with an open mind are likely to benefit from a fuller knowledge and deeper understanding of Catholic history and teaching.

Paul Tuns is editor of The Interim, Canada's life and family newspaper. He lives in Toronto with his wife and five children.