Bending Toward Justice

The shift in the demographics of Catholics as well as the changing number of priests to serve as pastors in the decades since the 1960s led to a serious situation of what to do with the many parishes erected in dioceses. Out of necessity, dioceses had to make decisions to close and/or combine parishes. But these decisions often caused loss of identity for the parishioners who held the impacted parishes as a central piece of their lives. A parish is more than property and a pastor. It is where the parishioners are formed and sustained in their faith lives. Decisions to close parishes have to involve the parishioners from the very beginning of the consideration and need to be based on more than what are practical business choices. This text presents well the painful journey of this decision-making and information on how the Church#39;s canon law provides means of recourse for parishioners who experience being left out of the conversation to close their parish. It is well-worth reading.--Lynn Jarrell, OSU, canon lawyer, member of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, KY Bending Toward Justice offers the compelling story Sister Kate Kuenstler, a midwestern U.S. nun who used her training in the Church#39;s legal system (Canon Law) to awaken Catholicsmdash;from average churchgoers all the way through the popesmdash;to the rights of lay Catholics. Once again, and with punch, the book raises the questionmdash;where would the church be without its sisters? A warm and fitting tribute to Kuenstler as a true leader of the church, the book also promises to inspire Catholics to take ownership of their faith and their parishes as scenes of communal meaning, power, and justice.--John C. Seitz, associate professor at Fordham University; author of No Closure: Catholic Practice and Boston's Parish Shutdowns Through the text Bending Toward Justice, Sr Christine Schenk captures well Sr Kate Kuenstlerrsquo;s love for the Church alongside her fight for just treatment of the laity when bishops overstepped. It presents this canon lawyerrsquo;s walk of the thin line between directness and discretion, criticism of the Church with loving respect, and the unrelenting quest for justice for its faithful when their parishes were threatened by unlawful closure.--Sr Judith Diltz, PHJC, General Superior of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus