COULD YOU EVER COME BACK TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?

- Do you feel separated from the Church because of divorce, doubts, painful memories, lifestyle, or any other reason?
- Do you sometimes feel an inner tug drawing you back?
- Do you have a lonely spot inside you that nothing seems to fill?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re not alone. Sixteen million Catholics feel separated from the Church, and 40% of you say you’d come back if the Church really wanted you. This book was written for you. It was designed specifically to address your concerns: the real reasons that caused you to leave in the first place, the problems you may have about doctrinal matters, the doubts you may have experienced, the anger you may still harbor towards God and towards the Church. It opens up avenues for discussion about the changes in the Church since Vatican II, and helps you work through painful memories and past hurts that may have been caused by those who represented the Church in your mind. It talks about who makes the rules in the Church and what you have to believe to be a Catholic. One section deals with the dilemma of divorced and remarried Catholics and whether or not there is a place for gays and lesbians in the Church. Other sections take you through the need to find the right priest to assist you on your way back and how to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation after a long absence. Yet another chapter answers the most frequently asked questions that people have when considering whether or not they could ever return. Why people come back and what they come back to are also considered in a way that is designed to help you make up your own mind about what God is asking of you at this particular juncture of your life. Catholics, separated or not from the Church, will find much to ponder and reflect on here. To you who’ve been away and decide that you could come back, the Church says, “Welcome home!”

About the Author: Lorene Hanley Duquin is the prize-winning author of They Called Her the Baroness (Alba House, 1995, 1999), the highly-acclaimed work chronicling the life of Catherine de Hueck Doherty, and has also written Could You Ever Become a Catholic? (Alba House, 2001) and (with her son Christopher) Could You Ever Become a Catholic Priest? (Alba House, 1998). She has long been active in the “Come Home Lecture Series” sponsored by her home diocese of Buffalo, New York. A graduate of Canisius College and free-lance writer whose articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, McCall’s, Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal, Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic Digest, Lori and her husband are the parents of four college-age children.