Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Catholic Book Blogger

Home
About
Publications
Contact
The Open Book Podcast
Children's and Teen Book Reviews
Interviews
The Clergy Speaks
More
- 2015 Book Reviews
  - 2014 Book Reviews
  - 2013 Book Reviews
- Author Interviews
- Archive Index

Home
Catholic
The Clergy Speaks – Msgr. Stuart Swetland

The Clergy Speaks – Msgr. Stuart Swetland

Last updated on: September 1, 2014 at 5:30 pm by Pete Socks

The Clergy Speaks – Msgr. Stuart Swetland 2014-09-01T06:05:32-05:00 Pete Socks

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Welcome back to “The Clergy Speaks”, a recurring feature here at The Catholic Book Blogger. “The Clergy Speaks” is a column focusing on one question I have asked various members of the clergy. That question is: What five books would you recommend as must-reads for Catholics today? I left the responses open to current or classic books with the only restriction being that the Bible and the Catechism could not be used as they are a given. This week we welcome Monsignor Stuart Swetland, President of Donnelly College located in Kansas City, KS.

Msgr. Stuart W. Swetland, S.T.D., was ordained a priest in 1991 for the Diocese of Peoria, IL. He received his undergraduate degree in Physics from the United States Naval Academy. Elected a Rhodes Scholar in 1981, he entered the Catholic Church while studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford. He has a B.A. and M.A. from Oxford; a M.Div. and M.A. from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary; and his S.T.L. and S.T.D. from the Pontifical Lateran University having studied at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, DC. He has an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Benedictine College in Atchison, KS.

He currently serves as the seventh President of Donnelly College in Kansas City, KS, where he is also Professor of Leadership and Christian Ethics. Previously, he served as Vice President for Catholic Identity and Mission and held the Archbishop Flynn Chair of Christian Ethics at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD. He has also served as the Executive Director of the Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education, the Executive Secretary for the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and Theological Advisor to the Illinois Catholic Conference.

Msgr. Swetland was named a Prelate of Honor in 2000 by Saint John Paul II and is a Knight Commander for the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchure and a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus.

Msgr. Swetland hosts the television show Catholicism on Campus on EWTN and Go Ask Your Father on Relevant Radio.

Here is Msgr. Swetland’s response:

What is a “Catholic book”? Is it one written by a baptized Catholic? Surely not, for many men and women who have been baptized Catholics have written wicked, anti-Catholic and immoral books. One thinks of two extreme examples, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Obviously The Doctrine of Fascism and Mein Kampfare books written by baptized Catholics but entirely devoid of any Catholic world view. In fact, they are anti-Catholic and, thus, anti-Christ. Less obvious or extreme examples of famous fallen away Catholics whose books and writing are somewhat to highly problematic are Voltaire, James Joyce, Maureen Dowd and Bill Maher. A third category would be non-Catholics whose writing about the church and the faith can be breathtakingly beautiful like Mark Twain in Joan of Arc, Willa Cather in Death Comes for the Archbishop and My Ántonia, Robert Bolt in A Man for All Seasons and almost everything by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, C.S. Lewis and Samuel Johnson. Many Catholic writers do not write directly about faith but still their works are permeated with a Catholic ethos (think of the “magic realism” of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, for example).

How do we sort this all out? Well, one really can’t and thus one has to choose the books for a list like this knowing full well the limitations involved.

I will focus my response to books that will aid the average lay Catholic to fulfill his or her vocation to sanctify the world through their work and to be agents of the New Evangelization. Obviously, the Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2**nd Edition) are vital so they are already given. The other five I would recommend are:

Church teaching: The Joy of the Gospel: Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis.
Spiritual life: Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales.
Novel: The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
Evangelization: The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic by Matthew Kelly
Theology: Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI (3 volumes) (Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3)

The next 5 (not paying attention to categories) are:

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven by Peter Kreeft
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Some very close calls here.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Many thanks to Msgr. Swetland for taking time out of his busy schedule to share these thoughts with us here at The Catholic Book Blogger.

The Clergy Speaks

Msgr. Stuart Swetland

The Clergy Speaks

Previous Post

September 1, 2014

Church Fathers, Day Forty-Two: St. John of Damascus explains the right hand of the Father

Next Post

September 2, 2014 Church Fathers, Day Forty-Three: St. Augustine tells us to rely on God

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Year with Mary A Year with the Angels A Year with the Church Fathers Book News Children's Review Featured CD Giveaway Guest Post Interview Linked Review Media review Movie Review New Releases Off the Shelf Review speakers Teen Review The Clergy Speaks The Laity Speaks The Open Book Podcast Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz