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Firm, But Kind and Gentle: A Practical Handbook for Pastoral Ministry Author: Joseph M. Champlin ISBN: 0-8189-1254-5 Paperback: xi + 140 pp. Price: $12.95 + shipping To Order call: 1 800-343-ALBA (2522) Please have your Master, Visa or American Express card ready. To order online click here. |
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Unknown to many, official Catholic documents and directives which seek to be faithful to Christ's teachings and the Church's long tradition are also surprisingly flexible in their applications to specific pastoral situations. While reflecting firmness and fidelity, they, at the same time, frequently mirror in their flexibility a kind and gentle spirit. As Pope Benedict XVI stated recently in a conversation with four German broadcast journalists: "Christianity, Catholicism isn't a collection of prohibitions: It's a positive option. It's very important that we look at it again because this idea has almost completely disappeared today." This book has been written especially for priests, deacons, and the increasing number of pastoral ministers who regularly encounter situations like those treated in this volume. Readers will find here both reassurance and challenge as they seek to be firm but kind and gentle in applying the directives of the Church to individual pastoral circumstances. |
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Msgr. Joseph M. Champlin is a popular author of over 50 works with more than 20 million copies in ciruclation and needs no introduction to those who love and respect him for his pastoral contributions over the years to the Church in the United States. Though recently retired, he continues to write a monthly column for The Priest magazine which is widely read and hailed for its commonsense approach to pastoral issues in the States. Alba House is proud to have published two of his earlier works: From Time to Eternity and Back (2004), the story of his battle with cancer, and The Marginal Catholic (2001), of which Firm, but Kind and Gentle is a sequel.