How Can You Still Be Catholic? by Christopher Sparks
“How can you still be Catholic?” Cradle Catholic Christopher Sparks takes the question head on, addressing an array of controversial issues and offering the same answer given by St. Peter 2,000 years ago: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:60).
Christopher Sparks asked Facebook friends to finish the question: “How can you still be Catholic when…?” And then answered them, keeping each answer to about three pages, large font, and including recommended reading for those who want to go deeper. These questions touch on some of the biggest issues people grapple with when they think about the Catholic Church: the Inquisition; the Crusades; the Church’s role in a state; homosexuality; women in the Church; and others. None of the answers is intended to be comprehensive, but rather as a way to offer people a way into the conversation. Sparks wants to equip Catholics to give a defense for the hope that is in them (see 1 Pt 3:15), to give questioning souls a sense that there actually are answers to these questions, and give those who fight the faith pause.
