Between 1975 and 2008 the Catholic Church in the United States lost just over 18,000 priests. In ecclesiastical parlance these men were defectors, malcontents, and pariahs. But they weren't. These men were the heroes of their generation in the church. They struggled for civil rights, they tried to implement the changes of Vatican II, and they refused to call 'birth control' a sin. Never before have they told their stories - conflict with their bishops, love of their ministry, and waking up to their 'alone-ness' in the world. Here are twelve such stories. "Pope Francis, since being elected Pope, has made some dramatic claims and statements, challenging the curia and Vatican 'business as usual, ' even calling the Papal court 'the leprosy of the papacy.' The stories of bishops and priests, obsessed with power and prestige, show that the stories in this book are not isolated incidents. Pope Francis and his advisers have an enormous task of changing the curia culture in Rome. But Pope Francis will also have to address the issue of whether celibacy is more important than the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The pope himself has said: 'Celibacy for priests is a matter of discipline, and as such it can change. Celibacy is not a dogma of faith; it is a rule of life that I appreciate a great deal, and I believe it is a gift for the Church. The door is always open, given that it is not a dogma of faith'." - The Publisher