This collection of essays, which forms a companion volume to What Being Catholic Means to Me (2010), brings together contributors from various backgrounds — journalists, academics, bishops, politicians, people working with the disadvantaged and the marginalised, artists and psychologists — who describe and critique how Catholicism has impacted on both their professional and personal lives. It is the fifth in a series of books, co-edited by John Littleton and Eamon Maher, that aims to encourage discussion and critical debate about the current state of Catholicism in Ireland and the perceived 'crisis' that the Catholic Church is experiencing in this country and in other parts of the world. Contributors include Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, Richard Clarke; Finola Kennedy, author of a best-selling biography of Frank Duff; journalists Michael Kelly and Mary Kenny; retired Governor of Mountjoy Prison and author, John Lonergan; Christian Brother, Martin Byrne; Angela Macnamara, former advice columnist with The Sunday Press; Dermot Mannion, previously Chief Executive Officer of Aer Lingus; writer and editor, Peter Costello; clinical psychologist, author and broadcaster, Marie Murray; politicians, Senator Ronan Mullan; Mairead McGuinness, MEP and Gay Mitchell, MEP; Gerry Carew, artist and art therapist; theologians, Patrick Claffey, Bernadette Flanagan, Angela Hanley, Patricia Kieran and Noirin Ni Riain; and retired Catholic Bishop of Killaloe, Willie Walsh.
