The Truth at the Heart of the Lie
Available in print, audio and digital.
“James Carroll has been extending his life story and his critique of the Catholic Church in tandem for a generation. The Truth at the Heart of the Lie brings that turbulent dialogue to a moving and gripping conclusion, a repentant Catholic’s manifesto and culminating apologia pro vita sua. Prepare to race through it at one sitting—and then live with it.” Jack Miles, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of God: A Biography
James Carroll weaves together the story of his quest to understand his personal beliefs and his relationship to the Catholic Church with the history of the Church itself. From his first awakening of faith as a boy to his gradual disillusionment as a Catholic, Carroll offers a razor-sharp examination both of himself and of how the Church became an institution that places power and dominance over people through an all-male clergy.
Carroll argues that a male-supremacist clericalism is both the root cause and the ongoing enabler of the sexual abuse crisis. The power structure of clericalism poses an existential threat to the Church and compromises the ability of even a progressive pope like Pope Francis to advance change in an institution accountable only to itself. Carroll traces this dilemma back to the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages, when Scripture, Jesus Christ, and His teachings were reinterpreted as the Church became an empire. In a deeply personal re-examination of self, Carroll grapples with his own feelings of being chosen, his experiences as a priest, and the moments of doubt that made him leave the priesthood and embark on a long personal journey toward renewal—including his tenure as an op-ed columnist at The Boston Globe writing about sexual abuse in the Church.
Ultimately, Carroll calls on the Church and all reform-minded Catholics to revive the culture from within by embracing anti-clerical, anti-misogynist resistance and staying grounded in the spirit of love that is the essential truth at the heart of Christian belief and Christian life.
Reviews for The Truth at the Heart of the Lie
Publishers Weekly
“This persuasive, provocative book will be a must read.” Read full review
Kirkus Reviews
“A deeply personal exploration of what has broken the modern Catholic Church…detailed, honest, and brutal…consistently captivating…[a] moving, forthright autobiography and searing critique…an urgent call to action.” Read full review
C-SPAN
Michael Rezendes
“James Carroll has written a courageous and inspiring account of his original commitment to and subsequent disillusion with the Catholic Church…Our only hope is to have the courage to imagine a future that returns to the spirit of equity, love and compassion that is fundamental to the true teaching not only of the Catholic Church but which lies at the heart of all the great world religions.” Karen Armstrong, author of The Case for God
Amanpour & Company
Michel Martin
“The Truth at the Heart of the Lie is an amazing account of the author’s life-long adventure of faith, full of candor and pain about one man’s encounter with the peculiar blessings and severe limitations of Catholic Christianity. Here the reader will come to know a man of such intellectual breadth and astonishing self-honesty as one almost never encounters in contemporary literature. Thomas Cahill, author of How the Irish Saved Civilization
Atlanta History Center Virtual Author Talks
Virginia Prescott
“In The Truth at the Heart of the Lie James Carroll bares his Catholic soul — and the soul of his Church… Carroll peers, with undaunted courage, into the shadows of deceit and corruption that have shaken his soul’s confidence. In that darkness, he discovers the truth hidden in the human failings, sins, and betrayals of his Church’s bishops and priests. The Catholic priesthood and the Catholic Church are at a tipping point. This gripping memoir of faith, bringing us to our knees, might well move us over the edge.” Rev. Donald Cozzens, former Rector of the Catholic Seminary in Cleveland and author of Notes from the Underground
“James Carroll’s[The Truth at the Heart of the Lie], grounded in deep familiarity with the history of the Catholic Church, his experience as a faithful Catholic, and his own ever-perceptive mind. Though a wrenching and honest confrontation with the dismaying recent history of the Church, the book can and should be read also as a cautious, wise and real word of hope. A disturbing, moving, and important book from one of the keenest interpreters of contemporary Catholicism.” Kevin Madigan, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Harvard University