This evening, I read John Allen’s newest book, All the Pope’s Men. I’ll havemore thoughts tomorrow, but until then I’ll simply say that I’m intrigued by one question:

I just am fascinated to see how the National Catholic Reporter is going to review this book. Because, I’m telling you, if it weren’t written by John Allen, their own Vatican correspondent…I have a feeling it would be slammed as an apologetic.

Allen’s intentions are clear from the subtitle: The Inside Story of How the Vatican Really Thinks. What he’s about here is trying to explain the mindset of “the Vatican” to American readers and, he hopes, as a result, help everyone understand each other better and communicate more effectively. This is a great general concern of Allen’s, not just in regard to the chasm of communication between the Vatican and many US Catholics, but among US Catholics themselves as well.

He looks at myths about the Vatican, Vatican psychology, sociology and theology, and then takes about the last third of the book to see how all of this played out in the sexual abuse crisis and the um…conversations…between the Vatican and the US on the war in Iraq. I think what he has done is admirable and actually rather startling, even as I found myself arguing with him at times (more on that tomorrow). He’s trying to make a substantive contribution to clearing the air of sloganeering, shallow thinking, unwarranted assumptions and sheer ignorance. However, as I said, it will be interesting to see the reaction to this book, because it in trying to simply present “Vatican” action and thinking as it is and in context, the total effect, I think, is of great sympathy with the Curial Way, which I can’t imagine will go down well in some quarters.