In response to underlying issues raised by the clerical sexual abuse scandal Stephen Pope, associate professor of theology at Boston College, invited an array of scholars and committed Catholics to ask this question:  How might the current system of ecclesial governance within the Catholic Church be improved and made more responsive to the needs of believers?  Some of those invited to respond include:  R. Scott Appleby, Lisa Sowle Cahill, Thomas Groome, Ladislas Orsy, S.J., Pheme Perkins, and James Post.

Margaret O’Brien Steinfels, who addressed the bishops at the famous Dallas meeting in 2002, comments:  “The Church is not well governed.  In Common Calling, we are offered some solutions.  Theologians, historians, scripture scholars, and canon lawyers draw on the Church’s own rich tradition to remind bishops and lay people alike that we can do better.  ...This is an important effort to set things right.  Read it.”

The book is published by Georgetown University Press, 2004 and is readily available at bookstores.