BOOK ALERT: Collected essays and reviews by the late, brilliant Fr. Paul Mankowski, SJ

Last September 2020, my friend Fr. Paul Mankowski, SJ, died, far too young. Fr. Mankowski was everything that several highly visible Jesuits are not: Catholic, deeply faithful and amazingly intelligent.  He was a Biblical scholar who taught in Rome for years and ran afoul of his Jesuit overlords, who kicked him around for a while and tried to keep him quiet.  He wound up teaching in these USA … until the end.

Jesuit at Large: Essays and Reviews by Paul Mankowski, S.J.

US HERE – UK HERE

One of his very best essays (not in this collection – waaaaay too hard) was in the famous “Five Cardinals Book” (Remaining in the Truth of Christ) which was issued at the time of the first problematic Synod (“walking together”) on the Family. Essay… a whole chapter. Very difficult. This book, you might recall, was delivered to all the members of the Synod in the mail boxes at the Paul VI audience hall, sent to them through the Vatican Post. The organizers caught wind of what was in those envelopes and then STOLE the books from the mailboxes… which is a crime under the laws of the Vatican City State.

George Weigel has put together a collection of some of Mankowski’s penned offerings. I have been looking through them, remembering quite a few after quite a few years.

They are all worth it and timely.

Take note of his review of Jesuit homosexualist activist James Martin’s dreadful book which has made the knees of so many bishops get weak, entitled “Pontifiex Minimus“.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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7 Comments

  1. Gaetano says:

    His essay on “tames” in clerical life remains one of the most insightful into the psychology of modern clergy.

  2. Kerry says:

    “Pontifiex Minimus“, at First Things, August of 2017:

    https://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/08/pontifex-minimus

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  4. Sportsfan says:

    The Skimpole Syndrome.

    Bleak House is an excellent story.

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  6. Les Buissonets says:

    Note to readers in the UK: the book is currently only available from the US, and thus costs roughly twice as much in postage as one pays for the book itself. However, it will be available from Amazon UK from November 21st. I couldn’t wait, so ordered it directly from Ignatius Press, and read it straight away – it’s just as brilliant as one might have expected, and even though I’d read many of the essays and reviews before (often in First Things), they repay countless readings. Fr Mankowski’s combination of insight, scholarship and cutting wit aren’t met with very often: in many ways, his writing reminds me of Mgr. Ronald Knox’s output. Highly recommended.

  7. Andreas says:

    Many thanks for the link, Kerry. It is an excellent read indeed!

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