Why Be a Catholic?

Mark Dooley has held lectureships at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and at University College Dublin where he was John Henry Newman Scholar of Theology. From 2003-2006, he wrote a controversial column on foreign affairs for the Sunday Independent. Since 2006, he has written for the Irish Daily Mail. Dooley is also a regular broadcaster on Irish radio and television, and has served as a political speech writer. He is author of The Politics of Exodus: Kierkegaard's Ethics of Responsibility (2001), The Philosophy of Derrida (2007), and Roger Scruton: The Philosopher on Dover Beach (2009). He is editor of Questioning Ethics (1999), Questioning God (2001), A Passion for the Impossible (2003), and The Roger Scruton Reader (2009).

[a] beautifully written book... In the times in which we live, to write as Dooley has done takes courage. As you read this book you may be edified, you may be enraged; one thing you won't be is bored.

• Introduction1. The Flame of Faith2. What Do We Believe?3. Getting Back to Basics4. From Boredom to Beauty5. What It Means to be a Parishioner6. What It Means to be a Priest7. Solace in the Sacraments8. From Prayer to Paradise9. The Road to Rome10. Do This in Memory of MeConclusion