US bishop hails book by Mayo priest
US Bishop John P Dolan with Fr Brendan Hoban's new book.
columnist, Fr Brendan Hoban, received an unexpected compliment on his recent book, , from Bishop John P. Dolan of the diocese of Phoenix, USA.
It came about like this. Fr John Cunningham, formerly of Phoenix diocese and now living in retirement in Kiltimagh, read the book, was suitably impressed by it and decided to send it to his friend, Bishop Dolan. A fan of Pope Francis, Fr Cunningham felt that Bishop Dolan, who shares a common outlook with Pope Francis, would be impressed with it. And so he was!
The bishop had this picture taken, highlighting the book cover and including a succinct verdict on the book – just two words – ‘Love it!’
Fr Hoban told the : "I was really delighted with Bishop Dolan’s response to my book and I’m very grateful to Fr Cunningham for sending it to him. is a title that celebrates the contribution my hero, Pope Francis, has already made to the Church in a decade, the changes he has introduced and the changes we are likely to see in the future."
Bishop Dolan, whose forbears hail from Westport, was born in San Diego and served as an auxiliary bishop there before his appointment last year to Phoenix. He oversees one of the fastest growing dioceses in the United States and it is now home to 1.1 million Catholics.
Very much in the style of Pope Francis. Bishop Dolan says: "I’m really a person who likes to dialogue, rather than shut things down and I think we are better as a church when we have an open heart."
He compares his outlook to that of Pope Francis, explaining that he "grew up in a large family, nine kids".
"There’s no way of drawing a line with nine kids. You have to fight it out sometimes. But at the end of the day, we go to a table together and have dinner, and that’s what we should be eventually working towards as church."
is widely available in shops and online from Knock Bookshop and costs €18.
