Life in Paradox: The Story of a Gay Catholic Priest | 
 enlarge | Author: Paul Edward Murray
Publisher: O Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 674975
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 1846941121
Dewey Decimal Number: 282.092
EAN: 9781846941122
ASIN: 1846941121
Publication Date: July 25, 2008
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Product Description
No issue divides the Christian community more than homosexuality. Father Paul Murray's story provides an intimate look at life on both sides of the liberal/conservative divide that crosses through church and society alike. His personal odyssey and eventual self-acceptance of his homosexuality chart a radical transformation in his understandings of God, church, and society.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Soothing Companion August 8, 2008
This is not the kind of book that offers therapeutic or even informative insights, but it serves as a soothing companion to anyone struggling with a love-hate relationship with organized religion. Murray acknwledges well his rage with key players in the institution; I would have liked to heard his experience of standing at the edge of the abyss of mystery, and why he chose to embrace the Mystical Body of Christ in the first place. A good read but left me wanting more.
Quite a book July 2, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
First the confession. Twenty-eight years ago, Paul received me into the Roman Catholic Church and, although we've not kept in touch very well since I left Washington in 1984, the Paul I knew then comes alive in this incredibly honest book. In the years I knew him, the paradox of being gay and Roman Catholic was not so painful as it is today after the long papacy of John Paul II.
What I find most authentic is the way Paul tries mightily, for so long, to hold together those two central aspects of his being. Carl Jung observed that it is in holding the tension of the opposites we encounter in life that the soul conceives a third, not previously imagined possibility. This takes a great deal of courage, but it is the way we grow.
Paul's book portrays wonderfully his process of trying to hold those opposites together in all their awful tension and the book itself is evidence of a third thing now emerging, in which Paul -- no matter what the hierarchy does in response to his memoir -- realizes and claims himself fully as both gay and Catholic.
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly -- Life in Paradox -- The Story of a Gay Catholic Priest June 30, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
Father Paul Murray shared the contents of this epic new work with the Congregation of Washington, DC Dignity after Mass on Sunday 6/29/08.
An appendix contains correspondence between the Archdiocese of Washington and himself suggesting that some of the views contained in strictly academic teachings constituted heresy, especially regarding 'same sex unions.' Issues associated with Father making himself available on a web based service called 'rent-a-priest' were also faulted.
As a FORMER member of both the Maryland & DC Bars and having been thru numerous disciplinary proceedings [many, many years ago] myself, my concern is that the Catholic Church need not press the Father too much because perhaps even more than in attorney disciplinary proceedings, the church seems to hold all the cards in a deck that has been stacked long, long ago.
Inasmuch as Father grew up as an Episcopalian and there is a long history of priests switching between these two faith traditions, he was asked why he simply did not choose to become an Episcopalian priest, to which he responded that his heart was essentially with the Roman Catholic tradition.
It appears that at least prior to the publication of this epic book, that the Roman Catholic church was 'taking its time' in dealing with these issues, but will that continue now?
As a GLBT catholic, [T] in this instance, my concern for Father Murray is his 'long term' vitality, for while the personal journey so well articulated in Life in Paradox has only strengthened his realization of truth in the life of Christ, does this open the floodgates of the reality of a threatened, repressed and compromised ecclestial hierarchy within the Roman Catholic tradition?
An excellent read and extremely informative.
Gut Wrenching Honesty June 5, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Father Paul Murray writes a personal story involving great personal pain and abandonment by the Church he loves and serves. It is a gut wrenching story told with complete honesty. I can identify with Father Murray because I am a gay man and a Roman Catholic who has been treated by the institutional Church as "TAINTED GOODS". Every Gay and Lesbian and Transgendered Person who is Spiritual should read this book. These are stories that must be told. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand the pain of being a Gay Person in the Roman Catholic Church.
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