Reforming the priesthood

Donald Cozzens presents one of the most concise analyses of a central problem in the church: the deteriorating state of the clergy. The old remedies--careful review of candidates and better seminary formation--will not work without a thorough-going change of clerical culture. It does no good to spray the leaves if the plant's roots are rotting.

The church should be willing to consider a married or female priesthood, but such reforms are a great threat to those who have made it up the ecclesiastical ladder. Things will probably have to get much worse before Pope Benedict and his cardinals admit to themselves that such fundamental reform is necessary. Yet Cozzens expresses very well what millions of Catholics, priests and laity, have been saying since the 1960s.

EUGENE C. BIANCHI

Atlanta, Ga.

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