History is a very important dimension of our identity. Those who do not learn from history tend to bury the good achieved and opt to repeat the mistakes of history, often with consequences worse than in the past. The present work puts together several essays on diverse moments in the history of Christianity. Today, we stand between the memory of the past and the hope of a better future. The book does not romanticize the past, but takes a good hard look at it. Mistakes have been made, some of them, tragic and shameful. Good has also been achieved, some of it lasting even to our time. ...

"What is the province of the laity? To hunt, to shoot, to entertain. These matters they understand, but to meddle with ecclesiastical matters they have no right at all..." snorted Msgr. Talbot in 1867. In 1965, Vatican II stated: "The laity derive their right and duty to work in the apostolate directly from Christ himself, not from the Church or its clergy." In 2014, laity ask in disappointment: To whom are bishops and priests accountable? What, when clergy breach the trust reposed in them by the laity? In our day and in the future, ordained persons, who respect the role and mission of laity...