Mary DOAK.  A Prophetic, Public Church:  Witness to Hope Amid the Global Crises of the 21st Century.  Collegeville, MN:  Liturgical Press, 2020.  pp. 234 + xxi.  $29.95 pb.  ISBN 978-0-8146-8450-4.  Reviewed by Stephen S. WILBRICHT, Stonehill College, Easton, MA 02357.

            The beginning of the twenty-first century’s second decade has witnessed not only a worldwide pandemic responsible for more than 1.73 million deaths but also the public display of dissent around the globe demanding racial equality and the recognition of human dignity for all walks of life.  Indeed, a daily confrontation with the threat of Covid-19 and a universal stirring of voices crying “Black Lives Matter” have changed the way we think and act in the year 2020.  Mary Doak, Professor of Theology at the University of San Diego, presents us with a timely book that calls the church to be a sign and instrument of communion in our broken world. 

            Subscribing to the mandate provided by the Second Vatican Council in the opening words of Lumen Gentium (the Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), namely that the church must share “the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties” of all peoples around the world, Doak argues that the church itself must accomplish some interior reform work before it can be a credible sign of hope for the world.  In other words, before the church can call the global community to truly embrace the way of unity-in-diversity, it must first correct problems that prevent it from being a true communion.  While Doak acknowledges that the predominance of a privatized culture as well as the destructive scandal of the clergy sexual abuse mar the church in its pursuit of communion, she focuses instead on the need to overcome anti-Semitism and misogyny.  In Doak’s words:  “The church fails in its mission when it defines itself in supersessionist terms as the “New Israel” taking the place formerly held by the Jewish people.  Similarly, the church fails to witness to the equality-in-diversity of all humanity when it construes the church as comprising a male clergy representing to a subservient female laity” (114).

            Having established in chapters two and three that the church has work to do to transform relationships before it can prophecy to the unity-in-diversity that is the very nature of God, Doak proceeds to examine three global crises that the church must make its mission to address and challenge.  First, chapter four looks at the intricacies of global capitalism and the disastrous effects of poverty it leaves behind.  Doak masterfully demonstrates how Catholic social teaching responds to economic injustice, including therein a wide spectrum of Pope Francis’ condemnation of an economy that becomes a “false god” demanding regular sacrifice.  Second, chapter five examines the global climate crisis, with Doak echoing Pope Francis’ call for all humans to become stewards of God’s good creation.  Finally, chapter six addresses the issue of global migration.  Doak questions:  “What does it mean to be a sign and instrument of the communion of all in God when refugees are risking their lives—and dying at the rate of well over four thousand per year—to obtain the basic levels of food, shelter, and security that many of us take for granted?” (192).

            These themes are not new in the field of ecclesiology.  However, a major contribution of Doak’s writing is that in all three crises above—the global economic crisis, the environmental demise of the planet, and the dilemma of worldwide immigration—she believes the perspective of women to be overlooked.  In a church dominated by male clergy, it is men who typically respond to these ethical quandaries.  In all three areas, Doak demonstrates how women are primary victims who are often not taken into consideration; Catholic social teaching fails in that it does not reflect the experience of women around the world.  The author’s most poignant example of this failure is in regards to the human trafficking of women and children.  Doak writes:  “Given that Jesus was especially remembered for seeking out the company of prostituted women, a church that strives to follow Jesus cannot ignore this most vulnerable, yet often hidden segment of the population” (216).  For the church to be a true sign and instrument of God’s reconciliation in the world, the voices of women simply must be heard. 

            A Prophetic, Public Church isa timely work in the area of ecclesiology that calls the church to reform.  The author challenges Christians to make real-life sacrifices that will lead to universal change and the greater likelihood for communion among all people.  Doak makes it clear that these sacrifices are made not for the passing of some test that would allow for entrance into the heavenly realm (an escape from this world), but instead are made in order to live here and now “the genuine fulfillment in communion that will be perfected only in the eschaton” (223).  Towards this goal, Doak demands that we must “unlearn” the ways in which we refuse to “value the differences of women and of Jews” (225).  Only then, will we be in a position to summon the world to the unity-in-diversity that is the hallmark of God’s kingdom.