Paul Collins: writer, historian, environmentalist, broadcaster ... and Catholic

Annuncio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus papam.
("I announce to you great joy. We have a pope.")

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ALSO … Paul's new book:

Beyond Priests. The future of ministry in the Catholic Church

Beyond Priests contends that the requirements of the clerical priesthood of the Catholic Church--that all priests must be male, and that all priests must be celibate--is a gross distortion of scripture and the church's early history that must be changed. While the roots of the modern priesthood go back to the fourth century and even more remotely to the presbyters or elders who advised local bishops in the early church, the contemporary priestly model is very much the product of seventeenth-century French reformers acting to apply a 1563 decree on the priesthood of the Council of Trent. The present-day priestly model has increasingly become harmful, even toxic, not only to priests themselves, but to the ministry and the Catholic community. Based on historical analysis, Beyond Priests outlines a whole new way of approaching ministry and leadership that is in tune with contemporary needs, is inclusive of women and men, and is more authentically derived from the New Testament and the early church.

Published by Sheed & Ward, Lanham, Maryland. US Edition US$28.00. Australian edition: A$49.99 (hard back). ISBN: 9798881802608. Available as an eBook.

Paul Collins is an historian, broadcaster and writer. A Catholic priest for thirty-three years, he resigned from the active priestly ministry in 2001 due to a dispute with the Vatican over his book Papal Power (1997).

Collins has authored seventeen books and is known as a commentator on Catholicism and the papacy. He also has a strong interest in ethics, environmental and population issues.

Collins has a Master's degree in theology from Harvard University and a Doctorate of Philosophy in history from the Australian National University. He lives in Canberra, Australia.