Chapter 6, "A Religious Education" Summary and Analysis

James begins seminary training at St. Paul's College in 1963 and ends in 1969. He studies with the Paulist Fathers. The order is a one-hundred-year-old American religious group of three hundred priests. They focus on a defensive Catholic Church and a hostile American culture. Isaac Hecker forms the order to help immigrant Catholics adjust to an adopted country and minimize suspicions of the Roman Church. Paulists publish books and magazines, sponsor radio and television programs, preach, and provide chaplains to non-Catholic colleges. James chooses Paulists since the recruiter wears penny loafers.

Father Kelly is a young, informal Paulist priest. His open-hearted camaraderie reminds James of Air Force chaplains and is irresistible. James enters seminary mainly to please his parents. The Paulists oversee his transition to graduate seminarian whose first sermon proves he is the kind...