In 1924, Karl Adam’s classic work The Spirit of Catholicism caught the zeitgeist and was an international bestseller. The need for a similar book for our times is very urgent and here it is. As now, the privatization and spiritualization of religion was a major issue. Boland stresses however the social, embodied character of Catholicism, a fact he regards as crucial for the social and political situation in which we find ourselves today. We are not just witness to the presence of Christ’s body under the form of bread but also to Christ’s body as the community of those who have come to believe in Christ. This is the “earthen vessel” in which a treasure is carried and Catholicism acknowledges and celebrates this embodiment. This is the spirit of Catholicism.
