Rome Reshaped

Is it possible to be an authentic Christian pilgrim today? Veteran Vatican reporter O'Grady (Commonweal, New York Times) is intrigued by the idea of pilgrimage as a spiritual discipline. The Year 2000 Jubilee announced by Pope John Paul II (the 26th Jubilee in the last 700 years) offers O'Grady the opportunity to examine what Jubilee has meant to countless pilgrims. O'Grady lines up nearly a score of themes related to Jubilee years of the past, sketching the ecclesiastic, cultural, theological, social, scriptural and political issues related to the idea of a Jubilee year. Along the way, various saints and sinners take the stage, including Saint Ignatius Loyola, playwright Oscar Wilde, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon. O'Grady ties the players and themes together under the umbrella of spiritual pilgrimage. He also examines Jubilee's salient political underpinnings (he contends that Pope John Paul II, for example, may have orchestrated the 2000 Jubilee so the Church can apologize for past wrongs). Scholars will not be satisfied with the book's dearth of academic research, but most readers will find it an informative and insightful discussion of pilgrimage and the upcoming Jubilee year. (Sept.)