“Listers, think of all your favorite Catholic authors (Chesterton, Tolkien, O’Connor, Percy, Greene, Powers). Besides being Catholic, what other common similarity do they all share? The answer is: They’re all dead! (God rest them). Now try to think of just one famous Catholic fiction writer who you absolutely love, who you know will make an indelible mark on the history of literature in the 21st century, and who is still alive today. If you are like me, you really have strain to name one off the top of your head. I am sure there are several famous authors who happen to be Catholic, but their personal religious ideals and perceptions are not entirely made known in their writings. However, there are other writers who try to write beautiful stories but can’t get published, promoted, or recognized by the secular or many Catholic media outlets because they are too ‘religious’ and are, therefore, too ‘unrealistic.’ Somehow ‘religious’ has become a synonym for ‘unrealistic,’ but as Catholics we know that is certainly not the case. Our religion is our reality. So, when a Catholic writer wants to write what they know and they want to write about the reality of being a Catholic, they are then told by everyone else that their reality is not ‘real’ enough. If that is not discouraging, then I don’t know what is.”
In a recent commentary, JE Foyer reflected on why the Catholic community should be concerned about the lack of good contemporary Catholic literature and art.
To access her complete post, please visit:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment