Book may help readers understand some who leave the church

(CNS photo)

Timothy Egan, author of "A Pilgrimage to Eternity," writes a biweekly opinion column for The New York Times. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and the winner of a National Book Award for nonfiction. He also grew up in a large Catholic family in the Pacific Northwest where he graduated from a Jesuit high school.

Egan and his Jewish wife raised their children with the intention of leaving them free to make their own choices vis-a-vis religion. To his credit, he admits that this may not have been the smartest move he and his spouse ever made. While he remains by choice at quite a distance from Catholicism he continues to be attracted to certain elements of the church's life and theology.