Cardinal Bernardin's Stations of the Cross

Depicting “religious hope at its most compelling,” this devotional and biography is, “for Catholics . . . an act of rescue; for all . . . an act of redemption” (James Carroll, author of New York Times–bestselling author of Constantine's Sword and Secret Father).

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, the archbishop of Chicago, had long been considered the leader of American Catholicism and was so widely respected throughout the world that he was thought to be the only American who might become Pope. His life took another path, however, after he was falsely accused of sexual abuse in 1993. Vindicated and about to embark on a broad program of renewal, he was stricken with pancreatic cancer in 1995.

Between his first diagnosis in June 1995 until the recurrence of his cancer in August, 1996, a period of fourteen months elapsed. There are fourteen stations in the traditional Catholic devotion of the Stations of the Cross that commemorate the events from Christ's judgment through his carrying of his cross to his crucifixion and death. In the last months of his life, Joseph Bernardin lived out those stations in his own life, from being judged unjustly by the high priest brother Cardinals who wanted to eliminate his influence in American Catholicism, to his bearing his own cross, and from his last meeting with his mother to his public death. This book is a series of meditations on the traditional stations, based on scriptural scholarship, and the stations Bernardin lived, revealed by author Eugene Kennedy, Bernardin's close friend for thirty years.

“A splendid book.” —Rev. Richard P. McBrien, author of Catholicism

“[A] marvelous liturgical devotion.” —Rev. Theodore, M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., President Emeritus University of Notre, Dame

“An excellent companion.” —Publishers Weekly