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Father Kavanaugh's major polemical weapon is the sweeping generalization. Ignoring the fact that great juridical decisions can rise to the level of philosophy, he boldly declares: "The legal mind is a restricted and impoverished mind which cannot move without a law to support each flicker of its brain." He describes the church's code of can on law, which is now being drastically revised, as "archaic" and "reeking of drawbridges and moats." Dismissing the intellectual achievements of Jesuits John Courtney Murray and Karl Rahner, Kavanaugh insists that "Catholic theology died somewhere between Thomas and Tarzan." He scarcely mentions the reforming legislation of the Second Vatican Council, except in pointed skepticism. "Are we persons now that the bishops have voted to share the medieval powers of our Pope?" he asks. "Nothing has really changed. We will continue to preserve the system that has paralyzed us."
Without question, much in postconciliar Catholicism still needs reforming —as even Pope Paul has admitted. Without question, too, archaic laws governing personal behavior still frustrate and hurt some of Catholicism's loyal sons and daughters—and few of Father Kavanaugh's readers will doubt that his concern for their human tragedies is both passionate and sincere. Nonetheless, many Catholics who hope and pray for renewal may have cause to suspect that Kavanaugh's angry and oversimplified criticism can only hurt rather than help the forces of change within the church.