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Roger Ebert's latest personal essay, called "How I Am A Roman Catholic," has generated a huge response, both pro and con. (AP Photo/File)

Praise and disappointment for Roger Ebert's Catholic confession

BY Tom Tangney  on March 7, 2013 @ 6:46 am (Updated: 7:37 am - 3/7/13 )

Roger Ebert is the best known movie critic in America. But lately he's been branching out a lot, writing personal essays for the Chicago Sun-Times in addition to his weekly film reviews.

His latest offering, called "How I Am A Roman Catholic," has generated a huge response, both pro and con.

Ebert's essay was sparked by his watching the live television coverage of Pope Benedict's departure from the Vatican.

He writes that watching that made him harken back to his Catholic upbringing at St. Mary's Grade School. Wise Sister Rosanne, he says, would start each school day proclaiming the Church to be the oldest continuously functioning institution in human history, and taking pride in the fact the Popes formed an unbroken chain all the way back to St Peter and Jesus himself.

Ebert spends most of the rest of the essay crediting his Catholic education for not only his moral and political principles but his rich aesthetic ones as well.

What's getting all the attention though is one of his concluding remarks. He writes, " I consider myself Catholic, lock, stock and barrel, with this technical loophole: I cannot believe in God." That line has stirred up a lot of conversation and not a little controversy. It's generated over two hundred comments online, many praising him for his honesty and others blasting him for his hypocrisy.

A couple of representative zingers:

"Saying one is a Catholic who doesn't believe in God is like saying one loves Dr. Pepper, then buys bottles of it, pours the liquid down the drain and lovingly displays the bottles on a shelf."

And "You don't believe in god, yet you embrace a corrupt institution responsible for the deaths of thousands in Africa, the relentless villification(sic) of gay people, the ritual subjugation of women, and the aggressive enabling of thousands of child predators, for no more pressing reason than fond memories of growing up indoctrinated into this cult."

Both well-written jibes.

But what I like about Ebert's column is that he hits on not a universal truth, but a truth a lot of people experience: That one can have a lot of appreciation and yes, fondness for a religion one was raised in and yet at some point find its tenets not quite tenable.

Ebert acknowledges he would not be the man, nor the critic he is, without Catholicism and for that he's eternally grateful. But relishing the benefits of a belief system and buying into that system are two different things - for Ebert and for many others.

I personally benefited from the parochial school system in grade school (Christ the King) and high school (Blanchet) and I graduated from a Jesuit university (Seattle University.)

One of the things I most appreciate about my Catholic education was how well it taught me to think.

I remember hearing about one distraught parent of a fellow SU student who lamented - what good is all this education if one loses one's faith in the process.

I say, it seems a fair trade to me. Lock, stock, and barrel.

Tom Tangney, KIRO Radio Host
Tom Tangney is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle's Morning News and resident enthusiast of...everything. He loves books, movies, TV, art, pop culture, politic, sports, and Husky football.
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Comments (24)


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  • Cbrew wrote...
    I'm sorry to hear
    March 7, 2013 2:23 pm
    that he lost his faith or that he never had it. I think people fail to realize the wisdom that comes from the Bible and get hung up on much of the specifics of stories they find too incredible to believe. In my own personal belief i feel that the Bible tells us the story of humanity and it's experiences with God. Do I believe that every single line in the Bible is meant to it's literal wording, no, there's often a specific meaning behind many of the stories in the Bible and that is the point of the Book in the first place, The further back an account goes the less we are able to get the real version of events, much of what is in the Bible is descriptions of events that took place generations before they were written down and as any story that passes by word of mouth to the next person you will find that the details aren't as accurate as the first account this is true of any story not just a biblical one, this is why in my opinion the old testament is difficult for many modern folks to believe or understand, but the more you listen to the accounts of Jesus as told by his apostles you recognize that his message is more thorough, it's easier to understand, and the accounts are better recorded, and for good reason, Jesus walked during a much more recent time than the stories of the old testament, and the record of his life is much more thorough... I believe in Christ, I believe in his teachings, I feel that it's a great shame that so many are turned off by the details of older stories, but to me the evidence and proof of Jesus Christ is very compelling... So much so the very Kingdom that put him to the cross converted to Christianity... I think those who automatically shut out the possibility of God, are simply afraid of the implications of God, they do not wish to be judged for their actions, and do not wish to believe that one day they will have to account for themselves and how they have treated their fellow man... but make no mistake, the evidence of God is all around you... and his love is not out of your reach... but take no one's word for it, simply open your mind and read the New Testament... see for yourself.
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  • Chris Halliday wrote...
    It makes perfect sense to me
    March 7, 2013 2:29 pm
    I was raised Catholic as well. I did eight years of grade school where Jesus Himself (Jimmy Caviezel) was two grades behind me. Of course there were a lot of good things about it but there was too much bad for me to remain Catholic. I'm now a deist and can totally understand why Ebert became an atheist. What doesn't make sense about believing you should behave well just for the sake of being a good person? What makes sense about believing in an all forgiving God when so many bad things happen? For some people a guy like God is just too much for them to grasp, that's all. Personally, my life experiences have shown me there is most definately a god. Hypocrites that believe in Him and behave poorly tick Him off more than the honest who don't believe He exists.
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  • Hayduke wrote...
    No, boo who. It's why he was forced to resign.
    March 7, 2013 2:34 pm
    Or are you actually suggesting that gay rights group is just making up the whole story?
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  • soo purletiv wrote...
    Roger Ebert,
    March 7, 2013 4:16 pm
    though I personally have always found him repulsive, speaks grander words than many will give him credit for.

    In fact, like it or not, and I don't mean this offensively, but I believe he speaks for the church itself including the Popes when he stated: " I consider myself Catholic, lock, stock and barrel, with this technical loophole: I cannot believe in God."

    No way in any mind or heart can someone have an active faith, or substantial belief in a living God while allowing what these "priests" were doing for so long a time.

    And it is not just on the "priests". The entire hierarchy not only knew what was going on, but winkfully condoned it by spreading this scourge from parish to parish as they moved the guilty "priests" around when word and proof of his activities became too heavy to hide or ignore.

    And don't give me the tired old 1% argument. It's not the amount of "priests" engaged in this behavior that is paramount. It is the reaction, the non condemnatory reaction from the hierarchy that takes precedence here. Not only that, but the statements by recent Popes and other higher ups who have resisted legal and other reforms leads one to believe that the good ole boys are STILL in the house.

    One cannot believe in the God of the Bible and actively or even passively take part in such grotesque behavior. Nor can one of that ilk expect others to take them seriously, as though they are somewhat pious (the good kind of pious that is).

    Roger Ebert spoke volumes by just a short quote.

    Not trying to step on any toes here. My angst is directed toward the organization leadership and how far they have drifted from their supposed teacher.

    I can only imagine how disgusted Jesus would be (well, is) had he been on the Earth today. If you think he ripped the self righteous Jewish leaders of his time a new axx, imagine what he would say to the Catholic leadership of today...

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  • sportsguru wrote...
    soo purletiv
    March 7, 2013 6:17 pm
    I'm still not speaking to you, but, I am man enough to compliment a good post when I hear one. That was a great post. Now back to my boycott of you,pfftt.
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  • heyjim55 wrote...
    He doesn't believe in God
    March 7, 2013 4:56 pm
    It's because he is a Marxist, lots of people grow up in religious homes and a lot them go to private schools that are ran by a Catholic or Christian churches. Roger is no exception but he is a Chicago boy and that means he was exposed to Leftist influences and guess who won? Roger's gratefulness comes from guilt the church educated him well and most know that Catholic schools are very good at academics and teaching you how to think. But Roger like this writer prefer Marxism and if you are one you usually don't believe in god as most are atheists.
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  • Hayduke wrote...
    I second that, sportsguru.
    March 7, 2013 7:01 pm
    Very eloquently put, soo purletiv. Now let's all retreat back to our predetermined biases against one another.....
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