A Disarming Spirit

A Disarming Spirit opens with Archbishop Hunthausen's historic speech denouncing the Trident nuclear submarine fleet harbored in his archdiocese. It then traces a range of religion and society issues that shaped his Seattle tenure, and digs deep into the story of turmoil as he faced not only the wrath of secular powers but also scrutiny from the ''restorationist'' papacy of John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when the central authority of the Catholic Church turned away from the Vatican II model of church so vital to Hunthausen. The book, with three major parts, Conscience, Courage, and Character, allows us to understand not only the contours of Hunthausen's whole life but also some of the larger social forces surrounding an intimate and compelling story of prophetic witness and deep spirituality for peace and justice.