What Do You Want to Know?

You’ve probably heard statements such as these:

“There is no God.”

“One religion is as good as another.”

“Religious believers are hypocrites.”

“I’m spiritual but not religious.”

“Science has made religion obsolete.”

 

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, one of Catholicism’s most effective communicators, can help you navigate these often difficult conversations. In What Do You Want to Know?, Wuerl addresses twenty-six of today’s most common misconceptions of the faith and the Church and offers everyday Catholics encouragement for framing responses in a way that can be an invitation to friendship.

Many Catholics —including those who are in positions such as that of Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC—are confronted with statements and questions that challenge their faith. Employing a conversational tone and friendly style, What Do You Want to Know? sets out to answer each one, responding, as Wuerl says, “to friends who think they are enemies.”

 

A work of popular apologetics, Wuerl tackles each concern, explaining, illuminating, and challenging all who read What Do You Want to Know? with the truth of the Christian faith and the essential purpose of the Catholic Church in the world today. He also takes the pressure off people who may not feel able to provide philosophical proof of God's existence by telling them that their personal experience of faith in God can be just as (or perhaps even more) effective.

 

Those who pose challenging questions or statements such as these will be drawn into conversation by Cardinal Wuerl’s thoughtful answers. Catholic educators, pastors, parish leaders, and parents alsowill find the book to be essential for their use in catechesis and evangelization.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl is the archbishop of Washington. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. Wuerl serves on numerous national and international bodies and is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, chancellor of The Catholic University of America, and chairman of both the board of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Foundation and also of The Papal Foundation. He serves on a number of Vatican congregations, councils, and commissions including those for the Doctrine of the Faith and for Bishops. He has served as chairman of various committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Wuerl is known for his teaching ministry and is involved in many education, health care, and social service organizations. He is the author of numerous articles and more than a dozen books, including the bestselling catechisms The Teaching of Christ and The Catholic Way. His recent books include The Church (2013), The Light Is On For You (2014), The Marriage God Wants for You (2015), and Ways to Pray (2015). Wuerl was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and received graduate degrees from The Catholic University of America, the Gregorian University in Rome, and a doctorate in theology from the University of Saint Thomas in Rome. He was ordained a bishop by Pope John Paul II on January 6, 1986. Wuerl served as auxiliary bishop in Seattle until 1987 and then as bishop of Pittsburgh for eighteen years until his appointment to Washington.

“With Cardinal Wuerl’s characteristic ‘clarity, charity, and truth,’ What Do You Want To Know? provides simple but profound answers to some of the most common and contentious questions people have about the Church and its teaching. A splendid work of apologetics!”
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of New York

“This is an excellent way to present a number of important but difficult themes of faith today. Ultimately, the book is about the friendship God wants with us. It is an invitation to such a dialogue.”

From the foreword by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo
Archbishop of Houston-Galveston

 

“Apologetics, Cardinal Wuerl reminds us, aims to touch hearts and engender good will even as it passionately defends the truth of the Catholic Faith. With a kind of Chestertonian joviality, the Cardinal’s book What do you Want to Know? is a delightful and friendly learning experience.

From his good humor, pastoral experience and theological agility, Cardinal Wuerl models for us not just what to say when our faith is challenged, but also, in what spirit to say it. This is a great gift and a book I will happily recommend to evangelizers in my diocese.” 
Most Rev. Daniel E. Flores
Bishop of Brownsville

 

“Some people defend the faith so ferociously that they drive inquirers away. Others are so polite that they fail to put up a defense. Cardinal Wuerl exemplifies the virtuous way between these vices. He shows that we can be simultaneously kind and intellectually honest. This book is a model for friendly conversation.”
Scott Hahn
Catholic theologian, author, and speaker

“For some Catholics, ‘apologetics’ is a dirty word. It’s considered retrograde, closed-off, and too defensive, out of step with new emphases on ecumenism and outreach to the world. Unfortunately, this has resulted in millions of Catholics ill-equipped to articulate why they believe what they do. They might agree with the Church’s teaching—that God exists, Jesus is God, the Bible is reliable, religion is good—but when pressed even a little by skeptical friends or family members to defend those views, they find themselves tongue-tied. That’s why this new book by Cardinal Wuerl is so welcome. Each of the short, accessible chapters gives a clear response to a difficult objection Catholics will inevitably hear. Even better, each answer is born from real pastoral experience. These aren’t the musings of a disconnected professor, locked in his ivory tower. They’re the responses of a spiritual father, in touch and in tune with real people asking difficult questions.”

Brandon Vogt
Content director for Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and author of Why I Am Catholic (and You Should Be Too)