Book Review on “Divorced. Catholic. Now What?” by Lisa Duffy and Vince Frese

The book cover contains a quote by Dr. Linda Klaitz, a psychologist, author and public speaker, whom describes how the

 “divorced Catholics are a population woefully under-served, misunderstood, and often avoided in our parishes.”

Dr. Klaitz goes on to point out how this book,

“begins with a Catholic basis for coping with toxic, painful emotions following divorce.  The structure is spiritually and psychologically sound. Using Scripture, it directs these suffering men and women from anger and sadness to courage, compassion, forgiveness and hope.”

The authors of Divorced. Catholic. Now What?, Lisa Duffy and Vince Frese, help walk the readers through key challenges they will face during the divorce process; such as, anger (towards both the opposing party and possibly even God), resentment, frustration, anxiety, forgiveness and the need for gratitude and hope.  The book also addresses such pertinent subjects, such as, what the Church actually says about divorce, annulments, sex and dating as a divorced Catholic. 

Within each chapter the authors offer up case profiles and glimpses as to how others handled their divorce struggles and what changes they made in order to move themselves past the hurt and pain. For example, in the chapter entitled, “Dealing with your ex-spouse”, they address the important issue of gaining control over the situation and recognizing what you can and cannot control and making the proper choices over what you can control. Knowing as much about yourself, how you react to particular situations, understanding your personal temperament and being familiar with the same information about your ex-spouse, can make a huge difference in bringing control into the situation. Recognizing what you can and cannot control, 

“can become an art: the more you practice it, the better you become and the more naturally it integrates into your personality and temperament.”

 “From there, you can teach yourself better ways to deal with the difficult situations that arise because of your divorce.”   

The chapters are well structured and offer scripture references, and “Now What?” steps to follow after reading each chapter, plus words of meditation, a resolution and lists of further suggested readings.

While the subject matter is centered upon the subject of divorce, there our suggestions and helpful tips within this book which can actually be used by anyone facing a challenging situation of any kind not just a divorce.  At some point in time, no matter what your station is in life, you will probably face issues of anger, frustration, and confrontations of some kind.  The authors of “Divorced. Catholic. Now What?” offer helpful, theological advice on how to handle those challenging situations whether or not you are dealing with an actual divorce.

This book is available on Amazon. Additionally, I am referring only this particular book which was Copyrighted in 2007 by Lisa Duffy and Vince Frese and published by Journey of Hope Productions.  Furthermore, Lisa Duffy has a website located at divorcedcatholic.com which might be of further assistance for some of our patrons. This reviewer has no official association with Ms. Duffy nor with Journey of Hope Productions.  I am only offering this book review as an assistance to the patrons of our website and encouraging them to further investigation the subject matter for their own growth and education.