To me, his disillusionment with religion as a result of the actions of callous priests towards the poor, in the most culturally Catholic country on earth, seemed a major theme of the book. For what it's worth, I did not take away from that a desire to despise the Church; but rather a pity for his estrangement from the divine — something he probably never consciously intended.
Having lived in a working-class Catholic parish in a large city, I saw for myself a great variety of priests and their skill levels — some were kind and loving; others were cold and contemptuous; some were intellectual; others not too bright. The big lesson all of us who love Christ must learn is that no man is perfect and that all earthly leaders we look up to can, and probably will, let us down. It's just that some let us down or humiliate us more than others; and when their job is to represent the love of God, it's very hard to get past:
In a 2004 interview that also included his brothers Malachy, Mike and Alphie, author Frank McCourt related,
"Once we were outside a monastery begging for food. I could smell the bread baking inside and the monk finally came out and flung some stale loaves at our feet. 'Pick it up out of the dirt, boyo,' he said, 'if you need it so bad.'"
Serendipity brought me to seeing an interview this afternoon on C-SPAN - of an interview with McCourt done in 1997.
I didn’t know of his death and wondered why it was being broadcast - but at the end of the program they gave a link to www.booktv.org which has the story and a video of the interview.
It is quite funny, sad, quirky and comes alive before your eyes - the children being born into poverty and living to share their stories - thanks to Frank for getting it started. Here is the formal announcement which has already been written about on FR - who never miss “news” happening.
Author Frank McCourt Dies
“Angela’s Ashes” author Frank McCourt died July 19, 2009, in New York City. Below is the obituary published in the Washington Post. Mr. McCourt appeared on C-SPAN’s “Booknotes” program in 1997. You can watch the video online at www.booktv.org
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/19/AR2009071901588.html?nav=hcmoduletmv