Weekly Summary: 11/22/25
The week in review, through the eyes of a veteran Catholic journalist
The exciting news here this week was the publication of my novel, Ghost Runner.
(As the week came to an end, I was told that Amazon— which was selling the book last week— has now inexplicably announced that it is not yet released, and won’t ship until next June! Not true! I have copies in hand, and they’re available now— at the same price— from the publisher, Sophia Institute. So you don’t have to wait.)
- My friends at the Trivium School were gracious enough to host a launch party for the book, at which I spoke about why I had written it, and what kind of book it is. There are many photos of the event, and a video of my presentation, here. <I>(Scroll down to the bottom for the video.)</i>
- And if you missed that pleasant evening gathering, the Center for the Restoration of Christian Culture, at Thomas More College, has scheduled a similar book-launch event for December 16.
- You’ll find the publisher’s description of Ghost Runner, along with some back-cover blurbs, at the bottom of this post.
And now I’ll move on to other news…
• Since the beauties of the traditional Catholic liturgy and the horrors of World War I are special interests of mine, I was delighted to notice that Kevin Tierney put them together in a clever post, comparing the inevitable failure of Traditionis Custodes to the fate of the Schlieffen Plan.
• In the Archdiocese of Detroit, Archbishop Weisenburger has shut down the traditional liturgy, and tossed a trio of fine professors out of the seminary. Now he’s planning to “restructure” the archdiocese— which is a polite way of saying he’s planning to close a lot of parish churches. The number of practicing Catholics in Detroit is plummeting. The solution, apparently, is to rearrange the deck chairs.
• My first insight of the week, as posted on the CatholicCulture site: “Living out the Catholic faith is simple. Not easy— far from it— but simple, as in uncomplicated.”
• Then, also on CatholicCulture, I explained why the US bishops’ statement in immigration, which has caused so much debate, is actually not important. It won’t have much political impact, because our bishops no longer have much political clout? And why not? Because when Church leaders neglect their spiritual duties, they lose their public influence as well.
• It’s not just their statement on immigration. In the wake of the US bishops’ annual meeting, Leila and I discussed several other reasons for our frustration with our prelates, on our Home Front podcast.
• The week ended with another bit of frustration, as an internet outage— caused by Comcast working in the neighborhood— made it impossible to post my weekly contribution to the seminar on just-war theory. With the long Thanksgiving weekend coming up, I thought it best to declare a two-week truce; we’ll resume that discussion on December 5.
Ghost Runner: the publisher’s description:
Philip Lawler, one of America’s most respected Catholic writers and cultural critics, bursts onto the fiction scene with a riveting debut novel that plunges readers into the hidden battles of the Church in the 1980s. Lawler exposes beneath the surface of parish life and chancery politics a world of secrets, compromises, and spiritual warfare -- where the faithful struggle to survive and a young priest discovers that he has a special mission -- and powerful enemies.
At the center is Fr. Andy Miller, freshly ordained and already under fire. Forced into sessions with a psychologist, Miller finds that his candid inner voice collides with the stark realities of an archdiocese in which corruption festers and power eclipses truth. Yet through humor, humility, and flashes of startling grace, he fights to shepherd his flock and live out a priesthood that may come at great personal cost.
The story races from Boston’s parishes to the danger zones of war-torn El Salvador, where Miller’s quest thrusts him into peril and political intrigue. Shadowing his path is his brother Peter, a high-ranking official in the Reagan administration, whose own battles in Washington entwine with Andy’s in ways neither could predict. With every turn, the tension mounts -- lives hang in the balance, faith is tested, and the line between betrayal and redemption blurs.
More than a thriller, this is a profound spiritual journey. Lawler pulls readers into the struggle to discern spirits, to cling to God in the face of corruption, and to discover peace through surrender to His will. Along the way, the true beauty of the Church and the essence of the priestly vocation come alive.
This is not just a novel. It is a heart-pounding, soul-stirring plunge into faith under fire. Once you enter Fr. Miller’s world, you won’t be able to put the book down.
Praise for Ghost Runner
“Veteran journalist Phil Lawler has produced a genuine page-turning novel about controversial issues in the Church. You will really want to know what happens to each of these true-to-life Catholic characters. Great story. Well told.”
— Austin Ruse, Author, Under Siege: No Finer Time to Be a Faithful Catholic; President, Center for Family & Human Rights
“Phil Lawler explains the Catholic Church like no one else. His novel Ghost Runner, with its vivid characters and all-too-plausible plot, is a worthy fictional follow-up to his masterful nonfiction book The Faithful Departed: The Col- lapse of Boston’s Catholic Culture.”
— Matt McDonald, Editor in Chief, NewBostonPost
“If you want to tell the truth, sometimes it’s fiction that tells it best. Think of Nineteen Eighty-Four or One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Have there ever been more powerful ways of showing the ugly truth about totalitarian- ism? If you want to tell the truth about corruption and cynicism in the Church, sometimes it’s fiction that tells it best. Philip Lawler knows the truth, and he tells it like it is in this powerful novel.”
— Joseph Pearce, Author, Beauteous Truth, Literary Converts, and Race with the Devil
“Ghost Runners is an engaging and creative narrative that reminds us that the Catholic Church is composed of millions of people — religious and lay alike — each with diverse, complex, and unique backgrounds yet all bound together by thousands of years of faith, practice, and tradition. Through an intriguing and provocative lens, the novel explores several of these lives, thoughtfully revealing some of the motivations, decisions, and struggles that shape the Church and her leaders. A work of fiction grounded in keen and careful observation, Ghost Runners examines the Church with nuance, imagi- nation, and the ring of truth.”
— William McCann, Director, The Liberator
“Phil Lawler has written wonderful journalistic accounts of the Catholic Church and her never-ending battles. But there’s a depth and beauty of his knowledge that’s revealed in this novel that could never be explored in his nonfiction. Phil guides us through internal relationships of priests and laity in their struggles with God and personal shortcomings and in the shortcomings of the Church. That struggle is beautifully presented but never sugar- coated; Phil could never be accused of being Pollyannish in describing dysfunction in the Church. But as with the Passion itself, you can be brutally honest about the agony without losing your faith. In fact, as his characters reveal, the mystery of faith is incomplete without the pain. And your understanding of the current struggles of faith — within the Church and within our culture — would be incomplete without this book.”
— David Asman, Anchor, FOX News