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way. James O’Toole, the Clough Millennium Professor in History at Boston College, gave a timely critique of the second chapter. Anthony Penna, an emeritus historian at Northeastern University, was most helpful on the Boston sections.

Professor John Tutino of the Georgetown University history department went beyond the call of duty in his advice on two chapter drafts. Harvey Cox, Hollis Research Professor at the Harvard Divinity School, offered guidance on prosperity theology at a crossroads in my research. Marcus Smith, an emeritus professor of English at Loyola University of New Orleans, used a sharp lens on this book as he has on previous ones I’ve done. My wife, Melanie McKay, a vice-provost at Loyola, gave a close reading, reviewing several sections more than once, providing a valuable critique for which, as always, I am in her debt.

For insights on Vatican politics and the history of Italy, thanks to author Robert Blair Kaiser; historian Howard Hunter of New Orleans; Professor David I. Kertzer of Brown University; the Reverend Thomas J. Reese, SJ, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center of Georgetown University; Professor Linda Carroll of Tulane University; and for facilitating my research in the Los Angeles archdiocesan archives, Monsignor Francis J. Weber.

James McCarty at the Plain Dealer and Bill Sheil of WJW TV were of great help on the Cleveland chapters. Thanks to attorney Michael McMenamin; reporter Michael O’Malley at the Plain Dealer; Patsy McGarry, Peter Murtaugh, Simon Carswell, and Mary Raftery of the Irish Times; Mick Peelo of RTE in Dublin; Bruce Nolan of the Times-Picayune whose insights on the New Orleans archdiocese were of great benefit. Doug Smith of the Los Angeles Times did an extensive search of the paper’s database, culling articles that saved me days of work. Jean Guccione, a former Los Angeles Times reporter, shared insights from her coverage and read a chapter draft. Thanks also to Peter Pach and Bernard Davidow of the Hartford Courant; Christa Pongratz-Lippitt, The Tablet correspondent in Vienna; Elena Curti, deputy editor of The Tablet in London; Tim Townsend of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Marie Rohde and Tom Heinen, formerly of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; John Thavis and Dennis Sadowski of Catholic News Service; and Bruce Kelley of San Francisco Magazine.

To my mother, Mary Frances; my daughter, Simonette; and my wife, Melanie, thank you, each and all, for the radiance that lights my life.