Guido Fuchs

(A small history of "bad behaviour" in the church)

When I saw this title in the list of new books the library had acquired, I just had to read it. I was sure it would be fun. It was! Fuchs taught Roman Catholic liturgy at the University of Würzburg, and has written many books on the subject. This book deals almost exclusively with Germany from the Middle Ages to the present. Exceptions are several references to the Netherlands and to Pauls letters to the Corinthians. Fuchs makes a point of including Protestant examples, and how they differ from Catholic expectations.

Yes, it is fun to read about how certain bad behaviours have come and gone over the past few centuries, but the real point of the book is to make everyone who is regularly involved in church services or just church visits aware of how their own behaviour falls short of what would be desirable.… (meer)