At the end of a long life, I wish to record both the debts that I owe to the Catholic Church and the reasons why I am glad that I am no longer a member of it. While attending junior and senior seminary I received an excellent classical education and made many good friends. But the long seminary course was totally inappropriate as preparation for work in a parish, as was revealed by the subsequent history of myself and several of my colleagues. Recent widespread scandals have highlighted the faults of the clericalism inculcated during training for the priesthood. If the Church is to regain its moral authority there needs to be a radical reorganisation of the methods of selection and preparation of the clergy.
Sir Anthony Kenny FBA is one of Britain's most distinguished academic figures. He has been Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Master of Balliol College, Oxford, Chairman of the Board of the British Library, and President of the British Academy. His philosophical interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of Wittgenstein and the philosophy of religion. Among his over forty books are Action, Emotion and Will (1963), Descartes: A Study of His Philosophy (1968), Wittgenstein (1973), Freewill and Responsibility (1978), Faith and Reason (1983), Reason and Religion: Essays in Philosophical Theology (1987), Aquinas on Mind (1993), The Oxford History of Western Philosophy (1994), The Unknown God: Agnostic Essays (2004), and most recently A New History of Western Philosophy (2012).
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