Description

What exactly is the Catholic Church? Everyone seems to have their own answers. Liberal secularists dismiss it as authoritarian, while indifferent outsiders might think it’s simply a kind of club. Ask any Catholic and you’re likely to hear an insistence that, no, it’s a religion after all. Yet Catholicism can’t be neatly defined by any of these tidy categories—or any other neat classifications either.

In The Faith Unboxed, Andrew Petiprin tackles the fundamental question of what Catholicism truly is by first clarifying what it clearly is not. Blending approachable theology, honest personal narrative, and insightful reflections drawn from contemporary culture, Petiprin thoughtfully dismantles the misconceptions and stereotypes that so many try to attach to the Catholic faith. With each false label he examines—whether calling Catholicism merely a denomination, just an institution, or an escape from everyday life—he strips away mistaken assumptions, providing readers with a deeper, clearer understanding of the Church’s genuine identity.

Part memoir, part spiritual journey, part snapshot of our times, this accessible work of popular ecclesiology carefully moves past superficial characterizations and incomplete understandings. Ultimately, The Faith Unboxed invites readers toward the true vision of Catholicism: not simply “a thing” among others, but the authentic, unique Church that Christ himself founded and desires us to fully see and appreciate.