My Son, The Priest

A Mother’s Crisis of Faith

Kristin Grady Gilger, Afterword by Patrick Gilger, SJ

Paperback
9781958972939
US $22.99
eBook available
November 2025

The true story of a young man’s journey to become a Jesuit priest—written by his mother, a fallen-away Catholic who must come to terms with her son’s decision or risk losing him. It is an intimate, sometimes irreverent, and often searing examination of faith, family, and reconciliation.

“You send your son off to college and you think that in a few years you might get a call, and he’ll announce that he has someone he’s bringing home, someone he wants you to meet. But then that someone turns out to be a recruiter hawking a lifetime of poverty, chastity and obedience. What college kid in his right mind would sign up for that?”

The book offers a rare, often entertaining, glimpse into the highly unusual Jesuit formation process—which includes sending would-be priests off on pilgrimages with $35 in their pockets. It also takes on tough issues, from the church’s history of sexual abuse to its treatment of women, and asks tough questions: Is it possible to be Catholic, liberal, and a feminist all at the same time? What does it mean to call yourself a Catholic?

Kristin Gilger is professor emerita of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, where she served in a number of leadership roles, including senior associate dean and interim dean. Previously, she held editing positions at newspapers that included The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon, and The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. She is the lead author of the book, There’s No Crying in Newsrooms: What Women Have Learned About What It Takes to Lead, published in hardback, paperback, and audiobook formats by Rowman & Littlefield in July 2019. As part of the promotion for that book, she made more than three dozen appearances at venues around the country and did both television and radio interviews. She lives in Phoenix, AZ.

“There are many ways to approach a book like My Son, the Priest. It’s about Paddy [Gilger’s son], of course, and the Jesuits. It’s about the legions of people who have become disillusioned with the Catholic Church and the many who have stayed despite the Church’s obvious problems. It’s about parents and the lengths they will go to in to keep their children close. But more important, it’s a beautifully written tale of spiritual growth, the kind of growth that happens when you’re brave enough or scared enough or inspired enough to open yourself up to the possibility of the life of faith.” —James Martin, SJ, author of The New York Times bestsellers Jesus: A Pilgrimage and Learning to Pray