The thinking person's guide to being a Roman Catholic today. 'The richness of the Church's past is a liberation, not a straitjacket. It is a source of confidence in launching into and uncharted future.' Eamon Duffy is both a practising Roman Catholic and a distinguished historian, whose writings have changed the course of English Reformation studies. In Faith of Our Fathers Duffy brings the insights of history to the intellectual and pastoral challenges confronting Christianity in a post-modern world. In this lively and vivid book he considers the range of Catholic belief and practice, from prayer for the dead and veneration of the eucharist, to the place of Mary or the authority of the Pope. In the process he explores the ways in which the practices of an ancient religious tradition can be a vital Christian resource in the turbulent modern world. Duffy argues that attentive engagement with the tradition is indispensable in deepening our understanding of the Gospel today.