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Father Ed

Father Ed

Regular price $30.00 USD
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Father Ed

The Story of Bill W.'s Spiritual Sponsor

Dawn Eden Goldstein
Orbis Books, 2024
ISBN 9781626984868

Hardcover, 407 pp.
6.4 x 2.1 x 8.8 inches | 1.2 pounds

2023 Winner of the Christopher Award

Association of Catholic Publishers - 1st Place

Catholic Media Association Award Winner

Father Ed is the first biography of Father Edward Dowling, SJ, whose guidance transformed Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson’s life and deepened the spirituality of the twelve-step movement.

Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson has one of the greatest legacies of any person of modern times. Time magazine placed him at No. 20 on its list of the most important people of the 20th century. But whenever Wilson himself had the opportunity to name the greatest human being he had ever met, he had but one answer: Father Edward Dowling, SJ

Jesuit Father Ed Dowling (1898-1960) rescued Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson from debilitating depression and gave him the spiritual guidance he needed to bring AA to international prominence. Although not an alcoholic himself, he came to devote his ministry to helping people in recovery―not only alcoholics but also people in troubled marriages (as a co-founder of the Cana Conference) and those suffering from nervous disorders (as an early champion of Recovery, Inc., now known as Recovery International). But he was also a champion of civil rights and social justice, and his interests presaged Society’s post-Vatican II priorities.

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