The Priest for the People with Problems: Dawn Eden Goldstein

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.

Our guest, Dawn Eden Goldstein, tells the story of Father Dowling in her recent book, Father Ed: The Story of Bill W's Spiritual Sponsor. Although not an alcoholic himself, Dowling came to devote his ministry to helping people in recovery--not only alcoholics but also people in troubled marriages and those suffering from nervous disorders. But he was also a champion of civil rights and other social-justice issues, and his pastoral interests presaged the priorities of the Church under Pope Francis.

Dawn Eden Goldstein is the author of several books, including The Thrill of the Chaste, My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints, Remembering God's Mercy, and Sunday Will Never Be the Same. At the age of thirty-one, Dawn underwent a dramatic conversion to Christianity that ultimately led her to enter the Catholic Church. She received her doctorate in sacred theology summa cum laude from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in 2016, becoming the first woman in the university's history to earn a canonical doctorate. She has taught at universities and Catholic seminaries in the United States, England, and India.