First published as Twelve Tough Issues: What the Church Teaches—and Why, this book became an instant bestseller with over 70,000 copies sold. These short reflections, written so ordinary people can understand, describe the church's moral teaching on the toughest issues facing modern believers.

In this updated and revised edition, the tough issues haven't changed nor has the church's teaching about them. What has changed is the context is which the teaching was offered. Our society has experienced changes of tonality and emphasis, and new questions and new issues, especially concerning the prolonging of life and church membership, have arisen. The archbishop wisely states, "Every human endeavor is capable of improvement."

Each chapter offers questions for discussion, suggestions for further reading with an indication of where the subjects are treated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as material from the pope, Vatican II, the Holy See and the U.S. bishops conference.