Today the individual stands in great danger of having his dignity, freedom and integrity violated by organizations which forget that they exist for him, not he for them. To help defend him the Church must emphasize increasingly the rights which are bound up with the duties of her own subjects. One of the most important is that of discussion and criticism, indispensable in any mature society. In this book the function, scope and limitations of public opinion in the Church are discussed with honesty, skill and an originality which is profoundly traditional. Against the Church's growing freedom from the dubious social privileges of the past, Father Rahner sets the picture of the truly contemporary Catholic, who has a grown stronger than ever in loyalty through the development of a truly adult capacity for comment, discussion and personal initiative. And it is with reference to this lively conception of the individual Catholic that he boldly discusses in the second section of this book the prospects of Christianity today - a prospect in which Father Rahner, with his penetrating analysis, finds hope and encouragement, not despite the obstacles which confront the Church, but Precisely because of the challenges presented by the modern world.