James Kavanaugh (September 17, 1928 – 29 December 2009) was an American

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest, author, and poet best remembered for an

iconoclastic Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be conside ...

call for reform published in 1967. He left the priesthood within a few months of the book's publication. Born in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

, and ordained in 1954, Kavanaugh served as a parish priest in

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

and

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

before earning a doctorate at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in Washington, D.C. His 1967 book, ''A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church,'' became a national bestseller. "He left the priesthood after publishing 'A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church,' a national bestseller."

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* 1928 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests American male non-fiction writers American male poets Catholic University of America alumni Roman Catholic writers {{US-RC-clergy-stub