From time to time we post articles, interviews, and books about an individual’s journey in recovering from alcoholism. One book, for example, is that after concluding he did not care for the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, Philip Maynard studied the life and approach to recovery of Matt Talbot, which he personally followed and later wrote the “training manual,” To Slake a Thirst: The Matt Talbot Way to Sobriety (2000).
At the same time, it is important to note that although Matt Talbot began his recovery from alcoholism in 1884 (at age 28) and died ten years before the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous in the USA in 1935 and in Dublin in 1946, Fr. Morgan Costello, long-time former Vice-Postulator for the Cause of the Venerable Matt Talbot, has written that Matt’s approach to overcoming alcoholism did incorporate the twelve steps of AA along with Matt’s personal and Roman Catholic practices. [See Fr. Costelloe’s booklet, Matt Talbot: Hope for Addicts (2001 edition), Veritas Publications, Dublin or available through Matt Talbot Retreats at http://matttalbotretreats.org/2009/10/where-can-i-find-group-forms-and-other-usefull-information/]
Although he does not mention Matt Talbot per se, the subject of the interview with John Garcia, found at
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/alcoholism-drives-man-beyond-12-steps-and-into-the-church, describes his recovery journey as moving from a 12 steps approach to a Roman Catholic based approach. In reading this interview it is essential to also read the many comments that articulate agreement and disagreement with Mr. Garcia’s views, especially regarding AA.