From Publishers Weekly
Greeley's experience as both a priest with 50 years of service to the Catholic Church and as a bestselling storyteller (The Cardinal Sins, etc.) perfectly equips him to take on the difficult subject of sexual abuse and its ensuing coverup. Greeley makes his position quite clear: "those who might seem to be the worst sinners are not the predators possessed by their own uncontrollable urges, but other priests who know about what the predators have done and remain silent or even defend them out of mistaken loyalty. And still worse are the bishops and bureaucrats who hide the truth...." Greeley builds his case and his fiction on the life of Herman Hugo Hoffman, whose Russian German forebears were farmers in the plains states of Midwestern America. His is a gentle story of growing up in a rural, close-knit family among other like-minded immigrant families in the town of Lincoln Junction. Herman's feisty, red-haired neighbor Katherine inserts herself into his family at age eight and grows up to be his best friend and lover until he enters the priesthood. The sweet story of Herman and Katherine is framed by the trial of child abuser Father Lenny "Lucifer" Lyon, whom Herman, several years before, walked in on while the priest was brutally raping young parishioner Todd Sweeney. The bulk of the novel is a study of Herman's calling and rise to the priesthood, and it's an affecting story. This is a well-told tale of love and courage that makes its valuable point without resorting to unnecessary violence or cheap and easy shock effects. It's fiction, but for anyone interested in the ongoing controversy it's a must-read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Greeley tackles the timely and explosive topic of the sex-abuse scandals in the Catholic Church in his latest religious-themed page-turner. After Father Herman "Hugh" Hoffman, the wholesome prairie-bred hero of the tale, witnesses a fellow priest abusing a child in the parish rectory, he defies ecclesiastic protocol and jeopardizes his own future, reporting the heinous crime to both the police and the parents of the young victim. The incident is initially swept under the rug by the bishop and the perpetrator is transferred, but years later Father Hugh is called upon to testify in court about all the disturbing particulars of the case. Interwoven into the sensational account of priestly exploitation is an intimate portrait of a virtuous and honest priest's attempt to safely navigate through the turbulent waters of an often-corrupt institutionalized system. Although the recycled formula is vintage Greeley--an idealistic maverick priest takes on the traditional church--the controversial nature of the subject matter will guarantee a significant amount of time at the top of the best-seller lists. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Genre: Inspirational
Greeley's experience as both a priest with 50 years of service to the Catholic Church and as a bestselling storyteller (The Cardinal Sins, etc.) perfectly equips him to take on the difficult subject of sexual abuse and its ensuing coverup. Greeley makes his position quite clear: "those who might seem to be the worst sinners are not the predators possessed by their own uncontrollable urges, but other priests who know about what the predators have done and remain silent or even defend them out of mistaken loyalty. And still worse are the bishops and bureaucrats who hide the truth...." Greeley builds his case and his fiction on the life of Herman Hugo Hoffman, whose Russian German forebears were farmers in the plains states of Midwestern America. His is a gentle story of growing up in a rural, close-knit family among other like-minded immigrant families in the town of Lincoln Junction. Herman's feisty, red-haired neighbor Katherine inserts herself into his family at age eight and grows up to be his best friend and lover until he enters the priesthood. The sweet story of Herman and Katherine is framed by the trial of child abuser Father Lenny "Lucifer" Lyon, whom Herman, several years before, walked in on while the priest was brutally raping young parishioner Todd Sweeney. The bulk of the novel is a study of Herman's calling and rise to the priesthood, and it's an affecting story. This is a well-told tale of love and courage that makes its valuable point without resorting to unnecessary violence or cheap and easy shock effects. It's fiction, but for anyone interested in the ongoing controversy it's a must-read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Greeley tackles the timely and explosive topic of the sex-abuse scandals in the Catholic Church in his latest religious-themed page-turner. After Father Herman "Hugh" Hoffman, the wholesome prairie-bred hero of the tale, witnesses a fellow priest abusing a child in the parish rectory, he defies ecclesiastic protocol and jeopardizes his own future, reporting the heinous crime to both the police and the parents of the young victim. The incident is initially swept under the rug by the bishop and the perpetrator is transferred, but years later Father Hugh is called upon to testify in court about all the disturbing particulars of the case. Interwoven into the sensational account of priestly exploitation is an intimate portrait of a virtuous and honest priest's attempt to safely navigate through the turbulent waters of an often-corrupt institutionalized system. Although the recycled formula is vintage Greeley--an idealistic maverick priest takes on the traditional church--the controversial nature of the subject matter will guarantee a significant amount of time at the top of the best-seller lists. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Genre: Inspirational
Used availability for Andrew M Greeley's The Priestly Sins