Helpful Score: 2
interesting, yet quite disturbing
Helpful Score: 2
This was a great book - taking a good look at the crisis amongst Catholic priests that abuse children, while weaving a great storyline. Father Greeley is compassionate and kind and reminds us that abusers can be found in every walk of life, and that not every homosexual priest is an abuser! As usual, he reminds how happy I am to be a Catholic Irish-American!
very current to the times and provided some minsight into the workinks of the church even tho it is fiction
Huge fan of Andrew Greeley's work but didn't think this was one of his best.
Moving and provocative.
Great inside perspective of the child abuse scandal and the inner workings and politics of the Catholic Church.
Great book. My first Andrew Greeley read. I'll be reading more, that's for sure!
The Priestley Sins tells the story of Father Herman Hoffman, a gifted priest who witnesses an incident of child abuse in the parish rectory. When he reports the crime, he learns the harsh fate of the whistle blower in the contemporary Catholic church: he is vilified for denouncing a fellow priest, locked up in a mental health center, and then sent into exile.
When Father Hoffman returns home to demand a parish of his own, the Archbishop reluctantly concedes. Hoffman's brief idyll in the pulpit is shattered by a subpeona. If he testifies, he will take on the "Downtown" establishment that is determined to destroy Hoffman and those of his fellow priests who want to be rid of this painful reminder of a sinful past. In his quest for justice, Hoffman faces exile not only from his parish but from the priesthood itself.
The Priestley Sins tells the story of Father Herman Hoffman, a gifted priest who witnesses an incident of child abuse in the parish rectory. When he reports the crime, he learns the harsh fate of the whistle blower in the contemporary Catholic church: he is vilified for denouncing a fellow priest, locked up in a mental health center, and then sent into exile.
When Father Hoffman returns home to demand a parish of his own, the Archbishop reluctantly concedes. Hoffman's brief idyll in the pulpit is shattered by a subpeona. If he testifies, he will take on the "Downtown" establishment that is determined to destroy Hoffman and those of his fellow priests who want to be rid of this painful reminder of a sinful past. In his quest for justice, Hoffman faces exile not only from his parish but from the priesthood itself.
The Priestly Sins tells the story of Father Herman Hoffman, a gifted and innocent young man, who becomes swept up in "the Crisis" after witnessing child abuse in his first parish appointment. Soon, he is vilified for denouncing a priest who has been "cleared." He suffers the harsh fate of a whistle-blower when his Archdiocese has him committed to a mental health center. After his release, Father Hoffman is exiled by the Church to Chicago were he begins his graduate studies in immigrant history. There he encounters the legendary Monsignor Blackie Ryan, who helps him regain his confidence and demand a parish of his own. Reluctantly, the Church hierarchy assigns him to a dying parish. With zeal and charm, he revives the local church. His brief idyll is shattered by a subpoena to testify in a court hearing. If he speaks he will have to once again take on the establishment that is determined to destroy him. He faces exile not only from his parish but from the priesthood itself.
