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Book Review of The Priestly Sins

The Priestly Sins
LisaBeth0413 avatar reviewed on + 59 more book reviews


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.