Mortal sins
Subtitle: sex, crime, and the era of Catholic scandal
By: Michael D'Antonio
Edition: Large Print edition.
Series: Thorndike Press large print nonfiction; Thorndike Press large print nonfiction series
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 715
ISBN-13: 9781410461544
Subjects: Discipline; Clergy; Large type books; Sexual behavior; Catholic Church; Child sexual abuse by clergy
Description: In the mid-1980s, a dynamic young monsignor assigned to the Vatican's embassy in Washington criss-crossed America to investigate the problem of sexually abusive priests. He found a scandal in the making, confirmed by secret files revealing complaints that had been hidden from police and covered up by the Church hierarchy. He also understood that the United States judicial system was eager to punish offenders and those who aided them. He presented all of this to the American bishops, warning that the Church could be devastated by negative publicity and bankrupted by its legal liability. They ignored him. Meanwhile, a young lawyer listened to a new client describe an abusive sexual history with a priest that began when he was ten years old. His parents' complaints were downplayed by Church officials who offered them money to go away. The lawyer saw a claim that any defendant would want to settle. Then he began to suspect he was onto something bigger, involving thousands of priests who had abused countless children while the Church had done almost nothing about it. The lawsuit he filed would touch off a legal war of historic and global proportions.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 645-711).
Table of contents: title: Clerical culture; title: The Church knows; title: Sexual intellectuals; title: Spiritual betrayal; title: The Catholic States of America; title: A weeping priest; title: Five brothers, three victims; title: The angels had to cry; title: "What did the priest do to you, Greg?"; title: The measure of the elephant; title: Willful indifference; title: An attitude of resistance; title: The meaning of memory; title: The pendulum swings; title: Pushback; title: "Would a bishop lie?"; title: Oliver O'Grady; title: By other means; title: Paper chase; title: Catholic guilt; title: The open window; title: A reckoning; title: "Don't trust me"; title: A rolling catastrophe.