Reviewer's Choice: The Priestly Sins, by Andrew Greeley
The Priestly Sins, by Andrew Greeley
(Forge Books, 304 pages, $24.95)
It's been more than 20 years since The Cardinal Sins sold millions of copies, sharing with readers the sexual exploits of two young Chicago priests in training. Father Greeley, a Catholic priest and sociologist, takes aim at the church's recent sex abuse scandal in this novel.
Father Greeley writes books that make some faithful Catholics cringe. In Priestly Sins, he writes about Herman Hoffman, a young idealistic priest assigned to a parish in fictitious Plains City.
Father Hoffman witnesses a horrendous sexual attack on a young boy by a fellow priest in a parish rectory, then blows the whistle. His life as a priest is shattered by a diocesan hierarchy that is more interested in silencing Father Hoffman than seeking justice and a solution to the problem.
The novel is Father Greeley's indictment not only on sinful priests but on church leaders with mistaken loyalties and a Roman Curia that refuses to provide American dioceses with competent bishops. This novel will titillate, educate and inform many about the Catholic sex abuse scandal from an insider's point of view. Others will be left wondering why Father Greeley must again drag his mother church through the dirt.
Dave Palmer
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