Clerical Error: A True Story (Handbooks of Catholic Theology) [Hardcover]

Robert Blair Kaiser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0826413846 | ISBN-13: 978-0826413840 | Edition: First Edition

Twenty-nine years old, newly married, and fresh from the Society of Jesus, where he had spent ten years as a novice and scholastic, Bob Kaiser was picked for one of the most exciting jobs in journalism of his era: Time's reporter at the Second Vatican Council. In the words of Michael Novak: "No reporter knew more about the Council; had talked with more of the personalities, prominent or minor; had more sources of information to tap. Sunday evening dinner parties at his apartment became a rendezvous of stimulating and informed persons. In the English-speaking world, at least, perhaps no source was to have quite the catalytic effect as Time on opinion outside the Council and even to an extent within it." Much of inner story of the Council-its personalities, machinations, maneuverings between progressive forces and the old guard-was told in Bob Kaiser's bestseller of the early sixties Pope, Council, and World. This is a different story, one so raw and personal that it could only be told some forty years later in a very different church and by a much matured Bob Kaiser. The heart of the story is how Bob's wife was seduced by his friend, the Jesuit priest Malachy Martin, and how Martin ("a man who could make people laugh in seven languages)" persuaded Kaiser's other clerical friends (including notable bishops and prominent theologians) to send him to a sanitorium. The story is at once hilarious (Martin was one of the great clerical con men of all time) and sobering. The "clerical error"--the refusal to see what Martin was up to--was as much Kaiser's as that of his older clerical friends who defended their fellow priest simply because he was a member of the club. Their naivete and their blindness only mirrors the church's inability to deal realistically with any issue touched by sex: birth control, remarriage after divorce, priestly celibacy, clerical child abuse, or the ordination of women. Bob Kaiser did eventually grow up. He knows the official church has a long way to go.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Against the backdrop of the Catholic Church's historic Second Vatican Council, Kaiser, a former reporter for Time magazine, recounts the remarkable story of how his first marriage was destroyed by his wife's affair with the Jesuit priest Malachy Martin. Kaiser's life in the 1960s was inextricably caught up with the Council, and he relates as much about the assembly's inner workings as he does his personal crisis. To learn what was going on in the closed Council sessions, Kaiser cultivated its key players, primarily those promoting a liberal agenda, and invited them into his home, which became known as "a center of the Council's progressive wing." One of his frequent guests was Martin, who offered Kaiser help with research for his book on the Council and also managed to charm his wife, Mary. By the time Kaiser began to suspect a liaison between Martin and his wife, it was too far gone to stop. When he tried to expose it, he discovered that, at least by this account, Martin had conspired to have him admitted to a mental hospital. Kaiser, who spent 10 years with the Jesuits but left before he was ordained, paints himself as a victim of Martin, but also acknowledges his own failure to "grow up," an attitude he says was fostered by the church and the Jesuits. Although this memoir is based on a true story, it reads in many places like a novel, and a few elements strain credulity.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Wow! Quite a book!"--Andrew Greeley

"Clerical Error is written in quadraphonic sound. It leaves readers with questions that demand answers on every level if they want to grow up."--Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B.

"Kaiser has made himself our Virgilian guide to the lower depths of the church. A memoir that will hold its own beside classics like Robert Graves's Goodbye to All That."--Ted Morgan

"An insider's memoir of the Second Vatican Council by a gifted journalist whose reportage became a dynamic force at the council. Painfully honest, courageous, and unafraid."--Kevin Starr

"Great entertainment. A genuine page-turner. It races along like a fast-paced thriller. Strutting aside, Kaiser provides discrete chunks of cameo, first-class Catholic history here. There are lots of names, but not name-dropped names. Quite honestly, the

"Kaiser, now the Vatican correspondent for Newsweek, has revealed everything in a cathartic memoir, Clerical Error: A True Story, to be published next month in the US. It reads like a Shakespearean saga of innocence, ambition, betrayal, farce and tragedy

"His views of the Vatican are compelling."
--The Dallas Morning News, April 11, 2002

"A steamy soap opera. Kaiser's views of the Vatican are compelling."
--Susan Hogan, The Wichita Eagle

"A remarkable story... Although this memoir is based on a true story, it reads in many places like a novel."--Publisher's Weekly

"...[a] riveting read....A timely and prophetic book, which you will not be able to put down."
--Catholic New Times

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Continuum; First Edition edition (March 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826413846
• ISBN-13: 978-0826413840
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,547,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Real Eye Opener and a Twist of Trust., April 24, 2002

By 

Dee T. "ladyblue1247" (Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clerical Error: A True Story (Handbooks of Catholic Theology) (Hardcover)

A very open and honest book of one mans life destroyed by someone that everyone trusted and loved.

I can imagine the author has carried this sadness and yes perhaps bitterness most of his life. The worst part of carrying something like this is the fact that no matter how good or honest or how well someone knows you, (even all of your life) someone else who is so charming and enthralling like Father Malachi, can convince others YOU are the one lying and they will doubt you but believe them.

Those are the tools a sociopath uses. Fr. Malachy Martin used others in any way or fashion to serve his own ends. From the church, to the women he abused, to the friends he deceived, to the loyal listeners or readers of he himself. Now none of what he said or wrote is believable to me.

I wasn't shocked about some of the goings on within the church, that's life, but to go as far as a mental institution for the author?? to go 'that' far? Let alone to find out who the main antagonist was, Fr. Malachy Martin; a well beloved (up till now) and well known priest and the dastardly deeds that lurked deep within him. THAT was the shock!

I've read most of Fr. Martins books and thought of him as this wonderful Irish grandfatherly type, a wise man figure who knew much of the interior workings of the vatican. I now believe that most of what he spouted definitely was his own political agenda. I guess I've been as duped as the author was and glad to have my eyes opened about Fr. Martin's true personality. This book shows how easily we can all be deceived.

What a tragedy Mr. Blair suffered, not only the adultery, the loss of his wife and children, but the horrendous loss of support from his own peers in the church who knew him so well, yet didn't believe him and chose to believe Fr. Martin.

I will say that the background of Blairs life in the seminary at times was just a little too long of tooth and drawn out, though I did find it interesting, but half way through is when it became fascinating and I couldn't put it down till I finished it. I know of one illustrious name in particular in the book that lent absolute credence to the whole book for me and I believe it to absolutely true, no doubt in my mind. Good book, good read, and if you want to know how a sociopath's mind works and manipulates, this is one of them from a personal viewpoint.

5.0 out of 5 stars Coming-of-age Interrupted, December 31, 2011

By 

M. L. Asselin (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Clerical Error: A True Story (Paperback)

Robert Blair Kaiser, who brilliantly made his mark as the principal Time correspondent covering the First Session of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), describes his memoir as coming-of-age stories, his own and that of the Catholic Church at Vatican II. Sadly, as much as Kaiser has grown up, and moved on with his life despite personal tragedy, the institutional Church might be characterized as stuck in arrested development, still mired in sexual scandals that have bankrupted dioceses and tarnished the image of the priesthood and religious life. This book directs trenchant criticism of the Church on matters of sexuality.

The first two parts of Kaiser's book take enjoyable excursions, first through the life of a Jesuit novice and scholastic in the 1950s--considerably different, I can tell you, from my experience as a Jesuit novice in the early 1980s. Kaiser was a Jesuit for ten years, leaving before being ordained a priest. He describes what it was like to undergo Jesuit formation in the years before Vatican II, some of his experiences being quite humorous, and some of them darkly foreshadowing later crises. The second part of the book details Kaiser's post-Jesuit foray into journalism, eventually leading him to Rome as a Time correspondent just as Vatican II is called. Kaiser's religious background, social skills, and curiosity prepare him well to deliver the inside story of Vatican II to readers in the United States and United Kingdom; only The New Yorker's pseudonymous Xavier Rynne (Francis X. Murphy) had as much if not greater impact on the English-speaking world's encountering the revolutionary spirit of the Council.

The third and greater part of the book tragically recounts the dissolution of Kaiser's marriage. As Kaiser becomes increasingly absorbed with the Council and with his related personal successes (his book on the Council wins high acclaim), and so abandoning his young family for days and weeks at a time, his wife Mary turns to one of his friends, the Jesuit priest Malachi Martin, for solace and companionship. In time, Kaiser begins to suspect that Mary and Martin are having a sexual relationship. Some of Kaiser's other friends, however, feel that Kaiser is paranoid, that he has been overworking and is losing his grip on reality. They go so far as to direct Kaiser to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. In time, Kaiser (who, as the narrative makes clear, has his own moral failings) finds evidence that Mary has been using birth control pills during his long absences; later he obtains copies of Martin's scandalous letters to his wife. He is finally vindicated when Martin's superiors begin to accept, all too late, Martin's culpability in the affair.

If this sounds like a pot boiler, it certainly reads like one. The emotions are raw, and Kaiser's actions almost vindictive. (Mary, who is as culpable, fares better than Martin.) Indeed, if not for Kaiser's impeccable credentials as a journalist, and the independently raised concerns about Martin's morals and ethics in other situations, one might be tempted to shrug off this account as simply Kaiser's biased personal perspective at best and fantasy at worst. Kaiser's story rings all too true to let Martin and, for that matter, those who protected him, off the hook.

Apart from this sordid affair, Kaiser's account raises troubling questions about the institutional Church's ability to grapple reasonably and effectively with matters involving sexuality. From the tragic and harmful effects of repressed sexuality among some clergy and religious to its controversial handling of the birth control issue in the 1960s the institutional Church has been desperate to uphold its bulwark of moral certitude in matters of sexuality. Meanwhile, for decades, the People of God have largely been drifting from a Church that has been prone to just say "No" on most matters of sexuality while appearing widely and flagrantly hypocritical when it comes to the sexual failings of the clergy and religious.

In Kaiser's view, the institutional Church discourages the People of God from thinking for itself. It was his ability to recognize that for himself that allowed Kaiser to finally grow up. (The reader notes with caution, though, that Kaiser's view of women in this book has usually to do with their sexual attributes and not much more. This does a disservice to his claim.) But encouraging the People of God to think for themselves is only half the answer (and is happening anyway, with deleterious effect as far as religion is concerned); the other, more difficult challenge ahead for the Church is moving towards a more positive embracing of sexuality, to become a Church that says "Yes" on matters of sexuality and of love in a healthy and responsible environment. Ultimately this will mean deeply reexamining, in the light of contemporary science and the actual, lived experiences of heterosexual and homosexual men and women, basic questions about sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, and marriage and sexual expression in the context of faith and morality. The Church will also need to review current proscriptions that currently serve as barriers to people's exercising their faith in the context of the Church. Finally, the Church will need to do a better job at communicating its message, following up on positive statements made by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

3.0 out of 5 stars Malachi Martin revealed., September 24, 2011

By 

Tyrone Hill "Fatima Message" (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clerical Error: A True Story (Paperback)

"Clerical Error" contains a shocking expose of Malachi Martin, the defrocked or laicized Jesuit priest who died several years ago (hopefully having first made his peace with God via sacramental confession, prayer and repentance). I give this book 3 stars for its tabloid value of unmasking this popular character, but aside from that it is the sad story, pathetic even, of Robert Kaiser's misunderstanding of the Catholic Church, the sanctity of marriage, and sexual morality.

A backdrop for this auto-biography is the Catholic Church's Second Vatican Council (1962 - 1965) which Kaiser covered for Time magazine. For Kaiser, the Catholic Church at that time was antiquated and much like him, immature and misled, gravely in need of conversion. He found the Council to be an epiphany for the Church, something that would save the Church from its own dogma and make the Roman Catholic Church less Roman and more Catholic. This would come about by the Council's enthronement of human conscience. Here we see Kaiser embracing a profound error among many, since ultimately it is dogma that illuminates the truth, while conscience tends to obscure it, given that so few souls in this day have a conscience that is properly formed.

Lacking spiritual vision, Kaiser was too caught up in subjectifying sin to realize that the Council's mandate--to formulate the Church's teachings in a pastoral way so that they could be more readily received and understood by the world--created a quagmire of ambiguity which seems to have led to a christening of the Great Apostasy. Indeed, the fruit of the Second Vatican Council was the abandonment of the Church by thousands of priests and nuns, not to mention millions of lay people. Instead of teaching faith, the Council seems to have destroyed it. Kaiser gladly absorbs the buffet of available errors, more than once referring to the Holy Spirit as a "She" and praising the Council for its newfound acceptance of "religious freedom" which somehow will lead all religions to the heavenly kingdom, despite their contradictons. The problem with the formula of religious freedom is that no freedom exists without a consistent definition of what that word means. Since the term is ambiguous (at least in modern usage) it leads to hell. By eschewing dogmatic definitions, the Council pulled the plug on the thrice defined Magisterial teaching "Outside the Church there is no salvation".

Kaiser likes to extol his Jesuit training whenever he is bragging about his intellectual accomplishments for Time, but he doesn't hesitate to turn and blame the Jesuits for his moral failings. Despite his Jesuit background, he is not qualified to report on the Council because sin and immorality blind people and he whose vision is not sanctified by daily prayer and penance is never fit to write on spiritual things like the Second Vatican Council. It was the Fathers of the Church who taught that personal holiness was essential to correct knowledge of truth.

The drama of Kaiser's story is the stealing of Mary, his wife, by Malachi Martin, and the painful trauma which this caused Kaiser as he struggles to get her back, only to ultimately reject Mary in the end when he falls for a comely college senior.

In the end, Kaiser and Martin were birds of a feather, abandoning the teachings of the Church to live by their own failed consciences. Without adherence to Catholic dogma, one's eternal destiny is in peril. Neither Kaiser nor Martin had the desire to recognize their infidelities to the Mystical Body of Christ and that is a shame indeed.