Customer Reviews

The Priestly Sins: A Novel

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Setting this powerful novel in the imaginary Archdiocese of Plains City, Fr. Andrew Greeley uses the Midwest as the setting for a chilling examination of the Church's long-time cover-up of the sexual abuse of children by priests. Though the book is fiction and the main character imaginary, all the details, according to the author, have actually happened somewhere in the United States. The novel opens with an eight-page "partial transcript" of the case of Todd Sweeney against the Church, a stunning testimony in which Fr. Herman "Hugh" Hoffman reveals that when he was a newly ordained "farm boy, six weeks into his first assignment," he responded to a child's screams and witnessed Father Leonard "Lucifer" Lyon assaulting Todd Sweeney. In surprisingly graphic detail Fr. Hoffman describes what he saw and the cover-up that evolved when he reported this crime to the Monsignor and Archbishop.

Having established all the above in the opening chapter, the author then examines the life of Hugh Hoffman from his childhood in a closely knit farm family through his school years, his genuine (and passionate) love for Kathleen Quinlan, with whom he had a two-year affair, and his college years. His self-examination, his fears, hopes, and recognition of his own failings, show realistically the evolution of this "farm boy" into a committed priest. A dramatic contrast with the pedophile priest, the author uses him to show how good priests, over the years, have had to reconcile the teachings of the Church with the imperfect reality of the Church's structure.

The author does not mince words, vividly describing the systematic psychological warfare waged against those who challenge the status quo, and he is uncompromising in his depiction of a seminary system which, in need of priests, accepts and often ordains people who have clearly shown their unsuitability to work with children. The novel is absorbing, with plenty of action, and the author's decision to tell the story from Fr. Hoffman's point of view adds a new dimension to a problem which has been seen until now almost exclusively from the point of view of the immediate victim and family. The author's comparative statistics regarding abuse by priests vs. abuse by married clergy of other denominations, in the conclusion, support his heartfelt belief in a celibate priesthood, but these statistics are not footnoted, and they change the tone of the novel and make the ending feel a bit didactic. This is an honest and searching examination of a terrible problem, however, highlighting the difficulties faced by caring priests who have found themselves trapped within an unresponsive system. Mary Whipple

Those of you who have had the privilege of attending one of Rev. Greeley's lectures as he travels about the country know that his voice is both distinctive and compelling. In all probability, as a novice priest his training in the reading of scripture has added a timber, a luster, if you will to his speaking. From wherever this ability comes he possesses a voice that commands attention, which makes this audio edition of "The Priestly Sins" a particularly fine listening experience.

Using fiction as his pulpit Rev. Greeley addresses the sad story of sexual abuse by priests and the coverups perpetrated by church officials. He tellingly imagines the story of a young priest, Herman Hoffman, and his experiences after seeing a fellow priest abuse a child.

One needs look no further than Rev. Greeley's website to find his stance on the subject of abuse within the church. He writes: "I have, for the record, been warning Church leadership since 1985 that it was "sitting on an atom bomb" created by the reassignment of abusing priests. One victim of a priest is one too many. One reassigned abuser is one too many. The number of abusing priests (1205) and victims (4268), is horrific."

As in the past whether the subject was the celibacy of priests, the infallibility of the Pope, or the ordination of women, Rev. Greeley speaks with refreshing candor and intelligence. It would do us all well to listen.

- Gail Cooke

THE PRIESTLY SINS by Andrew M. Greeley

Andrew Greeley's latest novel, THE PRIESTLY SINS, details a fictional account of a sexual abuse case involving the Roman Catholic Church. Greeley's appeal to his readers is probably the warm characters that he introduces in his books. In this particular novel, the reader meets Father Herman "Hugh" Hoffman, a very likable man who finds himself in the middle of this big controversy, as a witness to a rape of a young altar boy by a fellow priest.

The book is somewhat uneven in tone due to the interspersing of newspaper articles that are used to help follow the progress of this case. However, THE PRIESTLY SINS is mostly a story about the life of Father Hoffman, and the events that lead up to his involvement in this abuse case. Told in a very light hearted manner, Hoffman narrates the story of his childhood, his involvement with his childhood sweetheart Kathleen, and the path that led him to the priesthood.

It's difficult to say which is more interesting, Hoffman's life story, or the actual sexual abuse case that he was a witness to. Both plot lines were of big interest to this reader. An additional plus to this book is the appearance of the famous Blackie Ryan, Greeley's most popular character. I have yet to read a Blackie Ryan novel, but I will definitely look these up, after having read THE PRIESTLY SINS. I wouldn't mind too much to read another novel centering on Father Hoffman, as he is another very likeable character. THE PRIESTLY SINS gets 4 stars from this reviewer. A very enjoyable and readable book, it's a great introduction to the novels of Andrew Greeley.

This book is typical of the over the top writing that characterizes most of Greeley's recent work. Father Hoffman, the male protagonist, is heroic (he maims three basketball players to save the honor of the woman he thinks he kind of maybe loves and brings truth to the Catholic church as well) and wears his emotions on his sleeve (like most Greeley protagonists, he luxuriates in his feelings and never leaves a thought unspoken). The main female character is a saint who mistakenly belives that she is horribly flawed until Father Hoffman shows her that she is worthy of God's love. The villains, consisting of the Archbishop and his henchmen, are mundane and wither before Father Hoffman's sterling integrity. If these characters sound familiar it is because they appear throughout Greeley's work. This is both good and bad. For me, reading this book was like putting on an old of shoes--comfortable and familiar. However, there is little which is ground breaking here.

The story begins in the present and immediately goes into flashback mode. The backstory which explains the characters takes up 90% of the book. While it makes for an interesting character study, it takes forever to resolve the conflict set up in the opening chapters.

The setting for this character study is the current Catholic sexual abuse scandal. Father Hoffman witnesses a fellow priest sodomizing a young boy. In return for his honesty in reporting this crime, he is committed to a psychiatric hospital to be cured of his own alleged homosexuality. When all of this comes out in a trial, he is villified by both the church hierarchy and the victim's father. However, he prevails against long odds and justice is done.

Father Greeley uses this book to offer his opinions about the Catholic sex abuse scandal. In his world, neither the celibate priesthood nor ordination of homosexuals is to blame and the Catholic church has no more abusers than any similar institution. Instead, the primary fault is with a church hierarchy which covers up any hint of a scandal and releases predator priests on new, unsuspecting parishes. There is nothing here that has not been widely reported in the newspapers, but there is some value in hearing it from an insider.

Greeley portrays a clean-cut image of a young Catholic priest against the backdrop of his tangential involvement in a sex abuse incident. The story contains two well-developed and sympathetic characters -- a boy and the girl next door -- and how they grow up together and support each other. We get a strong dose of Greeley's sociology about the statistical nature of priestly sex abuse. But, even that is enjoyable and reassuring, in that it puts the problem within a well-defined and managable boundary.

The controversial novel tells the story of Father Herman Hugh Hoffman, a gifted and aspiring young man (who always strives to be a good priest though not always succeeds because everyone sins) from the imaginary prairies of the Great Plains. In the first summer of his first parish appointment, Hoffman witnessed child abuse by a fellow priest Lenny Lyon in the parish rectory. He reported to the pastor, the bishop, the father of the victim, and the local police but was only rebuffed by the archbishop. What followed was such preposterous drama that sent Father Hoffman to an exile at a mental institution. The church vilified Father Hoffman for his denouncing a gifted priest favored partially by the archbishop and cleared by police. Soon the church went as far as portraying Hoffman as an allegedly gay priest who reported his homosexual fantasy as a fact. Under the fire from his fellow priests for selling out the church to appear and testify in court, the Archdiocese deplored all sexual abuse and claimed to have solid evidence that the plaintiff paid Father Hoffman to testify against the church.

The novel exposes the viciousness with which church authorities shun taking responsibility for serious felony. The so-called victim's advocate acted as the archbishop's official bishop who beated down resistance of the victim's family and exhorted them to settle the case. The church peremptorily denounced Hoffman's testimony but quailed to admit the truth that Lenny Lyon was dying of AIDS and, what's more, at whose funeral the church denied it was AIDS and blamed the affliction on the stress Hoffman started. The case evinces that the diocese had systematically and deliberately, through the church hierarchy, covered up sexual abuse and punished those who tried to report such crime.

The Priestly Sins leaves us a judgment of the crisis: that those who might seem to be the worst sinners are not the predators like Lenny Lyon (who actually repented and was anointed before his last breath), but other priests and church authorities who know about what the predators have done and remain silent and even defend them out of wounded pride. In another words, the novel has afforded a glimpse to the ongoing debate on celibacy practiced by priests. Whether celibate or not, abuse is caused by a syndrome that is deeply rooted in a personality disorder. The Priestly Sins, with its fictional setting and characters, conveys an air of verisimilitude to the church crisis.

2004 (21) © MY

Russell Carrick, the reviewer from August 17, 2004 was dead on in his warning about this book. On a recent cruise I found this paperback in my cabin. Probably the previous occupant left it behind and it was overlooked by the cleaning staff for some reason or other; however, whoever left it had good reason and I should have tossed it into the waste basket.
The prologue and first chapter start off with powerful imagery and sets the reader up for what he/she expects to be an exciting, provocative novel on clerical sex abuse and corruption. Instead, what you must plod through until the last couple of chapters are the dull reflections and ponderings of the protagonist who is one pompous bore. The other characters are flat stereotypes which Father Greeley uses to voice his negative opinions on Catholic traditionalists. It is true that Greeley uses the characters' ethnicity to define their personalities: We have fiesty Irish redheaded girls and stoic calculating Germans who all love to consume large amounts of beer and sausage. And yes, nobody here is exaggerating about the constant references from Father Hoffman about his Volga German background. Almost every page has mention of the "Russian Germans," "Germans," "the Deutsche," "the Volk," on and on he goes.
Another thing which was quite disorienting was the dialogue and setting. Besides being flat and cliched, the reader needs to keep reminding him-or-herself that most of this book takes place in the 1980's through to the present day. The attitudes, conversations and mindset of the people in this book seems like they are living in the early 20th century. I'm not to familiar with the Midwest German community but is it common for 4th and 5th generation German-Americans from Illinois to speak in clipped, short sentences, beginning with the word "ja?" Greeley has the German-Americans speaking like they're buggy-riding Amish! The romance between Hoffman and his soulmate, which we suffer throughout most of the book, sounds nothing like two teenagers who lived anywhere in the United States of the 80's. Rather, they sound like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in some old movie from the 30's or 40's.
Father Hoffman's later persecution at the hands of Church authority was ludicrous. He finds a fellow priest in the act of raping a boy, the pedophile later comes to his room waving a knife and threatening him and the boy. When Hoffman goes to the authorities they chastise him instead. Later on they accuse Hoffman of homosexuality and commit him to an asylum to "cure him of his homosexual tendencies." This was too far fetched and silly to believe of even the most corrupted of the Church's hierarchy.
Was this all some sort of inside joke of Father Greeley's?!
A disappointment, but at least it didn't cost me any money. Well off to the used bookstore it goes. Hope they take it.

I listened to the abridged tape version of this book and after reading the other reviews, I'm glad that I did. However, the tapes did contain an interesting interview with Fr. Greeley in which he indicated that part of the reason for writing the novel was to reach more people. He had previously written about clergy abuse in sociological papers.
As a piece of fiction, I found this novel to be rather mediocre. Having spent five years in the Catrolic seminary, I found it quite interesting that Greeley's main character goes off to college with the intention of entering the seminary after graduation. However, when his childhood sweetheart appears on the scene he resumes his sexual activity with her. There is a lot of that in the novel-Greeley knows what sells books! But wait! Our young priest to be then dumps his girlfriend and by graduation time he is a repentant sinner and he enters the seminary (after fighting-off the apathy of the local church officials).
I found Greeley's portrayal of Fr. Hoffmann's treatment when he speaks out about the clergy abuse to be heavy-handed. Come on; how many accusers of priestly pedophiles found themselves exiled to psychiatrict institutions?
This book shows that Father Greeley has many axes to grind with the Catholic Church and he uses this book as a forum to take some cheap shots without really making any positive contributions to healing the wounds.

The 10 set compact disc version of Andrew Greeley's THE PRIESTLY SINS was appealing on the library shelf, so I gave it a try. Many years ago I think that I read one or two of Greeley's early works that at the time were shocking stories about what where then called wayward priest who dared to leave the priesthood. Now the subject is pretty common place. Greeley has since moved on and become a prolific writer, always dealing with some area of the topic he knows, the Catholic Church.

In THE PRIESTLY SINS Greeley starts out with a bang in dealing with the very tragic stories of the abuse of children by priest. The first chapter deals with the testimony of Fr. Hugh Hoffman against a priest who has sexually abused a young boy and is very moving. From there the book goes into the life of Fr. Hoffman. Although interesting, I thought there was too much time on Hoffman, his background, he love life, his education and his work as a priest.

Although I found the book interesting, I was so very tired of the repeated references to Hoffman's German/Russian background. It were as if his life and anyone else with the same background had their fate cast in stone because of it. Every Irish person was a certain way. Every German/Russian person was of a certain persuasion. I was about to scream every time it the subject was brougt up again. Since there were no African American characters, Greeley did not have to deal with the subject, but I wonder how he would have characterized them? To Greeley one's heritage relative to their nationality is the defining characteristic of their existence.

All in all, it was a decent book, but certainly not great. Jonathan Morosz does an excellent job in preforming this unabridged version.

The Priestly Sins is a powerful account of one man's battle against an overly bureaucratic and ineffectual institution that looks after its own and seeks to cover up scandal. Father Herman "Hermie" Hugh Hoffman, a stoic, and moral young man, finds himself at the center of a sexual abuse controversy when he witnesses the rape of the young altar boy, Todd Sweeny, by the lascivious and predatory fellow priest, Leonard "Lucifer" Lyon.

The story begins with an eight-page partial transcript where Hermie reveals when and where - as a newly ordained farm boy, six weeks into his first assignment - he saw Father Lyon brutally sodomizing Sweeney. Hermie, in an act of incredible stoicism, then goes onto explain the whole culture of denial, stonewalling and cover-up that happened when he reported the crime to the Monsignor and Archbishop. As the story progresses, it is slowly revealed how Lucifer Lyon, who should never have been ordained - "everyone knew who he was, but were afraid to ban him" - was sent away for "rehabilitation." Hermie, as he tries to bring the corruption to light, is discredited and defiled at every turn by a collection of local clergy led by "Slippery" Louie.

Much of the novel centers on the life of Father Hermie Hoffman, and the events that led up to his involvement in this abuse case. Hermie is a quintessential stolid, stable Russian German, a "Volga deutsche" who lives on the small prairie town of Lincoln Junction that is like a Swiss village "without the mountains," where homes are painted bright colors, and shops have vivid window displays. "A type of mirage in the midst of the American prairies." From an early age, it is clear that Hermie was called by God to be a priest, a parish priest, with a mission to work and pray for the people, to share his life with them, and their lives with him. He wants to give decent homilies, greet his parishioners after mass with a smile, and be good to their kids. However, his mission to sainthood is derailed by his adolescent love for the beautiful, smart-mouthed, and fiery redhead Kathleen Quinlan. Kathleen, whose mother suicides when she was a little girl, has become a budding young woman and invades his fantasies, along with the spirit of Irene, his dead great grand mother - a mysterious, spiritual visitor who comes to him throughout his journey to become a priest.

As Hermie further defies the church, the church, in turn, tries to discredit him by packing him off to a recovery center, where he's drugged and accused of being gay. It soon becomes clear that the priests are irrevocably standing together and taking care of their own, "just like cops, doctors, and farmers." The church, with their "deep pockets, and slick lawyers," operate in an environment where most abuse victims lack defense, are persuaded to settle, or just become tired of fighting the Church.

Greeley paints a portrait of a fearful institution that has become mired in debt, and is suffering from failed decision and policy making. The ever-increasing critical media coverage, the sex abuse scandals, and the fear of gays infiltrating its ranks, hasn't helped its reputation. Greeley's Catholic Church is an institution that is peppered with oddballs and sexually dysfunctional people, and yet when threatened, sweeps corruption under the rug and tries to exert control over the media, the courts and the juries. I liked the topicality of the novel, and the author's journalistic style - the use of court transcripts and letters suits the subject matter well. But this reader couldn't help thinking that the story, although well told, could have perhaps benefited from a more "literary" and erudite style.(...)