A priest struggles with the contradictions between his calling and his sexuality. "Jesus instructed us to forgive those who have wronged us seventy times seven times," Brother Vito Fortunato teaches the boys in his high school religion class, but it's Vito himself who has the most trouble with forgiveness: trying to forgive the Church, the gay community, and most of all, himself. Just a few months from his final vows as a Brother in the Catholic Church, Vito finds himself at a crossroads, torn between his spirituality and his sexuality. Will a summer of volunteer work at an AIDS centre in San Francisco - and a love affair with Gabriel, a recently divorced landscaper - help Vito decide his calling and his future? "Seventy Times Seven" is a poignant, sexy, funny, and romantic novel set in the early 1990s about a young man's struggle to integrate his religious beliefs with his sexual desires. The gap between sexuality and spirituality is punctuated throughout the novel with quotes from the Scripture, and from song lyrics from Prince and Madonna, artists who merged the two worlds in provocative and groundbreaking fashion. Vito struggles too, with the idealism that drives his desire to change the archaic ways of the Catholic Church and its views on AIDS and homosexuality. Sal Sapienza's first novel, "Seventy Times Seven", is an entertaining and enlightening look at the struggle many gay men experience as their try to reconcile their religion with their sexual natures.
Salvatore Sapienza is the author of the books MYCHAL'S PRAYER:PRAYING WITH FATHER MYCHAL JUDGE, GAY IS A GIFT and SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN, which was nominated for two Lambda Literary Awards, including BEST SPIRITUALITY.
SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN is a novel loosely based on Sapienza's years as a monk in the Catholic Church. During those years, he worked alongside Father Mychal Judge, the New York City fire chaplain who died in the World Trade Center attacks. Sapienza writes of his experiences with Father Judge in MYCHAL's PRAYER. GAY IS A GIFT is a spiritual handbook for the GLBT community. Sapienza is currently pursuing his studies as an interfaith minister.
A freelance writer, Sapienza has written feature stories for several newspapers and magazines across the country, and he has appeared locally on NPR and PBS. He and his partner own a bed and breakfast in Saugatuck, Michigan. Please visit www.gayisagift.com for more information.
