Customer Reviews

The Silence We Keep: A Nun's View of the Catholic Priest Scandal

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I thought that the hard work and thought given to this "expose" made it an honest interpretation of the present crisis in the Catholic Church. One certainly knows how this nun feels about it, and that is very refreshing. It is also a "good read".

Karol Jackowski has been an ordained nun since 1964. The topic is pedophilia in the Priesthood, ONE book written by ONE nun. This is why I picked up the book, but I kept on reading because its REFRESHING & MODERN.

If you think you're not part of the problem read on:

A company found out several Employees represented the company, went out and had sex with children/minors on company grounds and off-site. Do you think the company would a: WAIT FOR PUBLIC OUTRAGE TO REACH DEAFENING PROPORTIONS b: STAY SILENT EVEN THOUGH THE PARENTS ALONG WITH THE CHILDREN ARE FILING PUBLIC CLAIMS c: DEFEND THE EMPLOYEES WITH A COMPANY ATTORNEY AT NO CHARGE TO THE EMPLOYEES BY CLOSING THEIR DAYCARE/YOUTH PROGRAMS d: TAKE THE CASE TO THE NEXT STOCK-HOLDERS MEETING e: NONE OF THE ABOVE.

All may be plausible, but any business executive would know "e" is the best choice because the company is at risk through no fault of their own. It would contend these employees acted on their own behalf, put their own needs above the welfare of the company and did something that was not company approved nor part of the company's policy to conduct business. It was a personal matter. A personal matter that is morally wrong and a crime. So the action would have to be swift and immediate to limit company damage and to avoid liability. Every single one would be handed over on a silver platter to the proper authorities: arrested, charged and a trial date set.

To have these Employees represented by a company attorney would be INSANITY, to close facilities that benefit the community for the sake of these few individuals that acted on their own behalf would be FATAL for the business. To do both would ensure public BACKLASH and would leave the company with an image that its UNFIT to conduct business in a responsible tone. This would leave the company open for a takeover, to be boycotted (possible bankruptcy/foreclosure) to overhaul from the top down to the bottom to insure it doesn't happen again.

Now go back, plug in 'Church' and their course of actions. It doesn't add up. Why would they put the entire Church not only in such a light, but in such liability? Any other religion could pick up the fallout (and many have) and anyone can see what they are doing does not further their teachings or the teachings of God, what is moral or what is just in God-fearing Christians. So...the only conclusion we can reach is either they are unfit for the teachings of Theology (their 'business') or they must be overhauled from top to bottom. The Church is not going to dissolve though it may wither away if it continues on its course and there are not religious 'take-overs'. The Church appearance of INSANITY is a reflection of society's INSANITY in truth about incest, rape and pedophilia.

Still it takes great courage to navigate through adulthood after being sexually abused and have enough strength & self-esteem to stand up in public and tell the world 'this is what he/she did to me and I want him/her held accountable for their actions' in front of your family, peers, community for all to see. Some have waited 10, 20 even 30 years to bring these pedophiles to justice. Those convicted are not Priests, but pedophiles...serial pedophiles. I believe many of us are just opening our eyes, cleaning out our ears and speaking out for the first time. The time has come for ALL WOMEN to take their rightful places in all faucets of life right next to the men who deserve to be in those places. NOT next to the men who think they are above the Law, God and the universe.

Thank you Ms. Karol Jackowski, Mr. John O'Donohue (claims the Church wouldn't last 3 months if the women walked out)and so many OTHERS who believe to SPEAK OUT AND BREAK THE SILENCE is the most RADICAL we can get in order to stop incest, rape & pedophilia. We are against injustice. We stand for the victims not the perpetrators who commit incest, rape and pedophilia.

A GREAT book. And the author is no apologist. She traces the Church's troubles back to St. Augustine, and his fear and vilification of women, she adresses sex in the Church openly and straightforwardly, and she points to a hopeful future, wherein the laity takes back the Church from the clergy. The history of religion is a long line of splits and divisions; if the American Catholic Church broke off from Rome, sanctioning birth control, and allowing priests to marry, where would your loyalties lie? This book also contains what might be the most powerful single line I have ever read: "The only problem in the world today is we have lost the ability to look upon our fellow human beings, and see the face of God." 5 bright shining stars, not to be missed.

I found this nonfiction piece disappointing, ultrafeminist, very yellow, and slanted. Males are the enemy, and only females can save the church. She concluded her book with a greeting commonly used only by witches. Some Catholic, eh?

There not only is no coherent 'whole' here - the individual parts add up to nothing. Jackowski strings together purely anecdotal reflections, with no hint of scholarly justification, to the effect that sisters (especially non-canonical ones) are guided by the Holy Spirit, where the men are hypocrites and failures.

One receives a dim, never-developed picture of oppressive and scandalous priests, as if there were nothing positive to be said for the priesthood or males in general. The references to sisters, which seem based entirely on what Jackowski has discussed with people she knows, are a string of feminist exercises in self-esteem, interwoven with references to pagan customs and goddesses.

This book is totally devoid of scholarly merit or intellectual insight. It does not even treat of the supposed topic. I'm surprised it ever was published.

While I found this book interesting and agree with some of the accusations, especially the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, I find that this author is quite one-sided. I've have been aquainted with many priests and nuns in my lifetime (89 years)- I knew nmuch about them and always held them in high regard. One thing I think is obvious.....Jackowski wants to be the POPE!

I wrote Nuns and Priests the Great Divide and loved this book. It will certainly tick off cradle catholics who hate the truth of this and my own book. Marian O'Mara

Die-hard catholics will be disturbed by this book. It is obvious that Sister Karol has an agenda - to bring about a new Catholic Church ruled by the people, not the Pope.

Sister is anti-Pope, anti-Vatican, anti-male-priests. I got the feeling that sister is painting all priests with the same brush.

If you are anti-Pope, anti-male-priests, anti-rules, pro-gay, pro-women priests, you will love the book.

The author of this book neglects to address the fact that Catholic nuns and sisters sexually abuse chidren. Her book supports the lie that Catholic male clergy and religious are the only perpetrators. She apparently hasn't paid attention to the group that she, as a nun, is part of.

This from the "nun" who wrote SISTER KAROL'S BOOK OF SPELLS AND BLESSINGS... What kind of leftist, liberation-theology wacko would seriously consider her opinion worth the paper its printed on?