DESCRIPTION: The Alberts, a Kansas family beset by hard times and too many challenges lost seven of their nine children to the state in the late 1940's; the other two died as toddlers. The Catholic Church convinced the family and the state that the best place for the children was in the local orphanage run by the church. Once there, the children were exploited and subjected to sexual, physical, emotional, and mental abuse by both the nuns and priests. Darlene, the youngest daughter died tragically at age 47. After her death, her brothers discovered the secret life that she led during her time at the home, and later as a young, beautiful woman when she gave birth to the illegitimate child of a priest. They went about searching for the child that she gave up for adoption years earlier. Ironically, that child also was seeking his birth parents at the same time and they were united-too late for mother and son to meet, but Darlene's brothers treasured the opportunity of meeting the boy who grew up to be a fine man. Meanwhile, the boys in the Albert family sought vindication in the Kansas courts until the emotional toll was too great to bear. This is their true, fully documented story told by Don Phillips, a best selling New York Times author, outstanding journalist and master story-teller.
Unto Us A Child: Abuse and Deception in the Catholic Church
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About the Author
Don Phillips, a best selling New York Times author, outstanding journalist and master story-teller.
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More About the Author
Best-selling author Don Phillips brings history alive with crisp compelling prose and historical accuracy. His trilogy on American leadership (The Founding Fathers on Leadership, Lincoln on Leadership, Martin Luther King, Jr. on Leadership) continues to win worldwide acclaim. His first book, Lincoln on Leadership, helped pave the way toward the creation of an entire new genre of books on historical leadership. Currently in its 23rd printing, it has been translated into seven languages.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fr Patrick McCafferty,
By
This review is from: Unto Us a Child: Abuse and Deception in the Catholic Church (Hardcover)
This book is heart-breaking. It is an account of incredible suffering and horrific abuse perpetrated against the children of the Albert family. This book is a story of extraordinary courage and endurance in face of astonishingly difficult odds.
The story of the Albert family should be read everywhere. Furthermore, it should be required reading for Catholic bishops and clergy throughout the world. I hope this book gets picked up and read. I too am a survivor of child sexual abuse and clergy abuse. I am also a Catholic priest. I know well the horrendous legacy of abuse - the crippling trauma from which healing can be so difficult. The institution of the Catholic Church is - in so many ways - sinful, sick and dysfunctional. The Church needs repentance, conversion, purification and healing. The terrified voices of abused children over so many years cry out to God in Heaven on account of the evil perpetrated within the Church. God's Church should have been a place of compassion, love and care for those children in society who were most vulnerable - most in need of gentleness, love and nurturing. Far too many, like the Albert children, experienced just the opposite. Thankfully, however, more and more of those children who suffered, as a result of the evil and criminal behaviour of perverts and sadists in religious garb, are no longer frightened voices. They are becoming strong and demanding voices - demanding truth, justice and redress. The adults the Albert children have now become deserve profound awe and immense respect. I hope they find peace, gentleness and healing after all the horror they endured when they were children. May God bless them - the True God of Love. May that monstrous and false god - the fearsome construct of those who abuse their power and position over the defenceless and the vulnerable - be forever de-throned. Those predators who happened to be priests and religious - along with their conspiring and conniving superiors and bishops - have actually abused and betrayed Christ Himself in the persons of His little ones. Jesus is very explicit in what He thinks of those who have scandalised "any of these my little ones". (Matthew Ch. 18:5-6 and verses 10-11). How could so many cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and religious have behaved so scandalously in the face of innocent suffering? How could they have so negated the essential message of the Gospel - both clerical abusers and those in positions of authority who sought to cover up their crimes - by they way they behaved towards the victims? May God forgive them! May God have mercy on their immortal souls, for one day they will all stand before the Judegement Seat of Jesus Christ. And their attorneys will be of no use to them!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
When will the Catholic church get it?,
By A Customer
This review is from: Unto Us a Child: Abuse and Deception in the Catholic Church (Hardcover)
This is a heart-breaking tale, but one that needs to be read by anyone who has witnessed the Catholic Church's fumbling of the abuse issue. It should focus our insistence that any priest or nun who sexually molests or physically or mentally abuses a child should not be sheltered and protected by their church. In Kansas, the Alberts are cursed by poverty. But times get tougher for this family when the parents are forced to place seven of their nine children in the care of a Catholic orphanage. Years later when one of the daughter's dies, she leaves a diary which details a sexual relationship with a priest that resulted in her getting pregnant. The priest wasn't punished, but she was sent to a Catholic-run home for unwed mothers. After she gave birth, the child was put up for adoption and her mother was sent back to the oprphanage. This is the impetus that gets the rest of the family talking, and the brothers reveal amongst themselves their own tales of abuse. At least three of the four brothers were sexually and physically abused. The fourth refuses to talk about it. The two sisters suffered from mental problems and were alcoholics. Both died tragically young. All the boys also received savage beatings by the nuns. As with many abuse cases involving the church, obtaining legal restitution would take years. The surving Albert family members sought restitution until they ran out of money. Worst still, they were no longer emotionally equipped to handle this childhood nightmare. Yet despite the delays, there were eyewitness accounts and enough documents uncovered to confirm the fact that this terrible wrong had been done. UNTO US A CHILD is a harrowing story of an entire family's betrayal by an institution that was supposed to help save them. Donald T. Phillips narrative let's the reader draw their own conclusions. The Catholic church should be ashamed of its behavior and actively make sure that this tale of horror never happens again. Reading UNTO US A CHILD is a step in the right direction. The book should be required reading by the powers in the Vatican who want the American branch of the Church to set less rigid and strict punishments for priests and nuns who commit these abuses.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Sad Story,
By A Customer
This review is from: Unto Us a Child: Abuse and Deception in the Catholic Church (Hardcover)
I agree completely with the review from New York. This book was not an easy read. It is very disturbing. I have read (and heard on TV) many stories about abuse in the Catholic church, but never one that includes so many members of one family. Of course, the Catholic church felt there was no truth to these stories (and the priest who determined this is now the Bishop in Dodge City, Kansas). I am not sure how he could come to this conclusion since there was a baby that was born after one priest sexually abused one of the daughters from the age of thirteen (Eventually the priest was defrocked after another paternity issue arose). The Catholic church must address these issues. They WILL NOT go away. The victims deserve justice. I can see this book being made into a movie. It is truly the most disturbing story I have yet to hear involving abuse in the Catholic church.
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