The Other Side of the Altar: One Man's Life in the Catholic Priesthood (Hardcover)

by Paul E. Dinter (Author) "OCTOBER 1954. The children of our parochial school are drawn up in front of the towering Victorian Romanesque church, clutching small American flags..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Vatican Council, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Back in the 1950s when Dinter was an altar boy, Catholic priests were generally respected and even revered. By 1993, as he prepared to leave active priesthood, a wave of sexual abuse scandals was engulfing the church. From its low-key title and first chapter, a reader might expect Dinter's memoir, though engagingly written, to be merely a personal account of this time of turmoil. To be sure, one of the book's important themes concerns his search for wholeness and connection through his student days and early years as a parish priest, his 15 years as Catholic chaplain at Columbia University, his sabbatical year in Rome and his eventual decision to resign from the priesthood. A parallel theme is equally important and far more provocative: the story of "how the Catholic priesthood's efforts to control the moral terms of debate regarding the proper role of human sexuality have irrevocably collapsed." Dinter's characterization of the lives of many priests is devastating: intense loneliness, "a variety of self-soothing mechanisms" including solo drinking and sexual acting out, loyalty to the priestly brotherhood rather than to parishioners. Especially damning is the chapter on the Vatican ("The Men's Club on the Tiber"), with its "self-confirmatory culture" and obsession with power. Now happily married with two stepdaughters, Dinter has this advice for church leaders: "Holy fathers! Get back to the drawing board and study nature's God-given designs before you pronounce so firmly about what you do not know and have not even begun to ask women about."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In September 1964 Dinter entered a seminary. Like many fellow students, he was excited about the future of the Roman Catholic Church, seemingly emerging from a long, medieval slumber. Three months earlier, Vatican II had introduced the vernacular mass and the promise of further change. How long ago that now seems to him. He here recounts how the priesthood and its mystique have changed during the last few decades. Furthermore, he tells how he came to terms with his sexuality and the church's attitude toward celibacy and how, in his opinion, the church's moral authority has collapsed because of the persistent controversy over sex. After years of agonizing self-doubt and guilt, Dinter resigned from the priesthood in 1994. A terrific writer, Dinter fills his anecdotal accounts of daily priestly life with revelations and insight. He allows even readers who suspect next to nothing about the inner life of the clergy into a secretive, idealized male subculture, helping them understand that the church's recent sex abuse scandals are not merely possible but inevitable. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (March 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374299668
• ISBN-13: 978-0374299668
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #998,057 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An Unfortunate Choice for an Unhappy Man, November 2, 2003

By	Laura (Virginia) - See all my reviews

Dinter's account shows how this man unfortunately chose the wrong vocation. Many of his books have succeeded in faulting the Church for its many ills, yet his own personal responsibility seems lacking. Some of his stories are exaggerated. I too was at Columbia during his time, and he was known for alienating and dividing many students with his political ideas. Although he was close to some of the '60s leaders, by the 1980s Dinter continued to preach ideas that had long passed that generation. He controlled his community in Ford Hall (some of whom were not students) with a political agenda, requiring people to lie down in front of police cars and getting jailed for anti-nuclear demonstrations. The lawsuit filed against him was largely due to what what most people deemed as a messy personality conflict. Whatever happened between him and this woman no one really knew, but it exploded into a controversy that eventually led in part to his transfer from Columbia University (they settled the lawsuit and readmitted the woman to the congregation). Although I sympathize with his criticisms of Opus Dei, I recall during one campus event Dinter's group marched into the back of the room where a priest from Opus Dei was speaking and made rude comments and loud criticisms. Many times he complained openly about Church celibacy and at others turned the Mass into a forum launching a tirade against political leaders and anyone who voted for them. He was very unhappy with the priesthood and his resignation came as no surprise.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Other Side of Paul Dinter, February 23, 2004

By	Matt (New York City) - See all my reviews

Dinter's portrayal of himself as an innocent victim is far different than what others knew of him. His account is so self righteous that he omits many other issues. For instance, he publicly announced, when he returned to Columbia University after a trip to the then-communist Russia, that there was no religious persecution in the Societ Union. Naturally, many Jews were offended.

Dinter's problematic encounters with students show how "playing therapist" got him in way over his head. He counseled young people using Freudian psychology when he had no graduate training or license in the field (he's a Biblical scholar by training). His conflict with Rosa, who he said came on to him (she said he came on to her) was a case in point, which embarassed Columbia and possibly led to his transfer. (Incidentally, contrary to what Dinter insists, Columbia University--which is neither the church nor the state--was responsible for campus religious activities.) But Dinter's recount of this and other incidents is so one sided that one wonders just how honest he really is.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Publishing is like preaching., July 28, 2004

By	Daniel Mikulsky - See all my reviews

I knew Paul Dinter well, during my years at Columbia from 1974 to 1978, and kept in contact with him for an additional 15 years. This book, rushed for publication, is an accurate portrayal of the facts, and Paul's uncomfortable fit into the roman collar. From my viewpoint, he is basically honest concerning his relationship to his father, his polarized association with episcopal authority, and his grudging acceptance of a celibate discipline. I applaud his honesty in relaying some uncomfortable facts.

Yet, the facts alone are not enough to restore health. I myself have felt the hurt of Paul's acerbic delivery. Now, he broadens his assault to the "Men's Club on the Tiber", knowing full well that "Rome will not change". Is celibacy a hierarchical control mechanism? Tell that to the Dalai Lama. Tell that to American Shakers. You don't have to be Catholic to define a correlation between sexuality and spirituality. But is celibacy still relevant? Paul hints at the advantages that monks and ordered clergy have, but then dismisses any investigation into how to reform the routine of diocesan clergy to acclimate to celibacy. It's in this refusal, buried by his father induced wounds, that the book falls apart. Publishing is like preaching. You talk, but you don't have to listen. Paul has been doing both for too long. He has significantly contributed to the noise; possibly modestly contributed to the debate; and sadly, unconstructively detracted from a solution.