Review
Len Sperry is a gifted writer and teacher. His narrative is complemented by illuminating case studies and then summarized well in helpful charts and tables. He writes with sensitivity and compassion and offers hope in the midst of profound organizational challenges to the institutional Roman Catholic Church.Catholic Books Review
This is a timely book well written and well introduced that provides objective and authoritative documentation of the psychosocial development in priests and important background information on the many sexual issues facing the Church today.Resources Hotline
The book would be an excellent resource for those involved in the training of ministers. If there is ever required reading for bishops in preparation for the National Conferences, this would be an excellent resource as the Church continues on its way to healing.Catholic Education
Our complexities and struggles today are public and call for personnel and ministers with great vision, unafraid to name the truth. Sex, Priestly Ministry, and the Church might well help us on our way.Catholic Education
This work is a concise, comprehensive resource of the most current information needed to understand these [current] issues and controversies and make reasoned, responsible choices.Touchstone
There is nothing quite like it! It is at the same time foundational and developmental, clinical and clear, scientific and pastoral, comprehensive and concise. . . . Sperry's significant accomplishment will not only prove an essential resource for our understanding of the factors that have contributed to the present crisis, but also for our efforts in building a renewed and healthier ministerial presence in the Church. . . . Without question, this well-organized and well-researched volume deserves a wide reading.From the Foreword by Rev. Donald Cozzens, author of The Changing Face of the Priesthood and Sacred Silence
. . . especially useful for those who work in formation of Catholic clergy and religious.Journal of Religion and Abuse
. . . readers with an interest in the deeper problems of sexual abuse in the Church as well as psychiatrists, counselors, and similar professionals trying to deal with the problem will find Sperry's book very worthwhile.The Small Press Review
From the Inside Flap
?Would removing the celibacy requirement really eliminate priest pedophilia?? ?Won?t tough corrective measures such as a ?zero tolerance policy? only exacerbate the priest shortage?? These questions reflect the kind of concerns many of us are thinking and talking about lately. Despite the ongoing media coverage of sexual impropriety in the Church, there is relatively little known about sexuality issues involving priests. Sex, Priestly Ministry, and the Church provides an objective and authoritative account of psychosexual development in priests and key background information on the many sexual issues facing the Church today. It is a concise, comprehensive, one-of-a-kind resource of the most current information needed to understand these sexual issues and controversies and make reasoned, responsible decisions. Chapters under Part I: Essential Facts: Psychosexual Development are ?Sex and Sexuality: Everything You Need to Know,? ?The Process of Psychosexual Development,? and ?Sexuality, Intimacy and Celibacy.? Chapters under Part II: Essential Facts: Sexual Misconduct are ?Determinants of Ministry Health and Sexual Misconduct,? ?Abusiveness and Sexual Misconduct,? ?Narcissism, Sexuality and Sexual Misconduct,? and ?Priest Sexual Misconduct with Children, Adolescents and Adults.? Chapters under Part III: Pressing Sexual Issues are ?Selecting Suitable Candidates for the Priesthood,? ?Homosexuality and the Priesthood,? ?Decisions About Removing Priests,? and ?Preventing Sexual Misconduct in Ministry.??The book would be an excellent resource for those involved in the training of ministers. If there is ever required reading for bishops in preparation for the National Conferences, this would be an excellent resource as the Church continues on its way to healing.? Catholic Education?Our complexities and struggles today are public and call for personnel and ministers with great vision, unafraid to name the truth. Sex, Priestly Ministry, and the Church might well help us on our way.? Catholic Education?. . . readers with an interest in the deeper problems of sexual abuse in the Church as well as psychiatrists, counselors, and similar professionals trying to deal with the problem will find Sperry?s book very worthwhile.? The Small Press Review?There is nothing quite like it! It is at the same time foundational and developmental, clinical and clear, scientific and pastoral, comprehensive and concise. . . . Sperry?s significant accomplishment will not only prove an essential resource for our understanding of the factors that have contributed to the present crisis, but also for our efforts in building a renewed and healthier ministerial presence in the Church. . . . Without question, this well-organized and well researched -volume deserves a wide reading.? From the Foreword by Rev. Donald Cozzens Author of The Changing Face of the Priesthood and Sacred Silence?This is a timely book well written and well introduced that provides objective and authoritative documentation of the psychosocial development in priests and important background information on the many sexual issues facing the Church today.? Resources Hotline?Len Sperry is a gifted writer and teacher. His narrative is complemented by illuminating case studies and then summarized well in helpful charts and tables. He writes with sensitivity and compassion and offers hope in the midst of profound organizational challenges to the institutional Roman Catholic Church.? Catholic Books Review?This work is a concise, comprehensive resource of the most current information needed to understand these [current] issues and controversies and make reasoned, responsible choices.? Touchstone?. . . especially useful for those who work in formation of Catholic clergy and religious.? Journal of Religion and Abuse
About the Author
Len Sperry, MD, PhD, is a professor at Florida Atlantic University and at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He consults to dioceses and religious orders and is on 10 editorial boards including Psychology of Religion & Spirituality. Among his 600+ publications are the award winning Transforming Self and Community: Revisioning Pastoral Counseling & Spiritual Direction; Sex, Priestly Ministry & the Church, and Spirituality in Clinical Practice (2ed).
Donald Cozzens, PhD, (1939–2021) a priest and an award-winning writer, was author of a number of best-selling books published by Liturgical Press including The Changing Face of the Priesthood, Sacred Silence: Denial and the Crisis in the Church, Faith That Dares to Speak, Freeing Celibacy, and The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest. He was writer in residence at John Carroll University where he taught in the religious studies department.
