Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church: The Findings of the Investigation That Inspired the Major Motion Picture Spotlight

Read this excellent book, then hurry out to see SPOTLIGHT, the terrific movie based on it. Scandal, criminality, and cover-up: that's the unholy trinity of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Boston. Its head back then was Cardinal Bernard Law, whose surname is the antithesis of what was observed in letter and spirit. Think of the suicides, slow and sudden, that this scourge has fostered among Boston boys sexually abused by priests entrusted with their educational and religious care. The word "abomination" doesn't begin to address the horror visited upon those victims.

I was raised Catholic and educated at both the high school and college level by the Jesuits. All through school, there was not the slightest indication of abusive propensities, yet today, we see that many, many Catholic priests molested children over the years, and were assisted in this horrific behavior by Church leaders. This book ably and frighteningly illustrates the betrayal of trust on the part of these "Princes of the Church", who actively enabled these predatory monsters to engage in their obscene behavior by moving them from parish to parish, and defended these men and what they did when confronted by parents of the child victims. "Betrayal" is an apt title of a work that shows how the bishops betrayed not only their obligation to children, but their faith as well. Instances are also described where other priests who observed active child molestation did nothing to stop it.In my value system, catching one of these guys "in the act" would result in anything BUT passivity! As a retired lawyer with 30 years in the Courts, I cannot even begin to comprehend the mind set of men who preached, "Suffer the little children to come unto me" and "Whatever you do to the least of my little ones, you do unto me", yet knowingly engaged in and/or permitted the ongoing sexual abuse of children. This book is a must read for all Catholics, because if the Church can't or won't protect their children, informed Catholics must, and, perhaps, finally cast off the yoke of "pray, pay and obey". The Boston Globe has done a huge public service in producing this excellent reportorial work. Yet it does raise questions in my mind about the unthinking and uncritical belief systems of some of my still practicing Catholic friends who react rather placidly to this scandal.

Tragic story of betrayal by the church. I am shocked and sickened by the actions of the clergy in both perpetrating and covering up. Thank you to the Boston Globe.

I'm still a Catholic but I have long ago lost faith in Catholic administration except for what the nuns are doing.

hard to accept the truth

Can't wait to read !!

Reading this book will make it obvious to everyone why the Boston Globe deserved the Pulitzer Prize for their heroic exposure of the sex abuse crisis in Boston. Cardinal Law called down God's wrath upon the Boston Globe, but in the words of the great whistleblower Fr. Tom Doyle, "God had a different set of targets." Bye bye Cardinal Law and good riddance! The damage that he did to the devout Catholics of Boston and throughout the world by allowing serial rapists to function as priests in his archdiocese has been catastrophic. Three cheers for the Boston Globe in making us aware of the filth that this "Prince of the Church" allowed to corrupt innocent children and bring shame to the whole Church!

The writers of this 2002 book are the reporters and investigators of the Boston Globe, who first broke the story in January 2002 of how the Boston archdiocese concealed the crimes of pedophile priest John Geoghan. Deputy Managing editor Ben Bradlee Jr. wrote in the Foreword, "This book builds on the extensive reporting the Globe has done on the clergy sexual abuse scandal. Some of the interviews and facts have previously been reported in the newspaper, but no articles were reproduced wholesale; much of the reporting is new, and the book was written from scratch." (Pg. xiii)The Introduction states, "'Betrayal' is the story of a large number of Catholic priests who abused both the trust given them and the children in their care. It is the story of the bishops and cardinals who hired, promoted, protected, and thanked those priests, despite overwhelming evidence of their abusive behavior. It is the story of a proud, powerful Church thrown into crisis by the misdeeds, mistakes, and misjudgments of its own clergy. It is the story of victims who suffered in silence for years before finding the voice to publicly challenge their Church. And it is the history of the desire of that Church's many faithful members to learn from the crisis and bring about change." (Pg. 3)They note, "John J. Geoghan is perhaps the nation's more conspicuous example of a sexually abusive member of the clergy, not just because of the stunning number of his victims---nearly two hundred have come forward so far---but because of the delicate and deceptive way the Church handled his sins. For more than two decades, even as two successive cardinals and dozens of Church officials in the Boston archdiocese learned that Geoghan could not control his compulsion to attack children, Geoghan found extraordinary solace in the Church's culture of secrecy." (Pg. 14) They add, "Geoghan had long ago realized that children from poor families, especially those living in broken homes, were more vulnerable than children from wealthier two-parent families." (Pg. 35)They observe, "Under Massachusetts law, individuals working in two dozen professions, including physicians, social workers, and teachers, were required to report allegations of sexual misconduct with minors to the state's Department of Social Services, which could in turn refer the allegations to law enforcement authorities. In releasing his new policy, [Cardinal Bernard Francis] Law pledged that Church officials would report allegations of sexual misconduct in accordance with state law. But priests were not among those covered by the statute, and the Church had successfully fought off legislation to add clergy to the list of so-called mandated reporters. So it was largely a meaningless promise." (Pg. 47)They point out, "In a historic step, Pope John Paul II summoned all American cardinals to the Vatican to discuss the crisis that had shaken the two-thousand-year-old Church. That scandal that began in Boston had spread so fast and so far that even the frail Pope, who had consigned the happenings to oblique references tucked deep into lengthy papal messages, was forced to make it the focus of his attention." (Pg. 100)Although mostly written in a somewhat dry, "journalistic" style, this book is filled with information, and will be "must reading" for anyone wanting to know about the scandal that broke widely in 2002, yet has implications continuing to this day.

Very happy with product. Would be happy to buy from you again. Thank you.

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