Rating: 
Summary: It's not that simple!
Review: While I appreciate that the Catholic Church has problems with its process for selecting men into the seminary I do not agree, and Rose does nothing to convice me, that the problem would all go away if only everyone went back to 'orthodox' teaching. Celibacy is orthodox teaching and herein lies the problem. As long as men are denied healthy and life giving relationships with wife partners then they are going to be emotionally crippled and seek all kinds of bizarre 'sustitute' relationships. As the news coming out of Boston indicates, the abuse is ALSO against women with straight priests getting into secret relationships and having serial or long term relationships with women. Note the Boston priest who left his female lover and mother of two of his children to die. Rose does not address this heterosexual problem at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Goodbye, Good Men
Review: As a priest, I found the book interesting but a bit too much agenda driven. I often hear how "liberalism" has destroyed so many things. Now it is vocations. As a priest, I often here from men who tell me they would have become a priest but their parents wanted them to be a doctor, a lawyer, etc because priesthood is a servants job and the pay far too low. Priesthood and religious life are often slammed in favor of a lucrative career by parents. The author makes a good argument but terribly over simplifies the cause of decreased vocations and corruption. There is really nothing in way of solid data presented. Many Christian Traditions are suffering from a shortage of clergy and corruption, even those who have married and female clergy. Apparently a life in service to God is not seen as a viable option today. The problems are much broader and complex than merely blaming Vatican II or those accused of being "liberals". There is much in way of blame to be spread around to all people both "liberals" and "conservatives". The book could be more persuasive if it spent more time on facts and not opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Bye Good Men
Review: GOOD BYE GOOD MEN puts into words what many practicing Catholics
have feared for years. My awareness, which prompted the purchase of the book, came through a former parish priest who discussed with myself and several other members of our parish what had happened to his seminary since he was ordained in 1962.(pre scandel)
The book will be ill received by Catholics who feel Rome is out of touch with reality especially on views regarding the magisterium,homosexuality and the ordination of women.
If,however, one is of the orthodox Catholic view of things it will be a reaffirmation of their faith and possibly a sign of change in the American Catholic Church.
Rating:
Summary: Troubling, Disturbing but true.
Review: While I concede that some of the resources might not be verifiable, for the most part (at least 90%) of this research stands on good solid proven ground. As a man discerning a vocation to the priesthood, this book inspired great digust in me at what the church has allowed to happen, particularly among liberal orders like the Jesuits who once were the vanguard of the church, the soldiers of the pope, but who now are nothing more than a pink militia pushing the liberal and gay agenda inside the church. I know that the truths told in this book are hard to bear. But the reality is that a seminary should only be a place for holy, orthodox, heterosexual celibate males. It should thus not cater to the whims of those pushing for such heretical things as female clergy, priests etc. THe Pope himself earlier this year condemed the number of gay men that had spread throughout the ranks of his Church. Thus at a time when the church continues to be rocked by scandal, it is important to have books like this, who although they present us with harsh and disgusting realities, also present us with hope for the future. Please pray that I may have the strength to follow my vocation.
Rating:
Summary: From a Non-Catholic
Review: This book serves as a lighting rod for the split between conservative and liberal elements of the Catholic Church. All Catholics should read this book and think about what the split is doing to their church. Readers tend to give the book either one or five stars depending on their view of where the Church is and where it should be going. All large institutions, such as the Roman Catholic Church, must change with the times yet maintain a solid foundation. If the Catholic Church doesn't change, many members will become Catholic in name only. If it changes too much, it's foundation will crack. This book presents the conservative point of view and contends that conservative young men seeking to become priest are discouraged by liberal elements in the seminaries. Michael Rose believes the answer is to follow the strict teachings of the Church and welcome young men into an orthodox priesthood. Others will disagree and see such a position creating a Catholic Church standing under a "small" umbrella of strict, orthodox conservatives and few others. This should concern all Catholics, both conservative and liberal.
Rating:
Summary: Author's agenda is clearly un-Christian
Review: For an author who is so convinced that the Catholic church has abandoned Christian principles, Mr. Rose evidently has not read the Bible. He attacks the church for practicing love. Mr. Rose's agenda is clear. He wants to dehumanize gay persons, simple as that, and he wants to promote his own political agenda, making it appear unreligious to not share his ideas. His obsession with trying to convince people that all gays are "evil" is downright ludicrous and pathetic. We can do without such poorly-supported, obviously biased and hate-based books. Where is the Christianity??
Rating: 
Summary: How the Wolf Got into the Church
Review: A few years back the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference released a bizarre letter entitled "Always Our Children." This strange missive advised Catholic Parents to love their homosexual children. Instances of parents rejecting wayward offspring were hardly epidemic, and those willing to abjure a child would most likely not be swayed to rethink their sinful move because of the trite suggestion of some Christian clergymen. Furthermore the directive contained many questionable claims about homosexuality and straddled the line of rejecting Church teaching on the subject. While several bishops denounced this ill-thought out epistle, which was somehow issued without the full body's consent and the Vatican demanded quickly instituted redactions, the entire incident should have set off some alarm bells about problems within the Catholic Church in America. Tragically, nobody dug deep enough to get beyond the tip of what was a gigantic iceberg. In 2002 the vessel crashed and Titanic-caliber damage was inflicted. Less than one percent of Catholic priests have even been accused of sexual abuse, but well over 90 percent of those have violated adolescent or older males. The reason for that gay-friendly recommendation has become all too clear. Michael Rose deserves widespread acclaim for non-heretically exposing a cancer eating away at the Catholic Church in America. Throughout this work, he displays a dogmatic loyalty to Church teaching that makes his findings all the more disturbing and important. By now everyone knows that the small percentage of priest whose sinister crimes brought deserved repudiation upon the Church as a whole were often enabled by hapless bishops. Seeing what is tolerated in the seminaries helps isolate where the problem lies. Episcopal oversight is either deficient in numerous American dioceses or in certain cases diabolical reprobates are serving as shepherds of the Church. Now discredited ex-Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland proved in which category he fits with the happy realization that several seminarians "have had multiple sex partners...This is great." Not longer after the book's publication he resigned in disgrace after admitting to using church funds to pay off a long time male lover. Ironically Boston's clueless Cardinal Law--who has become the poster child for Catholic humiliation is not covered in the body of this work. From what Mr. Rose documents, certain American seminaries of have deteriorated into homosexual hot spots where dedicated men with a sincere calling are often turned off to their vocations by the toleration of the openly egregious rejection of celibacy. Beyond the gay-affirming shenanigans, he exposes seminaries where feminist propaganda has replaced Catholic beliefs, adherence to liberal platitudes determines suitability for ordination, and courses in human sexuality celebrate pornography. The stories he tells will break true Catholics' hearts, but baring these problems is necessary to resolving them. Obviously a polemic of this nature--regardless of how meticulously annotated it is would almost beg for scorn from those with an axe to grind. Surprisingly, some of the loudest caveats have been raised by those who are most fundamentally in agreement with Mr. Rose and in fact have been propounding the very same arguments--in some cases--for years. Proudly orthodox Catholic publications (The Register, Crisis, etc.) have all raised issue with some of Mr. Rose's intimations. None question the overall veracity of his thesis, but isolated instances of anecdotal evidence have been brought into question. If the accusations are true, Mr. Rose is not guilty of false reporting, plagiarism, or slander. If what his critics charge is accurate then he is guilty of the venal sin of sloppy fact verifying in a tiny percentage of instances. Not to dismiss this flaw, but it pales compared to the mortal sins he illuminates--and everyone agrees they are authentic. As unsettling a read as "Goodbye Good Men" is, every Catholic who is concerned about his religion should get a copy of this somber and disquieting revelation.
Rating:
Summary: Where were the editors?
Review: Michael Rose's editors need to call him in for a little exercise in accountability. The "facts" here are about as dependable as an Arthur Andersen audit. Even the conservative Catholic press has noticed the lack of journalistic integrity. Not that they disagree with his viewpoint or his conclusions, just that they are not based in the "reality" presented in this book. The truth will set us free, so let's have some truth, not grinding of axes or belaboring of agendas.
Rating:
Summary: An eye opener
Review: One reviewer wrote that there was no proof and that celibacy was the problem. Well, priests and former semianry students were interviewed. Not enough proof? Oh well.
As for celibacy, it worked for many years. Think of a married priest who has kids. His son's birthday party is about to start and someone calls for last rites. What does he do? What comes first? Do people realize the low salaries given to priests? How would he suppoert his kids? Does he get another job? Catholics traditionally are very cheap with the collections. Are the Catholics who want their priests to be married willing to double and triple the amount the give or get a job? I want my prests to be full time.
Allowing the sexual freedom that this book has pointed out has led to the scandals we see today. Ending celibacy won't end it. (...) This books shows what happens when the liberals get their way. (...)BR>This book is an eye opener. (...)
Rating:
Summary: A must read for the faithful Catholic
Review: God bless Michael Rose, the man who had the courage to write this most excellent book. He exposes for all the world to see the betrayal, on a monumental scale, of the Catholic Church and its faithful by the very people charged with perserving and protecting it. Through indepth interviews with people who actually lived thru the seminary experience, Rose brings out into broad daylight the homosexual debauchery and moral corruption that has festered for so long in the darkened corridors of the American Catholic Church. If you doubt Michael Rose I only point you to the disasterous scandals erupting in Boston and elsewhere with gay priests by the dozens abusing teenage boys. If you don't believe Rose then at least believe your own eyes and ears. Catholics everywhere should read this book, arm themselves with its information and begin the fight to take back the church from the people who would destroy it.
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