Rating: 
Summary: The Dangers of Clergy Power
Review: In the last chapter of my book _Clerical Failure_ (2004) I stress the obligation of the clergy to use their considerable power wisely. The power of the clergy can be an enormous instrument for good. It should never be used to obfuscate, hide, or stonewall when confronted with misdeeds, outright crimes, and heresy. _Vows of Silence_ is a careful and meticulously documented account of the gross misuse of power by Catholic clergy and extending all the way to Rome and the Pope.
At the time Jason Berry and Gerry Renner, both of whom I know casually, were completing their book, I was wrapping up mine. We have reached the same general conclusion: The clergy have failed us all miserably. Whereas we used to look to Rome for guidance in matters of faith and practice, we can no longer do so with any confidence, for the church has become so openly homosexual, theologically liberal, and secretive that its membership, both clerical and lay, suffers from a lack of evenhandedness--and worse.
For orthodox Catholics this book is a shock. Not only does it reveal the sexual shortcomings of many clergy, particularly those of homosexual persuasion in seminaries, of which the number is very high, it casts ultra-conservative and formerly ostensibly dependable Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II as uncommunicative, evasive, and downright deceitful when pressed on matters dealing with clerical sexual misbehavior. Bishops in particular are scored as carrying out this policy--one sometimes admitted, one sometimes denied--and the catastrophic results have come to light in recent years. People trying to escape the theological and liturgical permissiveness of the post-Vatican II Church have sometimes sought solace and support from such "hallowed" groups as _Opus Dei_ and the Legion of Christ only to discover that they too are shot through with problems of rampant homosexuality, disobedience, and disregard of the Faith.
All of this sinful and criminal behavior on the part of the hierarchy and some priests usually goes unpunished until the civil courts get hold of the evidence, often too late fruitfully to pursue the evildoers. But the greatest tragedy is that the bishops here and in Rome resort to stonewalling tactics, and nowhere is left to victims to apply except to secular law. Add to that the millions upon millions of dollars in cost involved, most of which is money contributed by unsuspecting Catholics, and the bargain is a poor one just to practice illicit sex and wield ecclesiastical power of the most self-serving sort.
God help us all.
Rating: 
Summary: With Christ or against him
Review: "If you are not with me, you are against me". Christ already said it. You can be with the Catholic Church or against it; with the Pope or against him. And Berry and Renner are clearly against the Church and the Pope.
This book will divide like the Gospel does. One star or five.
If you have no faith and wish the Church would permit birth control, homosexual relationships, etc., then you will like the book. If you care for truth and love true Catholic doctrine, this book will be an offense to you and to your faith.
The part about the Legion is written with furious hatred. There is no objectivity. You can spare yourself the pain of reading such calumnies.
Rating:
Summary: Review of Vows of Silence:Abuse of Power in Papacy of JP2
Review: As a former Legionary, I'd like to thank the authors for a very professional, objective investigation of the Legion. Their book exposes the achilles heal of the Catholic Church: the arrogant disregard for victims of sexual abuse. The cultish, deceptive ways of this new Religious Order and her "saintly" founder are compared to a wonderful priest who sacrificed his career to aid these victims of a perverted clergy. The Catholic Church is at a crossroads similar to the early sixties. The prognosis isn't good for its very survival when a group like the Legion and its Regnum Christi Lay movement are hailed despite their deceitful fundraising and recruiting practices. If the root is rotten, can the tree florish for long? It's a must read for anyone who wonders why Organized Religion is failing and how out of touch the Vatican is especially with the American Catholic Laity. Some of our good Bishops are now becoming aware of the Legion's methodology and shallow spirituality and should be supported in their efforts to overcome the cover-ups of our current Pope and the Roman Curia!
Rating:
Summary: Uncovering the Truth
Review: As a supporter of clerical sex abuse victims I believed I'd heard the worst of the horror. Not so. Jason Berry and Gerald Renner bring us directly into the slimy underbelly of the church hierarchy. "Vows of Silence" gives me more insight and understanding of the mob-like thinking behind the priestly garb.Knowing that men like Berry & Renner won't stop digging until the church accepts responsibility helps me to sleep at night. Anyone interested in helping survivors to get accountability from the Bishops should read "Vows of Silence".
Rating: 
Summary: Sadly, this is mostly accurate
Review: As an orthodox (i.e., conservative, traditional) Catholic, I am naturally a skeptic of any critique on the Magisterium of the Church by known liberal ideologues. While Berry and Renner fit the progressive ideological mold, their journalism is solid because they are quick to identify their biases (i.e., abolishing mandatory clerical celibacy). As for the thrust of the book, addressing the issues surrounding the Legionaries of Christ, I have several thoughts. For one, the overall positive impact upon the universal Church on the part of the Legion and the associated lay apostolate, Regnum Christi, is very negligible. I don't see more fallen away Catholics in the US embracing orthodoxy or even ruturning to Mass, I don't see the numbers of converts to the Church that once was, or Catholics more educated about their Faith, and I don't see a reconversion of Mexico, the Legion's home, which is now being devoured by evangelical Protestants with a true zeal. Not to mention the fact that they entirely embrace the Vatican II "reforms," and are not promoters of restoring the Latin Mass. For a group that is supposedly so much in the Pope's favor, one would think that the Founder, Father Marcal Maciel Dellogado, would have been named a cardinal or at least a bishop in the honorary sense. True, Legionaries are not to "seek power," but are the Franciscan Capuchins who are named to the hierarchy, in which there are few Legionaries? Nonetheless, it is out of the desperation of the current Pontificate, who watches the authority of the Church erode due to the corruption his curia is known to tolerate, that such a cultish bunch has gained its place at all. I have personally met with Legion "brothers" to discuss what I thought was a potential priestly vocation. There was nothing but pressure, constant emails and phonecalls--not to mention regular mail, urging me in Christ's name to attend an upcoming "Test Your Call" weekend retreat at the novitiate in Cheshire, CT. At one point, I received an email message from the brother whom I had met, reminding me (in a guilt-tripping fashion) that I had missed X-amount of opportunites to "test my call," and that I owed it to them and to Christ to go. I told him to get lost, more or less, and I never hard from them again. Well, actually, if I don't count the dozens of fundraising brochures I've continued to receive for the last 4 years. The type of boys and men that the Legion generally recruits have rigid, obsessive-compulsive personalities, and are extreme mama's boys that would not fit into a conventional parish setting. This order is rigid, not intellectual, and is a bastion of clericalism that places the priest as a near-deified figure, similar to the priest of the old Catholic ghetto. I cannot figure out why supposedly affluent, educated Catholics would be supportive of this movement. On the thread of clericalism, beyond a near blasphemous reverence for their Founder, the Legionaries will go out of their way not to criticize or offend the bishop of any diocese on the basis of his clerical office, regardless of how liberal or corrupt he may be. Once a younger Legionary I spoke with, a native of Milwaukee, insisted to me that the former Archbishop, Rembert Weakland (who was ousted on a claim of sexual abuse), was such a good and holy man. This is also because the Legion, in order to set up shop anywhere, must gain episcopal approval, and they will do anything to get that. They are truly concerned only with the number of recruits to either the priesthood or the lay apostolate of the Legion, not for what is happening within the rest of the Church. Once settled within a diocese, they will do anything to continue to curry favor with the local bishop, even if it means defending the absurd tactics of a diocesan priest who helps run a liberal diocesan seminary in their weekly venue, the National Catholic Register, which has gone out of its way to defend the currupt national hierarchy throughout the scandals. I cannot speak for what goes on inside the Legion, but I can speak about its exterior, which is not positive, either. They are known to run several secondary schools around the US (always under a secular-sounding title, i.e., Overbrook Academy). One such school, located on exclusive diocesan property that is leased at a very high price to the Legion by the diocese, caters only to Spanish-speaking females. These are not young women who happen to be inner-city Hispanics that speak only Spanish, rather, the daughters of known Columbian drug lords who are phenominally wealthy. So while this "religious" order whores itself to acquire funds under its devout pretext, the host diocese will receive huge monetary kickbacks, usually in the form of a property lease. But the Legionaries have their apologists--one being the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, publisher of First Things. Neuhaus, himself an arch-clericalist, supports the Legion on the basis of the revival he believes it has introduced in the Church, not on actually refuting the merits/lack thereof of the claims promoted by the order's detractors. The Berry/Renner book, ideologies aside, is worth reading and deserves due credit for its examination of multiple, on the record sources who clearly know the Legion for what it really is.
Rating:
Summary: Let the truth be told
Review: Berry and Renner have shined the light of truth on one of the most secretive and powerful institutions of the world--the Vatican. The book is recommended not only for adherents of the faith, but for anyone interested in how powerful and corrupt bureaucracies suppress the facts and crush dissent. Although I am not a Roman Catholic, I found the narrative compelling because it uncovers universal truths. The authors do not hesitate to challenge conventional assumptions, such as the unquestioned beneficience of Pope John Paul II. How could this champion of individual freedom against communism remain silent in the face of corruption among his top lieutenants? In a narrative that transports the reader from the dirt roads of Mexico to the gilded corridors of the Vatican, Berry and Renner explain why--and offer hope. Their commitment to the truth and expression of optimism against all odds is the ultimate expression of faith.
Rating:
Summary: Credible research by credible writers
Review: Do not start reading this book at bedtime for soon it will be 3AM and you may have to get up the next day.
Jason Berry and Gerry Renner have no agenda beyond the truth and have simply responded to issues that came their way and demanded attention. They are both experienced journalists and authors. Berry's earlier work, Lead Us Not Into Temptation, chronicles the first major priest sexual abuse case in the US in 1984. Through that research, he came in contact with Tom Doyle, the Dominican priest who gave up a Vatican career to advocate for victims revictimized by the Church. Here, Berry focuses on Doyle, a priest of integrity, who provides a counterpoint to Maciel, the Legionaries founder, a priest of anything but integrity. The fates of the two men are covered effectively: one who fights for justice and another who hides while highly credible men charge him with sexual abuse. Doyle is shunned and absorbs the searing blows of the institutional Church for speaking truth while Maciel is showered with praise and protection for filling seminaries and coffers. The contrast is striking; the research thorough. Renner was in charge of communications for the bishops' conference and not one to blindly attack the Church. His stumbling on Legionary malfeasance is providential in my view, and I am grateful for the careful research he provides. Berry, for his part, was the one who broke the story on Bishop A. James Quinn of Cleveland telling canon lawyers to comb the files and send anything dangerous on to the Vatican embassy where it is safe from US law. Vows of Silence details the experiences of Doyle, Maciel, survivors of sexual abuse, the record of the Legionaries, and the woeful lack of response of the Vatican to what the National Review Board of prominent lay Catholics calls the "smoke of Satan" in the heart of the Church. Buy the book and tell everyone about it. [...]
Rating:
Summary: Vows of Silence
Review: Excellent book, which shows the negative consiquences of Vatican II and JPII. THE TIME FOR A DECISION. We can Hide our heads in the sand and pretend that everything is all right,or we can pray to God for help in these trying times, live our Catholic Faith and research and study the situation for ourselves. Catholics of today must eventually make a choice of either following what the Catholic Church and 260 popes have taught for the past 20 centuries, or what Vatican II has taught for the past 30 years. Since they are complete opposites, both cannot be right. The practice of walking the fence cannot go on indefintely! "What Has Happened to The Catholic Church," by Rev. Fransico Radecki and Rev. Dominic Radecki An error which is not resisted is approved, a truth which is not defended is suprressed. He who does not oppose at evident a crime is open to suspicion of secret complicity.---Pope FelixIII
Rating:
Summary: Finally, the truth is told about Legion taking over schools!
Review: Finished this fine book in one sitting. Have to keep reminding myself that members of Church hierarchy involved in Vatican cover-ups DO NOT represent the faithful clergy and laypeople worldwide. Particulary pleased to FINALLY see a whole chapter reveal the truth about the LEGION OF CHRIST'S shameful, disruptive takeover of orthodox, independent Catholic schools in Cincinnati, Atlanta, Irving (TX), etc. via their Regnum Christi armies of lay people. Even a few parish schools have had their share of "infiltration" problems (i.e., Columbus). Most RC members I've met have no idea the Legion has done this, and aren't interested in learning the Truth. Perhaps it's because of that annoying, cult-like vow many take which disallows them from saying or reading anything negative about their founder. Wish TORCH and NACHE would wake up to the dangers inherent in having their children associated with the Legion via homeschool groups and programs! Father Hardon wouldn't approve, I bet. After reading this book, visit www.regainnetwork.org for stories of ex-Legion members rebuilding their lives. I would highly endorse it to any Catholic trying to understand the present priest-homosexual abuse crisis, the vocations crisis, and how the Legion of Christ has many questions to answer the Faithful..... I can hear the Legion's damage control engines firing up against those of us who aren't "properly formed" (i.e., formed by the Legion or RC). That's about 99.9% of Catholics in the U.S.
Rating:
Summary: Stench in the Vatican
Review: I am shocked that Cardinal Ratzinger, when informed of Maciel's sacrilege of the sacrament of confession by molesting boys and subsequently absolving them, an automatic ex-communicable offence, wondered whether it was "prudent" to prosecute a priest who had done so much for the church. Ratzinger simply shelved the case for which he should be defrocked, laicized and put on bread and water for life!
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