Rating: 
Summary: Excellent resource
Review: The authors have a done a fine job compiling the facts about the sexual abuse crisis that is rocking the Catholic Church. Although the authors present the facts in a balanced way, you will be morally outraged by what "responsible" people of the church are capable of. A must read for anyone who has any doubt about the authoritarian, anti-intellectual, and medieval nature of the Catholic Church.
Rating:
Summary: An Integrated Chronicle of the Catholic Crisis of 2002
Review: The Boston Globe reporters have assembled an excellent chronicle of the events in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston in 2001-2002 that launched the Roman Catholic Church into an international crisis revolving around priest pedophiles and sexual offenders. While this is certainly not the first time the Catholic Church has been the focus of this same scandal, the situation in Boston finally caused a universal uproar whereby victims, law enforcement agencies, faithful Catholics, and the public-at-large demanded radical and immediate change - AND the hierarchy of the Catholic Church were FORCED (under threat of imprisonment for almost half the Bishops of the United States) TO FINALLY LISTEN AND ACT!. The tragedy of the 2002 scandal in the Catholic Church is first and foremost the damage done to those who were victimized by the priest-offenders. Yet, beyond that, there is the monumental story of an arrogant Church hierarchy who seemed to collectively believe they were above the law and that the protection of the Church's reputation was more important than any one victim, or even abuser. Betrayal is a well-edited and comprehensive review of the events of what 2002 brought daily to our newspapers throughout the United States by way of coverage. It is a good permanent record of this tragic situation and provides a depthful review of the details of this crisis by spotlighting individual offenders, victims and the Cardinals and Bishops who inexcusably continued to live in denial or act with outright arrogant impunity. While certainly not entertaining reading, this is an important book to add to the body of information that has already been published on this topic. A worthy addition to the works of Jason Berry, Michael Sipes, Frank Bruni, Elinor Burkett and a number of other important authors on this same topic. Before concluding I do want to comment that Betrayal is an indication of the dramatic changes that have taken place in contemporary book publishing since the introduction of the Internet to our daily lives. Researchers tell is that with the quantity and immediacy of information being available to us through the Internet, our collective attention span has grown very short. One important crisis is quickly forgotten as we move on to the next issue that casts a shadow over the prior. Before this last year, the book publishing cycle was about two years behind the news cycle. With several recent books, and with Betrayal in particular, we are beginningt to see publishers "get themselves up to speed" and respond to the fact that readers, especially of non-fiction, want "Current books" to be exactly that - CURRENT. Betrayal is evidence that the publication of excellent and worthwhile books can happen on a much faster timeline than publishers might like to follow but one that I believe the reader will only increasingly demand. Published in May 2002, Betrayal covers the period of time between December 2001 and April 2002 in a thorough, objective and well written manner. Highly recommended. Daniel J. Maloney
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Rating:
Summary: Privilege in High Places
Review: This rare, balanced and highly researched book is both captivating in drama and challenging in content. Written from a secular rather than a religious perspective, the authors chronicle the lives of victims, the cover-ups by bishops and the socio-political structures which have allowed sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clerics to continue unabated. This book is serious reading for all, but especially for many of the Catholic faithful who have placed an almost blind trust in their leaders. The shocking, painful disclosures of this book will undoubtedly challenge laity to ask questions, honest priests to speak up, and law enforcement to prosecute.
Rating:
Summary: Privilege in High Places
Review: This rare, balanced and highly researched book is both captivating in drama and challenging in content. Written from a secular rather than a religious perspective, the authors chronicle the lives of victims, the cover-ups by bishops and the socio-political structures which have allowed sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clerics to continue unabated. This book is serious reading for all, but especially for many of the Catholic faithful who have placed an almost blind trust in their leaders. The shocking, painful disclosures of this book will undoubtedly challenge laity to ask questions, honest priests to speak up, and law enforcement to prosecute.
Rating: 
Summary: Just the Facts
Review: [Let my put my conflicts of interests right up front. I am a Catholic who converted from Methodist six years ago. Since that time I have worked actively in my parish in Fort Worth, Texas and now am the director of the RCIA program (the program for adults who want to join the church) in my parish. In addition, althouth I am not aware of any abuse by priests in my parish or diocese, the liturgy director at my parish, a lay person, was convicted this year of sexual conduct with a minor that occured about ten years ago.] In my opinion, the most fascinating person in a true crime story is not the person who is obviously sick and evil, but the one who aids and abbets in the crime. For instance, several years ago in Chicago there was a young woman who was desparate to have a child. She hatched a plan to steal a child by cutting the child out of another woman's womb. If the story ended there, it would only be one of an obviously sick woman who needed alot of help, but it didn't. She convinced a man she new to actually carry out this plan. How does that happen? How does the man listen to the ravings of this deranged woman and say, "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. I'll do it."? I have the same questions about the crisis in the Catholic Church. I have no problem with understanding that the likes of John Geoghan, Joseph Birmingham, Paul Shanley, and Robert Trupia are sick and evil men. They each have molested scores of young boys and seem to have no comprehension of the impact of their actions. What I don't understand is why did the bishops they worked for and knew of accusations of molestation against them think it was a good idea to move them to a new set of victims? Why do some men of God become complicit in evil? Unfortunately this book has no answer for those questions. It is written by the group of reporters from the Boston Globe who pried the story from the secretive Boston diocese. As such, it primarialy answers who, what, when, and where, but not why. The gory details of the molestors' activities are given and the pain and anger of many of the victims, too. But in one unforgetable story, the Christlike actions of one victim is told. A victim of Birmingham confronted him after many years of pain and suffering and said, "I've come here to ask you to forgive me for the hatred and resentment that I heve felt toward you for the last twenty-five years." Much of the book is devoted to the problems in and around Boston, as may be expected. However, the reporters do touch on similar cases in other areas. Although the full extent of the crisis is not known, and may not be known without many more reporters in other dioceses investigating their local church, these reporters note that almost 200 sitting priests have been removed around the country and many more have been removed around the world. The problem of failing to respond to evil in the midst of the Catholic Church is definately not specific to Cardinal Law or even to the United States.
Rating:
Summary: Just the Facts
Review: [Let my put my conflicts of interests right up front. I am a Catholic who converted from Methodist six years ago. Since that time I have worked actively in my parish in Fort Worth, Texas and now am the director of the RCIA program (the program for adults who want to join the church) in my parish. In addition, althouth I am not aware of any abuse by priests in my parish or diocese, the liturgy director at my parish, a lay person, was convicted this year of sexual conduct with a minor that occured about ten years ago.] In my opinion, the most fascinating person in a true crime story is not the person who is obviously sick and evil, but the one who aids and abbets in the crime. For instance, several years ago in Chicago there was a young woman who was desparate to have a child. She hatched a plan to steal a child by cutting the child out of another woman's womb. If the story ended there, it would only be one of an obviously sick woman who needed alot of help, but it didn't. She convinced a man she new to actually carry out this plan. How does that happen? How does the man listen to the ravings of this deranged woman and say, "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. I'll do it."? I have the same questions about the crisis in the Catholic Church. I have no problem with understanding that the likes of John Geoghan, Joseph Birmingham, Paul Shanley, and Robert Trupia are sick and evil men. They each have molested scores of young boys and seem to have no comprehension of the impact of their actions. What I don't understand is why did the bishops they worked for and knew of accusations of molestation against them think it was a good idea to move them to a new set of victims? Why do some men of God become complicit in evil? Unfortunately this book has no answer for those questions. It is written by the group of reporters from the Boston Globe who pried the story from the secretive Boston diocese. As such, it primarialy answers who, what, when, and where, but not why. The gory details of the molestors' activities are given and the pain and anger of many of the victims, too. But in one unforgetable story, the Christlike actions of one victim is told. A victim of Birmingham confronted him after many years of pain and suffering and said, "I've come here to ask you to forgive me for the hatred and resentment that I heve felt toward you for the last twenty-five years." Much of the book is devoted to the problems in and around Boston, as may be expected. However, the reporters do touch on similar cases in other areas. Although the full extent of the crisis is not known, and may not be known without many more reporters in other dioceses investigating their local church, these reporters note that almost 200 sitting priests have been removed around the country and many more have been removed around the world. The problem of failing to respond to evil in the midst of the Catholic Church is definately not specific to Cardinal Law or even to the United States.
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