jrobles76's review against another edition
5.0
One of the toughest books to get through, but so important for everyone to read. The over 6000 victims in the U.S. need you to understand what happened.
lenni_kara's review against another edition
4.0
Difficult to get through because of the intense subject matter, but without a doubt thought-provoking. An insightful depiction of the crisis of the notions of sexual morality and human relationships and how they manifested through a structure of abuse, male dominance and secrecy within the Catholic Church.
claresusannah's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
Would highly recommend the movie Spotlight. This was very hard to read.
shelfimprovement's review
4.0
I’ve never been a fan of the Catholic Church. To be fair, I’ve never been a fan of most forms of organized religion but Catholicism has always struck me as particularly weird and off-putting. I don’t really have skin in the game—I am as agnostic as they come—but I always thought Luther made a few good points.
And by “always,” I mean “since I was first exposed to the tenets in college.” I hadn't met an actual practicing Catholic until college, and the only things I knew about the faith before my religion courses at MC was that they have a pope, Jed Bartlett and JFK were Catholic, and they do confession. And I think maybe I only knew about confession because I’d seen it on Days of our Lives? That’s really embarrassing but entirely possible.
Anyway, I was in high school when the sex abuse scandal broke and because I had zero connection to the church and no one around me was really talking about it, I was kind of aware that the story existed without knowing many of the details. I definitely didn’t stop to think about the implications until much, much later.
Last weekend, my husband and I went to see the movie Spotlight, which tells the story of the Boston Globe’s reporting on the scandal. Aside from being an incredibly powerful true story, it’s a very well-made movie and I highly recommend it. But I walked out of the theater positively buzzing with anger. So many of the finer details of this story – the sheer number of victims, Law’s promotion – were new to me and all I could think was, “How the fuck could anyone know all of this and still support this organization?”
Wanting to know more, I did a quick search on BN.com and downloaded this book. Originally published in 2002, it’s been updated with a new introduction that discusses the movie. It examines all of the findings that the Spotlight team uncovered in the course of their investigations: dozens of priests molested hundreds of children – primarily young boys from impoverished, single-mother homes – and the church hierarchy, instead of protecting victims, shuffled these priests around to cover up their crimes.
This book was an even bigger eye-opener than the movie. It's hard to read, but comprehensive and to-the-pint. The details told here of abuse and cover-up, of justification and immoral behavior on behalf of men claiming to be among the country’s highest moral authorities are so disgusting that I don’t think I have adjectives in my vocabulary potent enough to express it. The whole sad story leaves me with nothing but an even stronger negative opinion of the Catholic Church as an organization. I know good people who are Catholic, but the hierarchy seems to be about as morally bankrupt as it gets.
And by “always,” I mean “since I was first exposed to the tenets in college.” I hadn't met an actual practicing Catholic until college, and the only things I knew about the faith before my religion courses at MC was that they have a pope, Jed Bartlett and JFK were Catholic, and they do confession. And I think maybe I only knew about confession because I’d seen it on Days of our Lives? That’s really embarrassing but entirely possible.
Anyway, I was in high school when the sex abuse scandal broke and because I had zero connection to the church and no one around me was really talking about it, I was kind of aware that the story existed without knowing many of the details. I definitely didn’t stop to think about the implications until much, much later.
Last weekend, my husband and I went to see the movie Spotlight, which tells the story of the Boston Globe’s reporting on the scandal. Aside from being an incredibly powerful true story, it’s a very well-made movie and I highly recommend it. But I walked out of the theater positively buzzing with anger. So many of the finer details of this story – the sheer number of victims, Law’s promotion – were new to me and all I could think was, “How the fuck could anyone know all of this and still support this organization?”
Wanting to know more, I did a quick search on BN.com and downloaded this book. Originally published in 2002, it’s been updated with a new introduction that discusses the movie. It examines all of the findings that the Spotlight team uncovered in the course of their investigations: dozens of priests molested hundreds of children – primarily young boys from impoverished, single-mother homes – and the church hierarchy, instead of protecting victims, shuffled these priests around to cover up their crimes.
This book was an even bigger eye-opener than the movie. It's hard to read, but comprehensive and to-the-pint. The details told here of abuse and cover-up, of justification and immoral behavior on behalf of men claiming to be among the country’s highest moral authorities are so disgusting that I don’t think I have adjectives in my vocabulary potent enough to express it. The whole sad story leaves me with nothing but an even stronger negative opinion of the Catholic Church as an organization. I know good people who are Catholic, but the hierarchy seems to be about as morally bankrupt as it gets.
leesarpel's review
5.0
I live near Boston, so I thought it was important that I learn this history.
This book is direct and hits hard without getting into sentimentality. The most compelling evidence is the documents they provide at the end.
I don't think this book pretends to know what will happen to the Boston Irish community going forward or what should happen. No prescriptives here. Just clear reporting.
This book is direct and hits hard without getting into sentimentality. The most compelling evidence is the documents they provide at the end.
I don't think this book pretends to know what will happen to the Boston Irish community going forward or what should happen. No prescriptives here. Just clear reporting.
sarahvernall's review
4.0
A breathtakingly galling read. For those who have followed the topic over the years, this account of the cover-up of predatory priests (and the aftermath of the Spotlight coverage) will shock but not surprise.