A Different Kind of Horror

A Predator Priest by David Margolick

Adult Nonfiction

This selection was a 'single'-- a short read and is an expose of some families whose lives were destroyed by a priest through sexual abuse, rape and sodomy.  What is so absolutely shocking about the book isn't the abuse by a priest (anyone who hasn't been living in a box is aware that sexual predators in the clergy are rampant) but that these sexual predators seemed to have flocked to a career in the church.  Why?  Because they knew they would be hidden.

This book makes it shockingly apparent how complicit the church hierarchy was.  They not only knew about the abuse for years, but supported it.  I just don't understand why only the priests get vilified.  Why doesn't the entire Catholic church accept their involvement rather than sweeping such things under the rug? 

This story follows the career of a priest from the seminary to retirement and all the lives he destroyed along the way.  This is NOT a motivational story, by any means.  It is a ripping off the cover from an emotional band-aid that went hidden for too many years.  An important, and horrifying, read.