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In God's House: A Novel About the Greatest Scandal of Our Time
This book is more than a novel. It's a testament to one of the most harrowing problems of our time. It's the story of one man's crusade to bring justice to the victims of child abuse. And it's a journey through the dark corridors of the oldest, richest, most powerful religious institution on earth: the Roman Catholic Church. Louisiana, 1984: a promising young Catholic lawyer named Renon Chattelrault agrees to defend the first ever priest to be charged with committing sex crimes against children. He knows it will be controversial. Most men would stand aside. But Chattelrault is not most men. With the evidence he has gathered during the defence of a man he abhors, he mounts a crusade to expose the vast conspiracy that goes to the very foundation of the Catholic Church. A conspiracy which has allowed those priests who have abused children to continue committing those crimes. For years, Chattelrault lives and breathes a fight for justice that will cost him everything he has. This is an astonishing story about one of the great scandals of our time, and one man's epic efforts to put things right.
576 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2012
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June 3, 2013
This one particular paedophile priest, like so many of them, their crimes already known to their monsignors and bishops, was transferred to a poor area of Louisiana (Sister Julianne explains things, page 272
this place is what is known in our Church as a benevolent diocese, meaning that out of our bishop’s goodness we will ordain men or accept transfers of priests who some other dioceses might deem unfit. There is a high level of tolerance here for conduct which would not be tolerated anywhere else.)
and carried on his Standard Operating Procedure of setting up a team of 7-10 year old altar boys and having them round for regular sleepovers at his house. In the early 80s, no one thought that was anything untoward. Then some of these boys revealed what was going on during the sleepovers, the details of which, you may be glad to know, only appear on three pages of this 565 page novel. But it’s not a novel as such, it’s a non-fiction novel and details exactly what the author did in the huge case which finished him in the law business. The only thing changed here is the names. So this is the Executioner’s Song of priest abuse. It’s meticulous. The only pages in here which don’t ring true are the infrequent scenes of family life which are trite and mawkish and sound like they’re from some damned airport novel, sorry Ray and Ray’s editors! But this ain’t no airport novel. No.
Anyway, the Catholic Church in the form of the bishop and his lawyers pounced on these six boys and their families and paid them off and sealed the settlements, meaning that the media never got to hear about them. Job done.
Then eleven more victims emerged a few months later, in the same parish, in summer 1984. When Doves Cry by Prince was number one at the time.
Touch if you will my stomach
Feel how it trembles inside
You've got the butterflies all tied up
Don't make me chase you
Well of course the Bishop thought he could do the same with these new cases, buy them all off, except one family appeared to distrust the church so much that they went to the local DA and the DA then wished to meet with the priest’s lawyer and he didn’t have one because up to then these things had all been done between the Bishop’s lawyer and the families, the priest wasn’t involved at all, no criminal charges were made at all. So Ray Mouton, being a hotshot local brief of repute, was hired. The whole entire idea from beginning to last of the priests and bishops was the keep the damn lid on all of this stuff, for there isn’t any sin worse than bringing the Holy Roman Apostolic Catholic Church into disrepute. Shag twentynine seven-year-old boys, and we will admonish you and sigh and hear your confession and tell you not to do it again and send you off to another parish where both you and I know you will immediately do it again – that’s one thing; but letting the outside world know about such matters, well that is a whole other thing and if you even should breathe one word about it the church will crush your living soul, it will eat your eyes.
Once he figured out what was going on, Ray Mouton thought that this was wrong. Indeed, he came to the wholly outrageous conclusion that covering up, aiding and abetting all these crimes was the larger scandal, and that the bishops and vicar generals and monsignors should be arraigned alongside the pervert priests. His views, once they became known to the clerics, were not welcome. So having been hired by the Catholic Church he then went to war with them. Naturally at first they just threatened to fire his ass – we hired you, we can fire you! – but no, they couldn’t, ha ha, because the pervert priest was his client and only he could fire Ray, and he wasn’t going to, because Ray was telling him he could avoid the expected life sentence and Ray could get him a 20 year stretch in a mental hospital. So the priest did not wish to fire Ray and Ray was able to run amok with this horrendous scandal.
Pick the moral bones out of that miserable soup if you can.
Ray found allies along the way. News of the affair made its way to the Holy See, the very Pope himself got involved, to the horror of the Pope’s number two and all round fixer Cardinal Hans Kruger (“it was widely believed that Hans Kruger was only one funeral away from the papacy”).
Here the whole thing kicks up a gear and becomes really interesting, as if it wasn’t already. This Kruger character is clearly none other than a version of Cardinal Josef Ratzinger who later became Pope Benedict XVI, and in this non-fiction novel he is portrayed as the vicious attack dog of the Vatican, willing to exert any pressure to stop abuse scandals from reaching the press. It’s a breathtaking hatchet job. My jaw was on the floor.
What emerges in this relentless, exhausting legal procedural is a very piquant clash between secular and religious mentalities. The response of the Church to the child victim appears to have been to offer confession (because what they had done was a sin! Don’t forget that!) prayer and a cheque. The response of the outside world was to offer counselling and therapy. Both were sincerely believed by each side to be the best way to heal the child. We are now so secularised that offering confession and prayer to a sex abuse victim seems like another form of abuse; but these religious people were sincere, they really thought that was how to help the victim.
What also emerges is that either Mouton begins to lose his bearings or that we still cringe away from accepting this kind of reality. But as we have seen scandal after scandal, pederast priest after pederast priest, in this last decade, I’m thinking Mouton is probably not that wrong when he writes, in a moment of despair, after a whirlwind tour of Catholic America, on page 369 :
Six months earlier I had been convinced that I faced absolute evil in the form of a single aberrant Catholic priest who had sexually defiled seventeen children, and a vicar general and a bishop who covered up his crimes. Now the church appeared to me as lethal and morally dead as any criminal enterprise on earth. Based on the information I had from the dioceses I’d visited, I believe there had to be five to ten thousand sex-abuser priests in the United States… And it was only logical to assume a similar situation existed in every other significantly Catholic country in the world.
This therefore is not a novel likely to appeal to many people. It reports on an important part of a larger picture. I believe that we are living through a period when formerly unspeakable things are now being spoken about. And that has got to be good. While all this awful stuff comes to light, things look wretched and depressing; but for now this is the way it has to be. Better will come.
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
Luke 12, 2-3
this place is what is known in our Church as a benevolent diocese, meaning that out of our bishop’s goodness we will ordain men or accept transfers of priests who some other dioceses might deem unfit. There is a high level of tolerance here for conduct which would not be tolerated anywhere else.)
and carried on his Standard Operating Procedure of setting up a team of 7-10 year old altar boys and having them round for regular sleepovers at his house. In the early 80s, no one thought that was anything untoward. Then some of these boys revealed what was going on during the sleepovers, the details of which, you may be glad to know, only appear on three pages of this 565 page novel. But it’s not a novel as such, it’s a non-fiction novel and details exactly what the author did in the huge case which finished him in the law business. The only thing changed here is the names. So this is the Executioner’s Song of priest abuse. It’s meticulous. The only pages in here which don’t ring true are the infrequent scenes of family life which are trite and mawkish and sound like they’re from some damned airport novel, sorry Ray and Ray’s editors! But this ain’t no airport novel. No.
Anyway, the Catholic Church in the form of the bishop and his lawyers pounced on these six boys and their families and paid them off and sealed the settlements, meaning that the media never got to hear about them. Job done.
Then eleven more victims emerged a few months later, in the same parish, in summer 1984. When Doves Cry by Prince was number one at the time.
Touch if you will my stomach
Feel how it trembles inside
You've got the butterflies all tied up
Don't make me chase you
Well of course the Bishop thought he could do the same with these new cases, buy them all off, except one family appeared to distrust the church so much that they went to the local DA and the DA then wished to meet with the priest’s lawyer and he didn’t have one because up to then these things had all been done between the Bishop’s lawyer and the families, the priest wasn’t involved at all, no criminal charges were made at all. So Ray Mouton, being a hotshot local brief of repute, was hired. The whole entire idea from beginning to last of the priests and bishops was the keep the damn lid on all of this stuff, for there isn’t any sin worse than bringing the Holy Roman Apostolic Catholic Church into disrepute. Shag twentynine seven-year-old boys, and we will admonish you and sigh and hear your confession and tell you not to do it again and send you off to another parish where both you and I know you will immediately do it again – that’s one thing; but letting the outside world know about such matters, well that is a whole other thing and if you even should breathe one word about it the church will crush your living soul, it will eat your eyes.
Once he figured out what was going on, Ray Mouton thought that this was wrong. Indeed, he came to the wholly outrageous conclusion that covering up, aiding and abetting all these crimes was the larger scandal, and that the bishops and vicar generals and monsignors should be arraigned alongside the pervert priests. His views, once they became known to the clerics, were not welcome. So having been hired by the Catholic Church he then went to war with them. Naturally at first they just threatened to fire his ass – we hired you, we can fire you! – but no, they couldn’t, ha ha, because the pervert priest was his client and only he could fire Ray, and he wasn’t going to, because Ray was telling him he could avoid the expected life sentence and Ray could get him a 20 year stretch in a mental hospital. So the priest did not wish to fire Ray and Ray was able to run amok with this horrendous scandal.
Pick the moral bones out of that miserable soup if you can.
Ray found allies along the way. News of the affair made its way to the Holy See, the very Pope himself got involved, to the horror of the Pope’s number two and all round fixer Cardinal Hans Kruger (“it was widely believed that Hans Kruger was only one funeral away from the papacy”).
Here the whole thing kicks up a gear and becomes really interesting, as if it wasn’t already. This Kruger character is clearly none other than a version of Cardinal Josef Ratzinger who later became Pope Benedict XVI, and in this non-fiction novel he is portrayed as the vicious attack dog of the Vatican, willing to exert any pressure to stop abuse scandals from reaching the press. It’s a breathtaking hatchet job. My jaw was on the floor.
What emerges in this relentless, exhausting legal procedural is a very piquant clash between secular and religious mentalities. The response of the Church to the child victim appears to have been to offer confession (because what they had done was a sin! Don’t forget that!) prayer and a cheque. The response of the outside world was to offer counselling and therapy. Both were sincerely believed by each side to be the best way to heal the child. We are now so secularised that offering confession and prayer to a sex abuse victim seems like another form of abuse; but these religious people were sincere, they really thought that was how to help the victim.
What also emerges is that either Mouton begins to lose his bearings or that we still cringe away from accepting this kind of reality. But as we have seen scandal after scandal, pederast priest after pederast priest, in this last decade, I’m thinking Mouton is probably not that wrong when he writes, in a moment of despair, after a whirlwind tour of Catholic America, on page 369 :
Six months earlier I had been convinced that I faced absolute evil in the form of a single aberrant Catholic priest who had sexually defiled seventeen children, and a vicar general and a bishop who covered up his crimes. Now the church appeared to me as lethal and morally dead as any criminal enterprise on earth. Based on the information I had from the dioceses I’d visited, I believe there had to be five to ten thousand sex-abuser priests in the United States… And it was only logical to assume a similar situation existed in every other significantly Catholic country in the world.
This therefore is not a novel likely to appeal to many people. It reports on an important part of a larger picture. I believe that we are living through a period when formerly unspeakable things are now being spoken about. And that has got to be good. While all this awful stuff comes to light, things look wretched and depressing; but for now this is the way it has to be. Better will come.
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
Luke 12, 2-3
May 26, 2013
This is a rather extraordinary novel. Simultaneously a page-turner, legal thriller, memoir, and devastating screed against the Catholic Church's bumbling of the pedophile scandal, it reflects the author's own journey from Catholic adherent to disgusted and scandalized ex-Catholic. It's an examination of the fall of what Marcia Hamilton calls "the Pollyanna Years*" when we all believed religious organizations could only be instruments for good. Now, of course, we know they often confuse evil and good.
My guess is that this book is thinly disguised fact masquerading as fiction. The author, Ray Mouton, was the lawyer hired by the Diocese of Lafayette in 1984 to defend "the serial pedophile Fr Gilbert Gauthe, a priest who insisted that every sexual act he committed on the young boys was enjoyed by them and symbolic of his love for them.
Some caveats: 1. the meditation between Sasha and her grandfather on the nature of heaven and hell is superfluous to the story and totally unnecessary. 2. Renon Chattelrault's actions as a lawyer seem bizarre. Yes, he's charged with defending a pedophile priest and trying to get the best deal for him, but his motivations become less than pure as he forms a triumvirate with a psychiatrist priest and a nun to force the Church (totally bent on preventing any kind of negative publicity) to face a reality of the epidemic of priestly pedophilia. A more accomplished author would have better woven this part of the story into the general fabric of the book.
It's very dark, southern gothic. Be prepared to stay up nights. If the truth is half as bad as Moulton portrays it to be, the Catholic Church should be run out of business (a word I use advisedly.)
Some background reading:
http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight...
*http://verdict.justia.com/2013/04/18/...
My guess is that this book is thinly disguised fact masquerading as fiction. The author, Ray Mouton, was the lawyer hired by the Diocese of Lafayette in 1984 to defend "the serial pedophile Fr Gilbert Gauthe, a priest who insisted that every sexual act he committed on the young boys was enjoyed by them and symbolic of his love for them.
Some caveats: 1. the meditation between Sasha and her grandfather on the nature of heaven and hell is superfluous to the story and totally unnecessary. 2. Renon Chattelrault's actions as a lawyer seem bizarre. Yes, he's charged with defending a pedophile priest and trying to get the best deal for him, but his motivations become less than pure as he forms a triumvirate with a psychiatrist priest and a nun to force the Church (totally bent on preventing any kind of negative publicity) to face a reality of the epidemic of priestly pedophilia. A more accomplished author would have better woven this part of the story into the general fabric of the book.
It's very dark, southern gothic. Be prepared to stay up nights. If the truth is half as bad as Moulton portrays it to be, the Catholic Church should be run out of business (a word I use advisedly.)
Some background reading:
http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight...
*http://verdict.justia.com/2013/04/18/...
November 29, 2024
4.5
Unexpectedly intense and insane thrift store find. Simultaneously could not stop reading it while also being horrified and crying multiple times.
Unexpectedly intense and insane thrift store find. Simultaneously could not stop reading it while also being horrified and crying multiple times.
August 29, 2014
A very disturbing story of how the Catholic church did nothing to stop known pedophile priests abusing children and then tried to cover it up. Well written but really quite distressing. Although the names are different it seems the cover up went all the way up to the man who then became pope!
What the account leaves you wondering is does the Catholic church attract men to become priests who are pedophiles or is the unnatural requirement that priests can't marry or have girlfriends so that they have no outlet for their sexual urges make these things more likely; I guess the answer is probably both. A potent reason for allowing women priests I would say but as the bible was written by men in a time women would not be considered for such roles we are told it would be contrary to God's will.
What the account leaves you wondering is does the Catholic church attract men to become priests who are pedophiles or is the unnatural requirement that priests can't marry or have girlfriends so that they have no outlet for their sexual urges make these things more likely; I guess the answer is probably both. A potent reason for allowing women priests I would say but as the bible was written by men in a time women would not be considered for such roles we are told it would be contrary to God's will.
April 30, 2020
Feel weird rating this 5 stars because this is one of the most horrifying books I've ever read, but it's thorough, informative, and well written. It tells the story of a big shot lawyer who is tasked with representing a local priest against allegations from a local boy. He steps in to a snake's nest and realises this goes deeper than just one boy, just one priest, or just one parish.
This book is not for the faint of heart. I had to put this down and stop reading quite a few times.
This book is not for the faint of heart. I had to put this down and stop reading quite a few times.
July 8, 2015
Great beginning, interesting middle, but the end is so slow to finish, i wished that he finished it quicker... it drug on and on
May 8, 2018
Het verhaal begint meteen over de zaak die Chattelrault moet vertegenwoordigen. De lezer weet op dit moment nog niet welke aanklacht er is ingediend. Wel is het duidelijk dat het om een zware aanklacht gaat, gezien de pers buiten schot moet worden gehouden. Vervolgens krijgt de lezer al snel te maken met gruwelijke details over het seksuele misbruik van jonge jongens.
Ik vind dat de lezer in de eerste paar hoofdstukken een ontzettend duidelijk beeld heeft gekregen van de situatie. Het feit dat eerdere aanklachten in de doofpot zijn gestopt, maakt het verhaal realistisch. Hierbij merk je dat het verhaal op waarheid gebaseerd is. Ook heeft de lezer meteen een duidelijk beeld van de ernst van de situatie. Voor mij had er echter wel iets meer spanningsopbouw in de onthulling mogen zitten.
Mouton weet de personages goed tot leven te brengen. De priester komt over als een onschuldige man, die niet inziet dat hij met verkeerde dingen bezig. Daartegenover staan verschillende advocaten, welke Mouton geweldig omschrijft, met allemaal een andere mening over de situatie. Dit brengt niet alleen de personages in verwarring, maar het brengt ook de lezer in verwarring. Echter, wel op een positieve manier. Aangezien deze met de personages mee gaat denken. Dat is iets wat maar weinig schrijvers weten te bereiken.
De opbouw van het verhaal is, naar mijn mening, aan de trage kant. Hierdoor heb ik moeite met het vasthouden van mijn leestempo. Ook ben ik wat sneller afgeleid dan normaal. Er zijn hoofdstukken bij waarin eigenlijk geen vorderingen plaatsvinden en dat zie ik wel als een gemiste kans. Ik heb dan liever dat het boek wat korters is, maar waarbij de schrijver er wel voor zorgt dat de lezer geïntrigeerd blijft door het verhaal. Dat mis ik bij de opbouw van het boek.
De spanningsboog van het boek is dus erg langdradig. Ik had daardoor veel moeite om door te lezen; wat ervoor zorgde dat ik tussendoor een ander boek heb gelezen. Het probleem hiervan is echter dat het verhaal lastig op te pikken is. Ik moet dus echt moeite te om het verhaal terug te halen. Naarmate het verhaal vordert, krijgt het verhaal meer handen en voeten. Dat zorgt ervoor dat het verhaal wat gemakkelijker wordt om te lezen. Dat maakt de spanningsboog ook meteen wat steiler.
Het feit dat de achterliggende gedacht van het verhaal gebaseerd is op non-fictie spreekt mij het meeste aan. Dat is de voornaamste reden geweest om het boek helemaal uit te lezen. Het is een zwaar onderwerp, maar Mouton weet het op een zachte (maar zeker indrukwekkende) manier over te brengen. Zijn schrijfstijl spreekt mij erg aan, waardoor het boek toch ook wel prettig wegleest.
Het boek had zeker een stuk ingekort kunnen worden, vooral richting het einde had ik soms de neiging om pagina’s over te slaan. Dit omdat ze naar mijn mening vrij weinig bijdroegen aan het verhaal. Zo wordt er ineens een heel stuk geschreven over de relatie met Kate, terwijl juist op dat moment iets heel anders speelt. Hierdoor wordt de lezer van een hoge spanningsboog teruggezet naar een hele lage spanningsboog, zonder duidelijk overgang.
Ik merkte dat het einde van het verhaal (vanaf part 7) beter te volgen was. Dit was voor mij het interessantste gedeelte. Het onderdeel gaat in op de juridische procedure, maar wat mij ook aanspreekt is het effect op Renon’s leven. De gevolgen die zijn onderzoek met zich mee hebben gebracht en het feit dat hij zijn leven ergens anders moet opbouwen, zijn te relativeren naar het hier en nu. Neem bijvoorbeeld PTSS, wat bij veel militairen voorkomt. Al met al komt het erop neer dat het verhaal zich aan het einde goed weet te herpakken.
Dit boek is zeker een aanrader voor iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in dit genre, maar daarbij moet ik wel aangeven dat je er goed voor moet gaan zitten. Ik heb zelf veel moeite gehad om het boek telkens maar weer op te pakken, waardoor het mij veel tijd heeft gekost om het uit te krijgen. Ik had gehoopt dat dit boek in de laatste correcties ingekort werd, waardoor het behapbaarder zou zijn. Daarom krijgt dit boek 2,5 (afgerond 3) van de 5 sterren; met name door de lengte.
Ik vind dat de lezer in de eerste paar hoofdstukken een ontzettend duidelijk beeld heeft gekregen van de situatie. Het feit dat eerdere aanklachten in de doofpot zijn gestopt, maakt het verhaal realistisch. Hierbij merk je dat het verhaal op waarheid gebaseerd is. Ook heeft de lezer meteen een duidelijk beeld van de ernst van de situatie. Voor mij had er echter wel iets meer spanningsopbouw in de onthulling mogen zitten.
Mouton weet de personages goed tot leven te brengen. De priester komt over als een onschuldige man, die niet inziet dat hij met verkeerde dingen bezig. Daartegenover staan verschillende advocaten, welke Mouton geweldig omschrijft, met allemaal een andere mening over de situatie. Dit brengt niet alleen de personages in verwarring, maar het brengt ook de lezer in verwarring. Echter, wel op een positieve manier. Aangezien deze met de personages mee gaat denken. Dat is iets wat maar weinig schrijvers weten te bereiken.
De opbouw van het verhaal is, naar mijn mening, aan de trage kant. Hierdoor heb ik moeite met het vasthouden van mijn leestempo. Ook ben ik wat sneller afgeleid dan normaal. Er zijn hoofdstukken bij waarin eigenlijk geen vorderingen plaatsvinden en dat zie ik wel als een gemiste kans. Ik heb dan liever dat het boek wat korters is, maar waarbij de schrijver er wel voor zorgt dat de lezer geïntrigeerd blijft door het verhaal. Dat mis ik bij de opbouw van het boek.
De spanningsboog van het boek is dus erg langdradig. Ik had daardoor veel moeite om door te lezen; wat ervoor zorgde dat ik tussendoor een ander boek heb gelezen. Het probleem hiervan is echter dat het verhaal lastig op te pikken is. Ik moet dus echt moeite te om het verhaal terug te halen. Naarmate het verhaal vordert, krijgt het verhaal meer handen en voeten. Dat zorgt ervoor dat het verhaal wat gemakkelijker wordt om te lezen. Dat maakt de spanningsboog ook meteen wat steiler.
Het feit dat de achterliggende gedacht van het verhaal gebaseerd is op non-fictie spreekt mij het meeste aan. Dat is de voornaamste reden geweest om het boek helemaal uit te lezen. Het is een zwaar onderwerp, maar Mouton weet het op een zachte (maar zeker indrukwekkende) manier over te brengen. Zijn schrijfstijl spreekt mij erg aan, waardoor het boek toch ook wel prettig wegleest.
Het boek had zeker een stuk ingekort kunnen worden, vooral richting het einde had ik soms de neiging om pagina’s over te slaan. Dit omdat ze naar mijn mening vrij weinig bijdroegen aan het verhaal. Zo wordt er ineens een heel stuk geschreven over de relatie met Kate, terwijl juist op dat moment iets heel anders speelt. Hierdoor wordt de lezer van een hoge spanningsboog teruggezet naar een hele lage spanningsboog, zonder duidelijk overgang.
Ik merkte dat het einde van het verhaal (vanaf part 7) beter te volgen was. Dit was voor mij het interessantste gedeelte. Het onderdeel gaat in op de juridische procedure, maar wat mij ook aanspreekt is het effect op Renon’s leven. De gevolgen die zijn onderzoek met zich mee hebben gebracht en het feit dat hij zijn leven ergens anders moet opbouwen, zijn te relativeren naar het hier en nu. Neem bijvoorbeeld PTSS, wat bij veel militairen voorkomt. Al met al komt het erop neer dat het verhaal zich aan het einde goed weet te herpakken.
Dit boek is zeker een aanrader voor iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in dit genre, maar daarbij moet ik wel aangeven dat je er goed voor moet gaan zitten. Ik heb zelf veel moeite gehad om het boek telkens maar weer op te pakken, waardoor het mij veel tijd heeft gekost om het uit te krijgen. Ik had gehoopt dat dit boek in de laatste correcties ingekort werd, waardoor het behapbaarder zou zijn. Daarom krijgt dit boek 2,5 (afgerond 3) van de 5 sterren; met name door de lengte.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2016
In God's House by Ray Mouton This is the first person account of a young catholic lawyer who, in 1984, was hired by the Church to represent the first priest to be formally prosecuted for the sexual abuse of young boys in Louisiana. What at first seems like a singular case of one perverted man turns out to be just the tip of the iceberg. More crimes are uncovered, soon it becomes fact that the deviants' superiors knew all along and covered up abuse and even murder - and transferred the priests to new parrishes and new victims. It's a fight against windmills, however, to get the Church to recognize their grave mistakes and atone - and protect the innocent lives forever destroyed by their own priests, men in a position of power and moral authority, instead of their own reputation and standing in society, a fight still on-going even now, 30 years later.
Mouton, or as he calls himself in the novel Renon Chattelrault - and make no mistake, the names might have been changed, the whole thing disguised as a fiction novel, but the essential story is true -, loses everything in his fight to get justice and help for the victims, to get the Church to acknowledge their existence and responsibility for them, his marriage, his health, his love for his profession, and his faith in the catholic church... even his self-respect.. And he's relentlessly listing everything that went wrong here. Since he no longer believes in the institution of the Roman Catholic Church (and it is hard to do so after reading of these events), I'd also liken this recount to a confession of his own role, told without self-pity, just laying it out there for everyone to judge.
The power of this story doesn't come from the obvious heinous crimes depicted - because, even when faced with multiple perpetrators, it's still easier to cope by claiming that these are sick individuals, despicable perverts. And what does that tell about society as a whole? But what's really unbelievable and sickening in its own way is the role the Church takes: turning victims into villains, telling children they have to confess *their* sins, threatening children with court trials for defamation, enabling pedophiles by sending them to other parrishes/schools/prisons with juvenile delinquents, denying the systematic problem by claiming it's just the actions of a few individuals...And the power lies within the moments of immeasurable courage of a young boy taking the stand against a bishop and all his legal forces. And the shards of glass hurting immensely when another boy can't endure the pain and pressure inflicted upon him any longer. The moments of hope and betrayal and despair when time and again the underlying need to help the victims is stymied. And I also would like to point out the exceptional portrayal of Matt Patterson whose compassion touched me deeply... a reminder that not everyone within the organisation is evil and self-centered, even in moments where it's hard to see the light.
The only thing that remains unclear are the real-life identities of the characters acting in the Vatican. The power-hungry German Cardinal Kruger who's set to become the next pope... is this meant to be Ratzinger? But the background given doesn't match Ratzinger's... Unfortunately, while almost everyone named in the story is called by his real name in the afterword, Kruger isn't. Is this because the events in the Vatican are the only conjecture ones in this novel, the only ones Mouton wasn't witness to and therefore can't vouch for? Are Kruger and his allies a substitute for a larger faction within the Vatican and just used as individuals to simplify the story? And what exactly was John Paul II's role in the whole series of events? Because, as benevolent as he is portrayed here... he wasn't capable of (and/or willing to?) putting an end to the obfuscation and hipocrisy, prefering in the story to pray in private for the victims. I realize that apparently he didn't have the power within the Vatican to actually send an impartial or sympathetic person to investigate, instead the investigation that he called for got, once again, held up/influenced/whatever you want to call it by Kruger's credo... don't let anything touch the Vatican, sully the Church's standing as moral institution, the problems of individual priests are not our concern... However, I just read the transcript of his speech to the US bishops in April 2002 (by that point the scandal that everyone had sought to avoid had spread widely) where he on the one hand condemned the crimes, but on the other hand thanked the bishops for their work in general, claiming that the catholic church was a piece of art, damaged by what happened, but still with everlasting beauty which no one could deny. Granted, he had to perhaps walk a very thin line, especially being already weakened in spirit and body in 2002... but if I had been a victim, I'd have felt betrayed by that, because it, again, minimises the devastating effect not only the crimes themselves, but also the actions of the Catholic Church in the meantime had taken. At least he urged the bishops to finally remove known sex offenders from their posts... at long last.
Mouton treads a very thin line between condemning the Church per se and condemning its actions. And I think he succeeds overall because while he, as Chattelrault in the book, professes incredulity over whatever hurdle the Church's lawyers put in his way, he nevertheless manages not to digress into Anti-Church polemics - he lets the facts speak for themselves, and they are condemning enough... especially for an institution which claims to do God's will on Earth. Except for Kruger, no one is depicted as evil - there're also a lot of good people with the Church, Desmond McDougall (and his real-life counterpart Thomas Doyle who, together with Mouton, wrote guidelines for how to deal with this situation, how to help the victims back in 1985 which were dismissed by the Vatican and the US bishops, ruining his own clerical career, and who to this day remains a spokesperson in this issue), Julie, especially Matt with his endless compassion, who offer those much needed sparks of hope that not all is lost. One thing's for sure, though, the structures within the Catholic Church need to change, need to adapt to modern age, for it to survive. And facing one's mistakes is just the first tiny step in the right direction.
Overall, a deeply moving book that stays with you for a long time.
Mouton, or as he calls himself in the novel Renon Chattelrault - and make no mistake, the names might have been changed, the whole thing disguised as a fiction novel, but the essential story is true -, loses everything in his fight to get justice and help for the victims, to get the Church to acknowledge their existence and responsibility for them, his marriage, his health, his love for his profession, and his faith in the catholic church... even his self-respect.. And he's relentlessly listing everything that went wrong here. Since he no longer believes in the institution of the Roman Catholic Church (and it is hard to do so after reading of these events), I'd also liken this recount to a confession of his own role, told without self-pity, just laying it out there for everyone to judge.
The power of this story doesn't come from the obvious heinous crimes depicted - because, even when faced with multiple perpetrators, it's still easier to cope by claiming that these are sick individuals, despicable perverts. And what does that tell about society as a whole? But what's really unbelievable and sickening in its own way is the role the Church takes: turning victims into villains, telling children they have to confess *their* sins, threatening children with court trials for defamation, enabling pedophiles by sending them to other parrishes/schools/prisons with juvenile delinquents, denying the systematic problem by claiming it's just the actions of a few individuals...And the power lies within the moments of immeasurable courage of a young boy taking the stand against a bishop and all his legal forces. And the shards of glass hurting immensely when another boy can't endure the pain and pressure inflicted upon him any longer. The moments of hope and betrayal and despair when time and again the underlying need to help the victims is stymied. And I also would like to point out the exceptional portrayal of Matt Patterson whose compassion touched me deeply... a reminder that not everyone within the organisation is evil and self-centered, even in moments where it's hard to see the light.
The only thing that remains unclear are the real-life identities of the characters acting in the Vatican. The power-hungry German Cardinal Kruger who's set to become the next pope... is this meant to be Ratzinger? But the background given doesn't match Ratzinger's... Unfortunately, while almost everyone named in the story is called by his real name in the afterword, Kruger isn't. Is this because the events in the Vatican are the only conjecture ones in this novel, the only ones Mouton wasn't witness to and therefore can't vouch for? Are Kruger and his allies a substitute for a larger faction within the Vatican and just used as individuals to simplify the story? And what exactly was John Paul II's role in the whole series of events? Because, as benevolent as he is portrayed here... he wasn't capable of (and/or willing to?) putting an end to the obfuscation and hipocrisy, prefering in the story to pray in private for the victims. I realize that apparently he didn't have the power within the Vatican to actually send an impartial or sympathetic person to investigate, instead the investigation that he called for got, once again, held up/influenced/whatever you want to call it by Kruger's credo... don't let anything touch the Vatican, sully the Church's standing as moral institution, the problems of individual priests are not our concern... However, I just read the transcript of his speech to the US bishops in April 2002 (by that point the scandal that everyone had sought to avoid had spread widely) where he on the one hand condemned the crimes, but on the other hand thanked the bishops for their work in general, claiming that the catholic church was a piece of art, damaged by what happened, but still with everlasting beauty which no one could deny. Granted, he had to perhaps walk a very thin line, especially being already weakened in spirit and body in 2002... but if I had been a victim, I'd have felt betrayed by that, because it, again, minimises the devastating effect not only the crimes themselves, but also the actions of the Catholic Church in the meantime had taken. At least he urged the bishops to finally remove known sex offenders from their posts... at long last.
Mouton treads a very thin line between condemning the Church per se and condemning its actions. And I think he succeeds overall because while he, as Chattelrault in the book, professes incredulity over whatever hurdle the Church's lawyers put in his way, he nevertheless manages not to digress into Anti-Church polemics - he lets the facts speak for themselves, and they are condemning enough... especially for an institution which claims to do God's will on Earth. Except for Kruger, no one is depicted as evil - there're also a lot of good people with the Church, Desmond McDougall (and his real-life counterpart Thomas Doyle who, together with Mouton, wrote guidelines for how to deal with this situation, how to help the victims back in 1985 which were dismissed by the Vatican and the US bishops, ruining his own clerical career, and who to this day remains a spokesperson in this issue), Julie, especially Matt with his endless compassion, who offer those much needed sparks of hope that not all is lost. One thing's for sure, though, the structures within the Catholic Church need to change, need to adapt to modern age, for it to survive. And facing one's mistakes is just the first tiny step in the right direction.
Overall, a deeply moving book that stays with you for a long time.
May 16, 2019
I confess to being totally anti organised religion, and am very much against Catholicism which seems to me to be based on hellfire and damnation, and just ram jam packed full of sin, so I started this book with reservations.
I can't say I enjoyed it, because that would just be wrong, given the subject matter, but I do agree with one reviewer who said it reads almost like a non-fiction, given what we know about the sexual abuse of young boys by priests which all came to the fore in recent years.
The book is well written, and I am fully prepared to believe all that is written about how the highest echelons in the Church are concerned only with preventing any scandal being written of the Church.
The only criticism I would pass, is that there are a lot of "flowery" passages, and I admit to skipping those quite often, especially towards the end when Kreuger wandered off...
I can't say I enjoyed it, because that would just be wrong, given the subject matter, but I do agree with one reviewer who said it reads almost like a non-fiction, given what we know about the sexual abuse of young boys by priests which all came to the fore in recent years.
The book is well written, and I am fully prepared to believe all that is written about how the highest echelons in the Church are concerned only with preventing any scandal being written of the Church.
The only criticism I would pass, is that there are a lot of "flowery" passages, and I admit to skipping those quite often, especially towards the end when Kreuger wandered off...
April 27, 2024
I wasn't able to finish this book it is described as harrowing but I didn't realize the profound effect it would have, causing nightmares. It is novel of clergy sexual abuse in throughout the United States. It also reveals the effect of massive commitment on the part of dioceses in maintaining financial security and the involvement of bankers, insurances and high finance, as well as the lifestyle and expectations of the clergy described in the novel. The author switches between the narrator who is a Catholic lawyer engaged to defend a notorious paedophile priest and the events and personalities of a corrupt diocesan administration. I found out later that it was almost history apart from some dramatisations and changes of name here and there. A well-written book but overly wordy conversations
July 16, 2024
Although a novel, Mouton has provided the historical context for the denouncement of pedophile Catholic priests in America. The underlying research is detailed and thorough, resulting in a believable account that captures the anguish of the families and duplicity and criminal negligence of the Church and its representatives from priests up to the highest levels of power. Not an easy read and predominantly told through the voice of the lawyer who defended the accused priest because of his constitutional right to be defended - and the heavy toll this made on him in all aspects of his life.
September 29, 2023
This is a compelling, important story about abuse in the Catholic Church, the extent of the coverup and the lengths members of the clergy undertake to avoid a scandal. It’s probably 100 pages too long, with way too many characters numerous bishops, cardinals, Monsignors and priests not to mention all the lawyers, prosecutors, doctors etc. I quickly lost track of names and dates. It’s a shame it wasn’t more concise and succinct which would have been far more powerful.
December 28, 2021
This fiction book is actually written by the lawyer that handled the very first suing of the Catholic Church in Lafayette, LA. Though fiction, it seems very obvious that it's culled from his real life experience. It's an amazing read because of the subterfuge, the lies, the maneuvers and mishandling of the Church.
May 3, 2020
I loved this book, I wish Mouton had more books. I was a little leary to read during the pandemic in case it was disturbing or sad but the story weaves in and out of the many wonderful characters of the book, making it a brilliantly informative read. Well done!!
August 19, 2020
This book was hard work. It was long. The subject matter was distressing. But it was worthwhile. Grappling with the ugliness and downright demonic actions of the Catholic Church. The ending was a bit drawn out, although it did wrap up all the strings.
October 3, 2021
I guess the word is "compelling." Well written, solid pacing, engaging characters. I was never entirely sure where the line was between non-fiction and fiction and so need to do some research. Doesn't matter, hugely, but I often wondered about the reality of events depicted.
Read
February 12, 2022Amazing!
March 19, 2017
A straight 4. Well woven history, memoir and drama of a dark period of ongoing institutional Catholic Church history, part of a worldwide phenomena.
November 1, 2024
"In God's House is dedicated to the victims, children around the world who are survivors of clergy abuse and those who did not survive but died by suicide, and to their families." - Ray Mouton
"Only God knows how many lives of children were destroyed in the 17 years between the time the Church received the truth it chose to ignore, and the time it held its first formal meeting solely devoted to the topic of clergy abuse." - Ray Mouton
(Taken from the author's statement on http://www.raymouton-ingodshouse-then...)
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone, especially parents navigating a world where they must rely on various professionals for their children's safety and well-being.
Once I began reading, I found it impossible to stop. The emotional impact was overwhelming—I felt a mix of rage, sadness, and a deep desire to confront those who perpetuate the systemic cover-ups of heinous acts against the innocent. In my extensive reading, I have never encountered a book as powerful as this one. The author masterfully unveils the chilling beginnings of one of the most significant cover-ups of child sexual abuse.
The betrayal of trust depicted here is heart-wrenching, particularly when the perpetrator is someone who is supposed to embody moral integrity. As the shortest verse in the Bible reminds us, "Jesus wept." If such a figure exists, one can only imagine the sorrow He feels for the countless young lives devastated by those who bear the title of "Father." This narrative exposes not just isolated incidents but a shocking array of interconnected crimes: child abuse, rape, bribery, corruption, obstruction of justice, and perjury, all reaching the highest echelons of the Vatican.
This book is a remarkable blend of intrigue, drama, and action, showcasing the talents of Ray Mouton as a storyteller. I am thrilled to have discovered this exciting new author and eagerly anticipate his future works.
"Only God knows how many lives of children were destroyed in the 17 years between the time the Church received the truth it chose to ignore, and the time it held its first formal meeting solely devoted to the topic of clergy abuse." - Ray Mouton
(Taken from the author's statement on http://www.raymouton-ingodshouse-then...)
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone, especially parents navigating a world where they must rely on various professionals for their children's safety and well-being.
Once I began reading, I found it impossible to stop. The emotional impact was overwhelming—I felt a mix of rage, sadness, and a deep desire to confront those who perpetuate the systemic cover-ups of heinous acts against the innocent. In my extensive reading, I have never encountered a book as powerful as this one. The author masterfully unveils the chilling beginnings of one of the most significant cover-ups of child sexual abuse.
The betrayal of trust depicted here is heart-wrenching, particularly when the perpetrator is someone who is supposed to embody moral integrity. As the shortest verse in the Bible reminds us, "Jesus wept." If such a figure exists, one can only imagine the sorrow He feels for the countless young lives devastated by those who bear the title of "Father." This narrative exposes not just isolated incidents but a shocking array of interconnected crimes: child abuse, rape, bribery, corruption, obstruction of justice, and perjury, all reaching the highest echelons of the Vatican.
This book is a remarkable blend of intrigue, drama, and action, showcasing the talents of Ray Mouton as a storyteller. I am thrilled to have discovered this exciting new author and eagerly anticipate his future works.
September 19, 2014
I have to agree with one (Amazon) reviewer who has wondered why this has been written as a novel rather than a true account, given that it is about the actual case of sexual abuse against children by predatory Catholic priests. It took me quite a long time to get through this because at times I became so angry I had to put it down, sometimes for a few hours, until I was able to get back to it. The sexual abuse of children is dreadful enough, but what this book exposes is the manipulation, lies and secrecy of the Catholic Church, right to the top layers of the Vatican. Everything possible was done to protect "the Mother Church" from scandal.....and this in itself is scandalous; the hierarchy within the church believed that the police had no part in their affairs. In fact it was felt within the Church, and probably still is, that they are above the law. It was well known within the Church that hundreds, if not thousands, of priests were abusing children, but nothing was done about it.
The author was the lawyer involved in this case, the first of its kind, in which an abused child sued the Church; during the many years he was involved he lost everything from his marriage to his faith. At times I found the fine detail a little too much; it could have been pared down to give a tighter, sharper read, but having said that this really is a compelling account of one of the most horrible scandals of our time. It is not an easy book to read; it is horrifying but compelling. It is not a book to "enjoy", but is an important book which deserves to be widely read; maybe attitudes to the all powerful control of the church will change.
My thanksto Amazon Vine for a free copy to review.
The author was the lawyer involved in this case, the first of its kind, in which an abused child sued the Church; during the many years he was involved he lost everything from his marriage to his faith. At times I found the fine detail a little too much; it could have been pared down to give a tighter, sharper read, but having said that this really is a compelling account of one of the most horrible scandals of our time. It is not an easy book to read; it is horrifying but compelling. It is not a book to "enjoy", but is an important book which deserves to be widely read; maybe attitudes to the all powerful control of the church will change.
My thanksto Amazon Vine for a free copy to review.
April 16, 2013
I just finished reading Ray Mouton's book "In God's House". Every parent and everyone who cares about children should read it in the context of today's political environment. Whose budget proposal will protect the criminals and whose will protect the victims? A review of the religions of the people making the proposals in light of the information in this book would be enlightening.
If I am being too obtuse for you, read the book and it will all be clear.
Every writer wondering how to portray evil characters could learn from how Ray handles the evil in this book. Not every character is evil, but almost all have compromised morality.
It helps that the novel is based on true incidents, and that makes it all the more important.
Please do not read this book like a history of time gone by. the problems are with us still and unless we act, will continue to plague us and our children for generations to come.
If I am being too obtuse for you, read the book and it will all be clear.
Every writer wondering how to portray evil characters could learn from how Ray handles the evil in this book. Not every character is evil, but almost all have compromised morality.
It helps that the novel is based on true incidents, and that makes it all the more important.
Please do not read this book like a history of time gone by. the problems are with us still and unless we act, will continue to plague us and our children for generations to come.
March 27, 2016
It took over 30 years for Australia's Royal Commission into the sexual abuse of children to begin since the trial of a catholic priest paedophile in Louisiana in 1985.
Ray Mouton gives a graphic, firsthand account of the difficulties he faced as a barrister, having chosen to represent a sexual deviate priest.
He describes how he struggled to deal with the horror encountered by hundreds of victims, the psychosis of his client and particularly the obstructionist stance of the Catholic Church, interested only in the preservation of its reputation (now thoroughly besmirched) rather than admit to its failings and where possible to compensate families.
His laudable effort is spelt out superbly in this book to which I was riveted from go to whoa.
Read it !
Ray Mouton gives a graphic, firsthand account of the difficulties he faced as a barrister, having chosen to represent a sexual deviate priest.
He describes how he struggled to deal with the horror encountered by hundreds of victims, the psychosis of his client and particularly the obstructionist stance of the Catholic Church, interested only in the preservation of its reputation (now thoroughly besmirched) rather than admit to its failings and where possible to compensate families.
His laudable effort is spelt out superbly in this book to which I was riveted from go to whoa.
Read it !
April 23, 2016
Novel are often talked about as being 'ripped from the headlines'. With the Royal Commission continuing this novel really is. Although portrayed as a novel, the fact that it was written by a lawyer who was involved in one of the very early criminal cases against a priest makes the reading of this very chilling. The responses of the hierarchy of the church ring true to what we now know was happening. The disbelief of the defending lawyer and the affected Church members as to what was happening show just how naïve we all were. An unforgettable read.
March 6, 2013
This is a great book and quite an eye opener into the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. As with any large organization be it religious or secular, there can be plenty of skeletons in the closet. There are some difficult parts to read but were necessary for the integrity of the story. Hats off to Ray Mouton. I don't want to add any more as it could be a spoiler.
I would have given it a 5 but there was a great deal of history of modern day Catholicism that I could have done without.
I would have given it a 5 but there was a great deal of history of modern day Catholicism that I could have done without.
May 31, 2013
This is a tremendous book! Deeply engrossing and thought provoking.
This is story is about more than the courtroom drama, it challenges the intellect of faith and questions the unholy alliance of church and state.
If you are a devout Catholic you may be offended by the way The Church is portrayed but having had my own run in with the intransigence of this august establishment I am routing for the underdog!
This is story is about more than the courtroom drama, it challenges the intellect of faith and questions the unholy alliance of church and state.
If you are a devout Catholic you may be offended by the way The Church is portrayed but having had my own run in with the intransigence of this august establishment I am routing for the underdog!
September 24, 2015
Ray Mouton deserves more than 5 stars for bringing his experiences to public attention, albeit in the form of a novel. This book shatters any illusions that the stories of paedophile priests were exaggerated, or created by the media to sell newspapers. The real shocker is the extent of the cover-up and burying of evidence by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Everyone should read this book.
January 19, 2014
This book should be required reading for everyone - in my opinion! It is a clear indictment of the catholic church, and indeed speaks volumes about every institution that seeks to hide the abuse of children. Reminded me of a modern day To Kill a Mockingbird. Extremely well written too.
August 4, 2014
Although the subject matter of the book is unpleasant, the story is compelling and a page turner. The book is well written and opened my eyes to the scandals and lies that go on in the church and the lengths the church will go to just to protect itself at the expense of members of its flock.
January 29, 2016
This book helped me to understand something that has bothered me for years . I understand why it was so important the truth came out . No matter what bad publicity there was for the church. A good read and honest emotions over a very bad situation.
February 24, 2013
Not for the faint of heart, sad stuff, good portrait of Louisiana, learned a lot about Catholicism, some i didn't need to know.
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