Unforgivable: An Abusive Priest and the Church That Sent Him Abroad

by Kevin Lewis O'Neill

The first book to expose how the Catholic Church systematically covers up scandal by moving abusers across borders.
 
Clerical sexual abuse is as global as the Roman Catholic Church, with bishops moving credibly accused priests not simply between parishes but also across international borders. Unforgivable follows the movement of one such perpetrator from the Great Plains of central Minnesota to the Indigenous highlands of Guatemala, where this priest had access to children and even raised one as his own.
 
While Father David Roney provides the backbone of the story in Unforgivable, author Kevin Lewis O'Neill offers ample evidence that offshoring priests is a common practice. These maneuvers and the callous indifference of the Church once caught red-handed reveal the limits of justice. They also lay bare the disturbing fact that the scale of clerical sexual abuse is far bigger than anyone has yet considered. Rigorously researched and viscerally important, this book raises urgent questions about holding the Catholic Church accountable.

280 pages, Hardcover

Published February 25, 2025

About the author

Kevin Lewis O’Neill is Assistant Professor in the Department and Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. He is the author of City of God: Christian Citizenship in Postwar Guatemala and a co-editor of Genocide: Truth, Memory, and Representation, also published by Duke University Press.

Reviews

[Amelia and John · Rating 4 out of 5]

O'Neill is one of my favorite anthropologists of religion.

Unforgivable, however, is not quite a work of anthropology. Its fictional elements bring to mind works like In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

The book is an account of Father David Roney. Roney was one of the many, many abuser priests that racked the Catholic world in the 70s and 80s.

O'Neill's portraits of Roney's abuse and manipulation are sickening and rage-inducing. Yet, O'Neill manages not to reduce the book to a sensationalizing of an individual bad actor. Throughout the book, he ties in Roney's story to the Catholic Church as an institution with incentives not to talk about sex, and not to call out abuser priests.

This book is not for the faint of heart. But I believe that it is an accessible introduction for academics and the public alike who are interested in learning about clerical abuse.

[Kathleen Lippa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant book detailing crimes against children in the United States and Guatemala, perpetrated by priests in the Catholic Church. We get extraordinary detail about the life and crimes of one priest in particular, named David Roney - and through him, and deep research about the system he operated in, we see how sex crimes perpetrated by priests against children were covered up for years. Yes, the subject matter is often disturbing, but I couldn't put the book down. Important work by Kevin Lewis O'Neill.

[Becca G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book goes into detail about what happened and how the priest was able to move around and avoid punishment. Is fast paced and easy to read. There are point in this book you just want to reach in and scream at the people involved. Overall, a very informative book.

[Maryn Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read for class. Kind of reward like true crime which was entertaining but sometimes I felt like the authors bias came through a bit too much

[RYAN PHAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silky smooth unjacketed dust cover