The Priestly Sins

by Andrew M. Greeley

Not since his runaway bestseller, The Cardinal Sins , has Father Andrew Greeley written such a searing and topical novel about the state of the Catholic Church. The Priestly Sins tells the story of Father Herman Hoffman, a gifted and innocent young man from the distant prairies of the Great Plains. In the summer of his first parish appointment, Hoffman is swept up in the Crisis after witnessing child abuse in the parish rectory. He tells the pastor, the father of the victim, and the local police but is rebuffed by the archbishop. Soon he is vilified for denouncing a priest who has been "cleared" by the police and learns the harsh fate of the whistleblower in the contemporary Catholic he is locked up in a mental-health center and then sent into exile to do graduate study. In Chicago to study immigrant history, he encounters the local "Vicar for Extern Priests," the legendary monsignor Blackie Ryan, who helps him regain his confidence. Hoffman returns home to demand a parish of his own from the archbishop. Reluctantly, the church hierarchy assigns him to a dying parish, but by his zeal and charm he revives the local church. His brief idyll is shattered by a subpoena to testify in a court hearing. If he speaks, he will have to take on the "downtown" establishment that is determined to destroy him and many of his fellow priests who want to be rid of this painful reminder of a sinful past. He faces exile not only from his parish but from the priesthood itself. Written from the author's fifty years of experience as a priest, The Priestly Sins will be criticized by some but embraced by most for this all-too-candid story of all-too-human priests. The Priestly Sins is Father Greeley's most electrifying novel in three decades.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Catholic

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Andrew Greeley was a Roman Catholic priest, sociologist, journalist, and author of 50 best-selling novels and more than 100 works of nonfiction. For decades, Greeley entertained readers with such popular characters as the mystery-solving priest Blackie Ryan and the fey, amateur sleuth Nuala Anne McGrail. His books typically center on Irish-American Roman Catholics living or working in Chicago.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/andrew...

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've ever read from the profligate author and Catholic priest Fr. Andrew Greeley. I have to say, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. At first, I believed the book was about the priest sex abuse scandal, and while that certainly played an important role in the plot, it was not the focus of the book. Instead, Fr. Greeley wrote a very moving, and convincing, story about a young priest's life and struggles. I ended up really liking the main character, Fr. Herman Hoffman, whose choice to become a priest entails a great deal of personal sacrifice and suffering. The horrors of the priest abuse scandal--not only the crimes of sexual abuse, but the cover-up--are painfully detailed in this book. More interesting and engaging, though, was (not yet) Fr. Hoffman's love affair with the beautiful Kathleen, and the joy and sorrow his relationship with her brought to him throughout his life as a single young man and, later, as a priest. It was realistic and beautiful and sad. I wanted Herman to end up with her, even as I understood that he wouldn't be Herman if he did.

This is a good story, which is highest compliment I can give a work of fiction.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is this really cute couple that comes in the library almost every week and has me track down juicy large print editions of their favorite authors. They consider Andrew Greeley to be the best. I had never read his books before, so I decided to give this one a try.

It was a great example of really good storytelling. Sad premise (sexual abuse in the Catholic Church), but the story was great and no excuses were made for the horrible atrocities committed against victims of abuse that this story was based on. It was told in a way that made no excuses, but did not bash Catholicism as a whole the way some stories do. Very interesting on the whole.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had never cracked the pages of a Greeley novel, and decided to have a go. But I didn't get past the first couple of chapters of the book.

One of the major premises of the book did not work for me. In a flashback, a young boy is violated by a priest. Another priest interrupts the goings on, and takes the boy home. That second priest sees that the boy is bleeding somewhat profusely from the event.

The boy tells his father, a surgeon, about what the priest did to him, but the father does not believe the boy's story and castigates him as a liar. Later, the father is bold in criticizing the second priest for lying (under oath in a formal inquiry) about what he saw being done to the surgeon's son. My problem is that any father would want to see the damage to his son, if any, and it would seem that would be an especially strong urge if the father happened to be a surgeon.

It was just so implausible that the rest of the book lost interest for me. I'd been ripped untimely from the fictional dream into which the author had begun to put me, and could no longer suspend my disbelief.

Perhaps I'll try another Greeley, but don't bet on it.

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

I maintain that I really would have given this book a better rating if it weren't for the 'Russian German' thing. Making ethnicity a part of a character's personality and drive is one thing. Beating that rotting dead horse as many as five times nearly every page is another. I started underlining every time he wrote 'Russian German' or 'Volga Deutsche' but realized I would run out of ink. I just opened the book at a random page to make sure I spelled 'Deutsche' correctly and found the word in a second. It was so overused and poorly integrated, I started hissing every time I saw it. It made the book clunky and impossible to enjoy. It wasn't a particularly good book either, you could almost taste the self insertion, Gary Stu of it, but I can't even go into it because I will just get distracted by the idiotic 'Russian German' thing. If this hadn't been the only book I brought on an 11 hour, wifi-less bus ride, I would never have read it through.

Other problems:
-The Megan thing
-The bad guys were very bad, and the good guys were very good.
-The women were caricatures
-There was no character development, but of course there wasn't, because Fr. Hoffman IS Andrew Greely and he is clearly not self aware.

[Marjorie Welsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a long time reader of Andrew Greely. His books entice me back to the Church I was raised in. If only more priests could be like Father Greely and his heros, like Father Hugh in The Priestly Sins. The Irish Lace and other series are nice enough books. But this book is entirely different and I love it for that and for the courage to address sexual abuse in the Church.

[Vichta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Herman zawsze chciał zostać księdzem. Mimo, że był zakochany z wzajemnością w swojej przyjaciółce z dzieciństwa, zostawił ją i poszedł do seminarium. Jednak nie wszystko w świecie duchowieństwa wygląda różowo. Pewnego dnia jest świadkiem, jak inny ksiądz gwałci nastoletniego chłopca. Zgłasza to władzom kościelnym. I od tej pory nastawienie przełożonych i kolegów do niego zmienia się diametralnie. Uznany zostaje za nielojalnego wobec Kościoła. Oskarżony zostaje o homoseksualizm i wysłany do podejrzanego ośrodka na "leczenie". Obwinia go się o wszystkie kłopoty, jakie archidiecezja ma w związku ze sprawą sadową i nagłośnieniem tematu, a nawet o śmierć księdza-gwałciciela (który tak naprawdę zmarł na AIDS). Jak Herman poradzi sobie z tym wszystkim...? Całkiem nieźle. Dzięki wsparciu przyjaciół i innych duchownych, którzy stają po jego stronie. Bo, jak twierdzi, służyć ma "nie zepsutym, niegodnym księżom z kurii, ale Bogu i Jego Ludowi"

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
This novel started off reasonably well with an interesting courtroom drama. Then it went off on a tangent. At first I thought it was a simple flashback about how (and why) this witness became a priest. Unfortunately, his life story turned out to be the bulk of the novel. It was the winding and rather boring road that took this man to how he wound up witnessing the sexual abuse of a child and what happened to him afterward.
I found it very difficult to suspend disbelief. There was no compelling reason for this person to have wanted to become a priest in the first place and even less reason for him to remain in the priesthood after the way he was treated. Furthermore, I find it hard to believe the author is still a priest, at least he was when the book was published.
This premise could have been a great book or 2 great (or at least good) books; one about the crime, investigation, and court case; the other about a man becoming a priest for whatever reasons. Unfortunately, this book tried to pull the 2 together and did no do a very good job.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uneventful - A real disappointment.

This had the potential of being a gripping, dramatic, edge-of-your-seat story. It started out pulling you in right away and then shifted to what I thought would be a necessary flashback. This "flashback" lasted for the entire story, never bringing you back to the action until the very end.

Don't bother with this one.

This refers to the Audio version where even the reader sounded bored, showing no emotional range at all.

I heard that Andrew Greeley books were quite good. This one certainly was not, but I'll give him another chance some time in the near future.

[Jennifer Hallock · Rating 2 out of 5]

The nuance was in all the wrong places, including too much sympathy for the rapist pedophile priest. I understand that the author's blame was focused on the bishops and archbishops who protected the rapist, and that is valid (hence two stars). Nevertheless, (content warning) the hero witnessed Lenny Lucifer violently assaulting a young boy; why do we worry about Lenny's fate more than the boy-turned-young man's? In addition, the writing was clunkier than Greeley's other books with so much stupid repetition of the same phrases ("as we Russian-Germans do" every other stinking line) that it was just plain annoying.

[Mary Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite Greeley books! It deals with sexual abuse of children by priests, a very current topic at the time I read the book (and still is today, I guess). Andrew Greeley, despite his political affiliations, is one of my favorite authors and I've read most of his books. I enjoy his "take" on the Catholic Church, and although the books I've read that he has written were all fiction, I often see some very close similarities to the real world. I would love to have a one-on-one discussion sometime with Andrew Greeley about the Catholic faith!

[Linda Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Always, A Terrific Read

This is my 3rd and, I assume my last time to read this particular book by one of the best authors in my opinion! He is gone but never ever forgotten! I am late in years and reading all of my favourites one more time; Greeley is at the top. Because of the sheer volume of his books, it could be awhile til God grants me a homecoming!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inside view of the cover up of pedephiles in the Catholic Church and the Russian German Community. Not all priests have problems but the press makes it seem so in order to bring into light the cover ups by those in authority.

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first 130 pages before giving up. The book was too slow developing the characters because a third into the book I was still asking myself WHAT? It was time out of my life I’ll never get back.

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Father Herman Hoffmann witnesses a fellow priest sexually abusing a young boy in the rectory, he was unaware of the price he would pay for reporting it. Accused of betrayal by his superiors and fellow priests he pays a steep price for his honesty but is ultimately redeemed by love.

[Albert]

A very good story. A very interesting book with a look at how politics works in the Catholic Church

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREELEY DEALS IN FICTION WITH THE ABUSE SCANDALS

Andrew Greeley (1928-2013) was a Catholic priest, sociologist (associated with the National Opinion Research Center [NORC]), and best-selling author of fiction and nonfiction.

The plot of this 2004 book: Fr. Herman Hoffman witnesses (and reports) an incident of child abuse in the rectory; for this he is locked up in a mental health center, and virtually ‘exiled.’ Eventually he is returned, and is given his own parish. But when he is subpoenaed to testify, he comes into conflict with the ‘Downtown’ establishment, his fellow priests, and his own parish.

Excerpts: Hoffman [‘Hugh’ and ‘Huey’] muses after his high school graduation, “Why was God intervening in my love life? Why didn’t He leave me alone? What business of His was it that I had just deflowered a virgin? And why did He not make me feel guilty for what was in some fashion a serious sin? Why did He use human love, probably sinful, as an occasion for interjecting Himself in my life? Was He trying to tell me that he was a more pleasurable lover than Kathleen?” (Pg. 92)

“I began to realize that night that the future of the Church depended on human politics, often of the most despicable variety. The Newman Center was an important part of the Church’s work, but for our new Archbishop it was a pawn in his own personal chess game---and not much else.” (Pg. 111)

After the abuse scandal was revealed, the local newspaper printed “a very cautious editorial in which it warned the Archdiocese that in many other cities… the cover-up strategy was not working… The bishops had discussed it, but had not acted on it, in part because they thought the three men were merely trying to make money off the Church. At the meeting they had been told that ‘pedophilia’ was not a spiritual problem but a psychiatric one. There was no known cure for it. No responsible psychiatrist… could possibly recommend that a ‘pedophile/be reassigned to work with children.” (Pg. 16-168)

After he enters the seminary, “John had told me that in the old days seminarians were completely cut off from the world, no contact with laypeople, no newspapers, no television, only brief vacations. I had a hard time believing it, but he assured me that’s the way it was. I don’t know that I could have survived such a place.” (Pg. 186)

He observes, “My room was a great improvement over the Trappist monastery cell, larger, more window space, a good-size desk, an ample armoire, several lamps, a number of electrical outlets, a couple of comfortable chairs. Not unlike my bedroom back in the Junction.” (Pg. 191)

A friend and fellow seminarian advises him, “The guys over there in the corner are called ‘The Girls.’ They’re gay, and they hang together most of the time. They’re nice enough, and I guess they have the right to be different if they want and hang around with one another if they need to… I don’t think they screw. It would be curtains for them if they were caught.” (Pg. 192)

He has a conversation: “Tell me, Hugh… if I should die, would you leave the priesthood to marry Kathleen?’ ‘No.’ ‘If the Church changed its mind and permitted priests to marry, would you then marry her?’ ‘No… because I am a celibate priest… I don’t care what people say, it’s an enormous help in working with people. I have the time and the energy to be more for them. They fill my life with joy that I could lose if I had a wife of my own.’ ‘You’re claiming that celibate priests are happier than married minsters.’ ‘I guess I am.’ ‘Would it surprise you… to know that the proportion of [Protestant] ministers who leave is higher than the proportion of priests---and they’re married! Most priests who fall in love and still like priestly work, don’t leave. Celibacy isn’t the reason priests leave; the reason is that they don’t like the work.’ ‘Guys don’t want to become priests anymore.’ ‘Small wonder with so many of you sad-sacking around about how tough celibacy is. Why doesn’t anyone say how wonderful it is to be a priest anymore?” (Pg. 324-325)

All of Greeley’s novels are of interest for his commentaries on current issues in the Church, as much as the novel itself.

[Christy Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW Content: rape; clergy abuse


In what could have been a disastrously triggering and challenging subject of the Catholic Church's cover-up of rape and sexual abuse, this fictionalized story by Fr. Andrew Greeley wrapped the testimony of one priest around a more central plot of a priest's life story, growing up in the Plains, willing to stand up for truth against an institution wanting to cover up the wrongdoing of some of their own. While the story hinged on the assault at the opening and closing, the majority of the book focused on a child of the farm growing up, falling in love, responding to vocation and navigating the questions of call and of the heart; moral dilemmas and ethics abound.

This was engaging, well-handled and while not centrally focused on the abuse throughout the book, solidly faced it thru the main character and his victim as well as our witnessing bystander priest who reports the incident. The story was handled with sensitivity. While one could argue a simplicity to some of the characters, the story itself gives glimpses, if perhaps dramatized, into some of the workings of a bureaucratic religious institution and the impact that has on its core mission. Greeley did justice to writing a novel not focused on the wound, while acknowledging, but on the healing needed and the impact honesty and reparation might bring.

[Sally Trabulsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nun in our book club chose this as our next read. I thought I wasn't going to like it at all and it did start out rather slowly. But it got better and more interesting and I wound up liking it quite a bit. I listened to this one on audible.com - and there was an interview of the author at the end of the book, which was also interesting.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Greeley never disappoints. This is an easy read, but the subject matter and the following coverup is disturbing. No new information, but reaffirms the nasty business of the RCC denial of abuse.

[Quinn da Matta · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is fine. It’s enjoyable. But it is not groundbreaking. It is not great. It is not memorable. It is styled like a [fictional] biography about a priest but reads like fan fiction for his own character.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this story on CD. Great story. Great reader. Recommended!

[Lis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greeley's books are entertaining and real. I love his honesty - he says things that most wouldn't.

[Marianne Stehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent story but it didn’t hold me and therefore it took longer to read than I would have liked. It has been a bit since I picked up a greenley

[Mairzi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is unappealing on so many levels. Stilted, horrible writing about an upsetting subject matter, Only reason I finished it was because it was a book club selection.

[Boulder Boulderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take on catholic priest paedophiles from an "inside man". As in Catholic priest, not abuser. Not a whitewash but definitely a hopeful image. Greeley is always an engaging author.

[JM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty good book. I first heard about Fr. Greeley via Audible.com's community. Subsequent searches contained criticisms of his use of sex in his writings. I was not offended. It was tastefully done.

However, I rather confused with the nature of the main character, Fr. Hoffman. Hoffman's maturity level would go between being an immature teenager to being a highly intelligent Roman Catholic priest independent of the stage of life he was in. As a teenager, he would be very mature for his age. As an adult, he would respond to situations as an immature teenager; especially in the realm of relationships. This lack of consistency with the main character really troubled me.

Perhaps Greeley was trying to highlight the incosistency of people. Perhaps he was trying to address that sometimes people act their shoe size and not their age. In the end, I really enjoyed the story, but did not like the main character. His back and forth caused me to struggle to pin point an area in which I could relate to him and be engrossed in the text. I was more or less connected to the big picture.

[Annie Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of father Herman Hugo Hoffman, a young priest who witnesses another priest molesting a young boy, and attempts to turn him in. He is met with opposition from the Bishop and his fellow priests, and is even sent to a mental hospital for six months. Most of the book deals with Hugh's childhood, his adolescent love affair with Kathleen, whom he eventually leaves to become a priest, his time at the seminary, and his time as a much-loved parish priest.
So in a lot of ways, the book is more about Father Hugh than it is about the priest sex scandal, but Greeley does manage to communicate his views on the matter very clearly, particularly the misplaced loyalty of fellow priests and the willingness
of the highers-up in the Church to stick their heads in the sand and pretend the problem doesn't exist. Mainly, I would like to belong to the Church of Father's Greeley's dreams!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I judge that this is a trashy novel with a lot of class and very decent writing. It gets four stars because of those two qualities.

Father Greeley has a certain fondness for and maybe even fantasies of sexy Irish redheads. It seems like an indulgence, pardon the pun. In this case, it works, although he takes great pains to make his protagonist thoroughly German and his Irish characters eminently Irish (hyphenated Americans, that is). The conclusion of his tale, he admits in an endnote, is "untypically happy." Indeed, would that such sexual abuse, hierarchy arrogance, and clergy courage end so neatly.

Despite all my snobbish carping, I easily admit that The Priestly Sins is a Good Read.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been several years since I picked up an Andrew Greeley book. In my earlier life he was one of my favorite authors.
The Priestly Sins is a timely book considering that Europe is now going through what America has gone through with her abusive priests and pastors. Andrew Greeley is a priest himself and pulls no punches. The characters are human and the subject is addressed in a way that makes you trust the author, if not the church and makes clear that blindly trusting the church is clearly a mistake. Worth the read!

[Stephanie Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book ended up being enjoyable, but not that great over all. The very beginning threw me off. It made it seem like there was going to be this huge struggle for the main priest (Hoffman) to get people to believe him about the rape of a child by another priest, but then it completely dropped that and started off in the childhood of Hoffman. We then followed him all through his journey to becoming a priest and finally ending where the first part left off.

The majority of the story, I felt, was very misleading.