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'A timely, courageous and powerful novel about faith, the church, conscience and celibacy.
'Tom Keneally, ex-seminarian, pulls no punches as he interrogates the terrible damage done to innocents as the Catholic Church has prevaricated around language and points of law, covering up for its own.
'Ex-communicated to Canada due to his radical preaching on the Vietnam War and other human rights causes, Father Frank Docherty is now a psychologist and monk. He returns to Australia to speak on abuse in the Church, and unwittingly is soon listening to stories from two different people – a young man, via his suicide note, and an ex-nun – who both claim to have been sexually abused by an eminent Sydney cardinal. This senior churchman is himself currently empannelled in a commission investigating sex abuse within the Church.
'As a man of character and conscience, Father Docherty finds he must confront each party involved in the abuse and cover-up to try to bring the matter to the attention of the Church itself, and to secular authorities.
'This riveting, profoundly thoughtful novel is both an exploration of faith as well as an examination of marriage, of conscience and celibacy, and of what has become one of the most controversial institutions, the Catholic Church.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also large print.
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Children of the Church
2017
single work
review
essay
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , February 2017; 'Until Tom Keneally won the Booker Prize for Schindler’s Ark in 1982, the author bio in his books always included the line, ‘He trained for several years for the Catholic priesthood but did not take Orders’. As a young man, Keneally ran up against a psychosomatic paralysis telling him he could not commit to an institution that frowned on literary pursuits, sent a few of its postulants mad, and showed a lack of charity towards its own. It pushed Keneally onto the street and into writing. Historian John Molony, friend and fellow ex-seminarian, once told Keneally that he would not become a great novelist until he had written the church out of his system. If his publishers thought he had, and dropped mention of his church ties once he got to the Schindler story, in fact, his continued exploration of how mortal weakness, religious ideals and institutional tyrannies are enmeshed has constituted the core of his art over a long career.' (Introduction) -
Crimes of the Father Review : Tom Keneally Tackles Abuse in the Catholic Church
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 11 November 2016;
— Review of Crimes of the Father 2016 single work novel 'There are a growing number of novels prepared to tell the story of paedophilia within various church communities, not least the Catholic Church. Few of them have needed to stray far from the grim facts. ...' -
Mourning for a Deeply Wounded Culture
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 12-13 November 2016; (p. 24)
— Review of Crimes of the Father 2016 single work novel -
Celibacy and the Modern Priest : Tom Keneally on His New Book Crimes of the Father
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 28 October 2016; The Age , 28 October 2016;
— Review of Crimes of the Father 2016 single work novel 'In the early 1970s I knew a splendid priest whose authority to say Mass and operate within the Archdiocese of Sydney was terminated by the then prelate, Cardinal James Freeman. The priest's name was Father Pat Connor and he was a dear friend. As a young missionary in India, he was influenced by Gandhi, and I never knew a person who practised non-violent dissent with less pathology and more dignity and human love than Pat. As a peaceable man, he was involved in anti-Vietnam and anti-apartheid protest, including the famous and unwise Springbok tour of 1971. ...' -
Rage against the Deceit
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australian , 28 October 2016; (p. 15)
-
Celibacy and the Modern Priest : Tom Keneally on His New Book Crimes of the Father
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 28 October 2016; The Age , 28 October 2016;
— Review of Crimes of the Father 2016 single work novel 'In the early 1970s I knew a splendid priest whose authority to say Mass and operate within the Archdiocese of Sydney was terminated by the then prelate, Cardinal James Freeman. The priest's name was Father Pat Connor and he was a dear friend. As a young missionary in India, he was influenced by Gandhi, and I never knew a person who practised non-violent dissent with less pathology and more dignity and human love than Pat. As a peaceable man, he was involved in anti-Vietnam and anti-apartheid protest, including the famous and unwise Springbok tour of 1971. ...' -
Mourning for a Deeply Wounded Culture
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 12-13 November 2016; (p. 24)
— Review of Crimes of the Father 2016 single work novel -
Crimes of the Father Review : Tom Keneally Tackles Abuse in the Catholic Church
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 11 November 2016;
— Review of Crimes of the Father 2016 single work novel 'There are a growing number of novels prepared to tell the story of paedophilia within various church communities, not least the Catholic Church. Few of them have needed to stray far from the grim facts. ...' -
Rage against the Deceit
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australian , 28 October 2016; (p. 15) -
Children of the Church
2017
single work
review
essay
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , February 2017; 'Until Tom Keneally won the Booker Prize for Schindler’s Ark in 1982, the author bio in his books always included the line, ‘He trained for several years for the Catholic priesthood but did not take Orders’. As a young man, Keneally ran up against a psychosomatic paralysis telling him he could not commit to an institution that frowned on literary pursuits, sent a few of its postulants mad, and showed a lack of charity towards its own. It pushed Keneally onto the street and into writing. Historian John Molony, friend and fellow ex-seminarian, once told Keneally that he would not become a great novelist until he had written the church out of his system. If his publishers thought he had, and dropped mention of his church ties once he got to the Schindler story, in fact, his continued exploration of how mortal weakness, religious ideals and institutional tyrannies are enmeshed has constituted the core of his art over a long career.' (Introduction)