BLOOD MONEY

About the Book

We are currently in a period of recuperation from sexual abuse scandals throughout the country. Although the media tends to focus on the Catholic Church’s role in these situations, it is actually a worldwide issue involving protagonists from many different organizations; it’s just that Catholicism is much larger than any other organization, so the offenses seem more prolific than in other agencies. The Catholic Church is attempting to create procedures so that these situations never happen again, and to provide financial recompense to victims. Abusers misused their religious authority to perform these vile deeds; however, it now has become a fad to falsely accuse priests of sexual molestation in an attempt to get money, by playing on the sympathies of diocese authorities. Even after statute of limitations is passed, diocese protocol allows for such payments. Falsely accused priests are the new victims in this crisis. Abuse by high-level clergy in Catholicism has really brought disaster on the Church. Jesus told his future disciples, “I will make you fishers of men.” The current false allegations in search of blood money are starting to smell more like rotten fish, and I don’t think that was what Jesus wanted for the end result of his priests’ efforts. Blood Money parallels the story of the Passion of Jesus with the current betrayals faced by ordained Catholic priests, as well as similar situations faced by other people in secular circumstances.

About the Author

I was raised Protestant, attended parochial schools, and graduated from a Protestant college. Coming from that strongly Protestant background, it took a lot of study for me to decide that Catholicism is the right place for me, and I came into Catholicism through the Byzantine Rite. I now live in a city that doesn’t have any Eastern Catholic parishes, so I attend a Roman Catholic parish, which has allowed me a much deeper understanding of the crisis faced by the Roman Rite parishes in my beloved Catholic Church. Recently, my priest became a victim of false allegations, and at this point I am determined to help correct the crisis the Church is currently undergoing. The theme of Christianity is that redemption was acquired for us by Jesus. We Christians all realize that His death brought us salvation, but we rarely think about the fact that while He was “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross,” He actually started out in obedience to the Father’s Will by condescending to become one of us in the first place! The essence of Christianity is, indeed, following Jesus’ example with the attitude of “Thy Will be done.”