Epistles on Clergy Abuse

About the Book

What makes Epistles on Clergy Abuse unique? It is written from a very personal perspective; it is a living chronological history of the clergy abuse scandal in letter form; it contains numerous no-holds barred letters sent to the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in America over a nine year period; the letters hoist the hierarchy on their own petard using quotes from Scripture, Canon Law and the Catechism. This book offers proof that the hierarchy has and continues to bamboozle the public with their shallow cries of protecting innocent priests when, according to all that is holy, they knew they had both the means and the power to punish sexually abusive priests at their disposal. Epistles on Clergy Abuse also holds the hierarchy accountable for failing to cleanse their own ranks for bringing grave scandal upon the church.

In addition to the letters to the hierarchy are the letters to survivors. At times angry, passionate, heart-wrenching and sometimes humorous, these letters give the reader a unique insight into the world of the online clergy sexual abuse support groups. Nothing like this has been written before and it is not likely that correspondence sent over the course of several years regarding such a horrific subject will ever be put together again.

This is the book the hierarchy does not want read. It exposes them for the frauds they are, the folly that holds their sway and the wretched effects of their damnable failure to protect the children of Catholic families across the country. Nauheimer knows first hand how his writings have enabled others to come forward and find their voices. He hopes that by reading Epistles on Clergy Abuse, the general public and the Catholic laity will seek the removal of those in the hierarchy hell bent on protecting priests who would and have raped, sodomized and molested children. The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church by their omissions and commissions have perpetuated an unspeakable evil and it has to stop.

About the Author

Vinnie Nauheimer has written extensively on the subject of Clergy Abuse. He has written numerous poems, short stories, a play “The Predator Wore a Collar” and his book of poetry, Silent Screams, Poetry Born of Clergy Abuse, has helped many survivors along their path to healing. The cover illustrations of both Silent Screams and Epistles on Clergy Abuse are original oil paintings created by the author. He and his family were successful in their efforts to have an offending priest defrocked several years after filing their lawsuit. Nauheimer believes that the true culprits of the Clergy Sexual Abuse Scandal, the current hierarchy of the Catholic Church, have not yet been held accountable for their part in the rape, sodomization and molestation of thousands of children. This book chronicles his attempts to call the hierarchy to account for their arrogance, failures, and their total disregard for the health and welfare of the innocent children placed in their trust. Through his letters, he offers both a uniquely intimate and historical perspective of the clergy abuse scandal. His writing started in 1997 after being viciously and publicly attacked by the New York Archdiocese for having the audacity to file a lawsuit when his complaints against one of their priests went unanswered. The journey is an eye-opener as he comes to grip with the realization that the Clergy Abuse Scandal is not about individual priests, but rather about the broader, deeper and more destructive evil that plagues the hierarchy of the United States and the church they run. Follow his journey in letters as he graduates from an individual effort against the NY Archdiocese to the broader more insidious church wide issues of the clergy abuse scandal. These are his letters to the hierarchy, to the editor, and to the people he holds in the highest regard, the survivors of clergy abuse. These letters will elicit sympathy, anger, frustration and tears. They document a journey no person should ever have taken, but once on the road, Nauheimer never looked back.