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Betrayal

The Crisis in the Catholic Church

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Betrayal

By: The Investigative Staff of the Boston Globe
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
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About this listen

On 31 January 2002, The Boston Globe published a report that sent shockwaves around the world. Their findings, based on a six-month campaign by the 'Spotlight' investigative team, showed that hundreds of children in Boston had been abused by Catholic priests and that this horrific pattern of behaviour had been known - and ignored - by the Catholic Church.

Instead of protecting the community it was meant to serve, the Church exploited its powerful influence to protect itself from scandal - and innocent children paid the price.

©2002 The Investigative Staff of the Boston Globe (P)2015 Hachette Audio Religious Studies

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Critic reviews

"The fullest account to date of the egregious priestly and episcopal mistakes, sins and crimes that occurred at the epicenter of what almost became a national crisis." ( The NewYork Times)
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I found this book amazing, to listen to how the Catholic church knew and covered up for in some cases 3 decades of sexual abuse on children by its priests by moving them around parish to parish once a complaint had been made by a parent to the church.
Sending priests that had molested children to so called treatment centres run by the church and then put them back into parishes with access to more children when they were quote "cured and unlikely to do it again" then did.
Buying families off rather than removing the abusive priests so allowing the abuse to continue in other areas.
The Boston Globe did an outstanding job in exposing this scandal and the bravery of the abused in coming forward and telling their traumatic stories to bring their abusers to justice.
I find it hard to understand how a church can become the 3 wise monkeys by seeing no evil, hearing no evil and speaking no evil when the evidence was all in their hands.
I will never understand their failure to protect the children within their care.

How could they ignore this

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It should come with a content and trigger warning for explicit descriptions of child sexual abuse. A thorough, sometimes extremely graphic and heartbreaking testimonial of the Spotlight investigation and subsequent defensive actions by the Church.

Ends suddenly on last chapter.

Harrowing and graphic

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I've recently watched the movie. I was really wanting to read this book. Very well told, stunning investigation work. This book will leave you gasping at the sheer length the Catholic Church went to cover up these horrific crimes.

Brilliant

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I am infuriated that the church got away with such hideous crimes against young boys. Having an experience like this as a child, messes you up for the rest of your life. This is a very interesting and fascinating book. It is also horrific as to the scale or the problem. Well worth a read.

Nothing hurts like the truth

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The material is as shocking and compelling as expected. What's lacking is a coherent narrative. If you want the facts, this is great but don't expect to be engaged by the sorry of how all this came to light. Narration is ok.

Shocking but a bit dull

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Wile I am no expert on the topic I found this an excellent introduction to the topic and the nature of the Catholic Church.

Fascinating

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If you could sum up Betrayal in three words, what would they be?

Abuse of Power

What didn’t you like about Paul Boehmer’s performance?

Wasn't the most engaging narration.

Any additional comments?

Got to a point where I wanted to turn it off due to the subject matter but that's why it was allowed to happen, people not willing to see what was in front of them. Important piece of journalism though and hopefully that level of abuse doesn't happen again.

Harrowing

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Reading this book one might suggest that it is the ultimate proof that god does not exist since even those ordained in his name are corrupt and god does nothing about it. In fact through his bishops such behaviour is condoned. However this is areview and not a religious debate and so I'll leave that to those more studious in such matters to conjecture. The book contains everything about the scandal that rocked a faith and church over the decades though to me it was not shocking or surprising at all. Some might be horrified that the church could actually seek to cover up such crimes but that's for them to feel. Men are men and they do things fort which they should be punished and are not. Man's law and god's law and which is best to follow is one question which this book does make one ask oneself. The information is detailed and pulls no punches. The naration isn't bad but the volume dips at times or that might jsut be me. It's nothing special though unless you like reading investigative reports and in view of other such scandals this is nothing new and so I can't give it full marks though it does, I think, achieve what it sets out to achieve and that is to uncover the complicity of everyone involved with the clargy of the Roman Catholic church in America.

Don't believe the church and state and everything they tell you

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What did you like most about Betrayal?

The clear way the facts were set out and relayed.

What did you like best about this story?

It's not really a story - do not confuse it with the dramatisation that is the film Spotlight.

Have you listened to any of Paul Boehmer’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No. The performance was good, often describing unpleasant details dispassionately.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

There IS a film of the book.

Fascinating and Important

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This is an incredible book, an indictment of an institution which failed so many people and also failed God. In parts making me want to be physically sick with the depravity of these people, not just the perpetrators but those who covered it up and basically facilitated the abuse for decades.

What stands out to me the mostly is how there was at no point any reference to the bible when the hierarchy were having their discussions. They seem to forget that they are supposed to be bringing people closer to God but they don't use the fundamental book of their teaching. It just goes to show that very few of them ever read it and none of them get an understanding of God's teachings. The sooner this bastion of false religion and evil falls the better.

Overall the story was well told, the reader did a good job of character voiceing but without it being frivolous.

Just Horrific

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