Shattered Vows: Priests Who Leave

by David Rice

Book Overview

This book is a revelation of the lives of both priests and former priests who have left the priesthood, their motives and the part it has played in their decision to leave the priesthood. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688078052
• ISBN13: 9780688078058
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 215 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A SUMMARY BASED ON INTERVIEWS WITH FORMER PRIESTS

David Rice is a former Dominican priest, who left in 1977 to marry. This 1990 book is the result of hundreds of interviews he conducted not only with former priests, but with still-active priests, who had contemplated leaving. It includes chapters such as "Priests Who Stay," "The Shadow Side of Celibacy," "In Search of a Root Cause," and "Celibacy, Forced or Free?" Of course, the major reason most of the priests interviewed left the priesthood was to marry. Rice makes the following statement: "I have found there are five levels of relationships priests have with women: First, theer are priests who have a deep and lasting friendship with women, but without genital sex.... The second level of involvement is like the previous one, but with occasional physical sex..... Third, there are priests who have a permanent sexual relationship with one woman---a lover, a mistress, a common-law wife.... Fourth, there are priests who from time to time have sexual friendships with different women.... Lastly, there are priests who use their Roman collars as tomcats use their meows, to charm all the women they can and lure them to bed---and use their collars a second time around, to break the relationship or evade their responsibilities." Most of the material in the book is anecdotal, of course, but it is often revealing and fascinating; e.g., "A number of priests' wives tell me their husbands have almost a physical revulsion for black and cannot be got to wear it." Rice's book is very interesting reading for persons interested in the Catholic priesthood, and its future.