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, Po...view moreVinnie 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.view less