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""[Has] the same narrative excitement as Woodward and Bernstein's All the President's Men. There is even a mystery whistle-blower, equivalent to Deep Throat, whom Berry dubs ""Chalice"" and who meets a sorry fate in the denouement."" -- The Nation ""Berry is the rare investigative reporter whose scholarship, compassion, and ability to write with the poetic power of Robert Penn Warren are in perfect balance... [T]he church itself could not have asked for a more fair-minded instrument of its own indictment."" -- USA Today ""Lead Us Not into Temptation is frequently as compelling as a novel, but it is also a thoughtful, restrained examination of an explosive subject that in less skilled hands could easily have been exploited and sensationalized."" -- Cleveland Plain Dealer ADVANCE PRAISE ""The greatest scandal in the history of religion in America."" -- From the foreword by Andrew M. Greeley

Berry, a New Orleans journalist, tips over a religious rock and finds a nest of corruption, deceit, and despair. Despite a hyperventilating foreword by Andrew Greeley ( perhaps the most serious crisis Catholicism has faced since the Reformation ), this proves to be a temperate, detailed investigation of a religious tragedy: pedophilia among Roman Catholic priests. According to the statistics given here, perhaps two percent of them lust after children; what shocks is that any man devoted to pastoral care would act on such impulses, and that local Church authorities sometimes covered up the evidence. Berry (a Catholic) discovered the scandal in 1984, when rumors began to spread about Gilbert Gauthe, a priest in Cajun country, Louisiana. In gritty, novelistic fashion ( A dread feeling lodged in Roy's intestines. 'What the hell. Did he suck people off?' ), Berry tracks the Gauthe case and his own sense of outrage. An angry attorney confronts Catholic bishops, who turn turtle; media outlets run away from the story; Berry hunts down experts on sexual deviation; more pedophilia cases emerge. One encouraging note sounds as Berry meets Michael Peterson, a benign, streetwise priest who runs a center for dysfunctional priests; sadly, Peterson later dies of AIDS. As the investigation proceeds, broader sexual issues emerge. Why are there so many homosexual priests? Where does priestly celibacy fit in? Here, Berry switches from reporter to crusader, launching an attack against Church views on sexuality that becomes a blast against Catholic traditionalism ( a medieval church turning its hack on the church of the space age ). Looking at floundering seminaries, depressed parishes, and corruption in Newfoundland, Chicago, and N.Y.C. (where one priest, a tenured professor at CUNY, makes amateur porno films), Berry concludes that the Church is a dysfunctional family and argues for optional priestly celibacy. Despite the old church vs. new church political brief: superb investigative reporting. (Kirkus Reviews)

[Has] the same narrative excitement as Woodward and Bernstein's All the President's Men. There is even a mystery whistle-blower, equivalent to Deep Throat, whom Berry dubs Chalice and who meets a sorry fate in the denouement. -- The Nation Berry is the rare investigative reporter whose scholarship, compassion, and ability to write with the poetic power of Robert Penn Warren are in perfect balance... [T]he church itself could not have asked for a more fair-minded instrument of its own indictment. -- USA Today Lead Us Not into Temptation is frequently as compelling as a novel, but it is also a thoughtful, restrained examination of an explosive subject that in less skilled hands could easily have been exploited and sensationalized. -- Cleveland Plain Dealer ADVANCE PRAISE The greatest scandal in the history of religion in America. -- From the foreword by Andrew M. Greeley

"""[Has] the same narrative excitement as Woodward and Bernstein's All the President's Men. There is even a mystery whistle-blower, equivalent to Deep Throat, whom Berry dubs ""Chalice"" and who meets a sorry fate in the denouement."" -- The Nation ""Berry is the rare investigative reporter whose scholarship, compassion, and ability to write with the poetic power of Robert Penn Warren are in perfect balance... [T]he church itself could not have asked for a more fair-minded instrument of its own indictment."" -- USA Today ""Lead Us Not into Temptation is frequently as compelling as a novel, but it is also a thoughtful, restrained examination of an explosive subject that in less skilled hands could easily have been exploited and sensationalized."" -- Cleveland Plain Dealer ADVANCE PRAISE ""The greatest scandal in the history of religion in America."" -- From the foreword by Andrew M. Greeley"

[Has] the same narrative excitement as Woodward and Bernstein's All the President's Men. There is even a mystery whistle-blower, equivalent to Deep Throat, whom Berry dubs Chalice and who meets a sorry fate in the denouement. -- The Nation Berry is the rare investigative reporter whose scholarship, compassion, and ability to write with the poetic power of Robert Penn Warren are in perfect balance... [T]he church itself could not have asked for a more fair-minded instrument of its own indictment. -- USA Today Lead Us Not into Temptation is frequently as compelling as a novel, but it is also a thoughtful, restrained examination of an explosive subject that in less skilled hands could easily have been exploited and sensationalized. -- Cleveland Plain Dealer ADVANCE PRAISE The greatest scandal in the history of religion in America. -- From the foreword by Andrew M. Greeley

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