This is not a new book, and since its publication the author has been on TV a number of times, bringing only further seriousness to his arguments. But contextually one can look at this book as a medicinal corrective for the high-sugar fantasies of Sr. Mary Ann Walsh who is the spokesperson for the Catholic Bishop in this country. The author quotes her from a TV appearance saying that 99.44% of priests keep their celibate vows. Well, this is such a complete fantasy, that one only needs statistical averages to debunk it. Further, those with any kind of personal knowledge of such affairs know that such has about as much chance of being true as that the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is filled with inspiring works of art. Significantly, it really does boil down to an aesthetic judgment in some ways. For if one includes the "sin of Onan" in the calculation in the assessment of clerical celibacy then we are talking of a very approximate sense of things, like the sfumato of Da Vinci or the indistinctness of the impressionists. In this ambit the "children's books" aesthetic of the the art of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception becomes a curious and telling cultural marker, and emblem of the American Church, because it is "America's Catholic Church". The bizzarely adolescent look of the art speaks of the first surprised and jejune simplicity of prevarication that comes in explaining to mama that first wet dream. From a mature adult perspective, and leaving aside the sanctity of personal religious conviction for a moment, it appears as the biggest pile of nonsense one can conceive of. Indeed, it takes a lot to counter Sr. Mary Ann's special romper room.
