A Devoted Priest Faces the Past

By Julie Najjar
The Record
June 13, 2015

http://www.therecord.com/whatson-story/5667454-a-devoted-priest-faces-the-past/

We have heard much about the shocking allegations of the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests worldwide over the past several decades, so it was with a sense of trepidation that I approached John Boyne's latest novel.

"A History of Loneliness" tells the achingly sad story of Odran Yates, a Catholic priest in Dublin as he looks back over his life, from the time he was a young boy in the 1970s up to the present day, when he must face the role he, too, may have played in the vast and far-reaching coverup of sexual abuse by the Roman Catholic Church over the past five decades.

Odran tells how his Irish family went from three to five and back to three again when tragedy struck while he was still a young boy. Seeking consolation, his mother becomes involved in the church, and she tells Odran he has a calling — a vocation to become a priest.

Faced with no better options, he enters the seminary at Conliffe at 17, where he and Tom Cardle become "cellmates" and, by default, best friends.

Tom, unlike Odran, is not cut out for the life of a priest, but he has no choice in the matter. This relationship, and Tom's subsequent actions, form the basis for Odran's conflicted feelings as he struggles to stay true to his calling in a world where priests have gone from being respected and revered members of the community to being shunned and looked upon with suspicion and even disgust.

Told in a non-linear narrative, with flashbacks and flash-forwards, we struggle, along with Odran, to face the truth about the deliberate concealment of the abuse by the church, which is revealed to us only as Odran discovers it for himself.

But even as we read these passages, we wonder if he may not know more than he is admitting, wilfully closing his eyes to matters he does not wish to see.

This skilfully told, heart-rending denunciation of the Catholic Church in Ireland and the deliberate coverup of child abuse by the clergy, reminiscent of Linden MacIntyre's "The Bishop's Man," is a stark, honest portrayal of one man's experience with guilt, shame and loneliness as a Catholic priest during difficult times.

Boyne had the courage to write this novel only after he himself overcame the shame of his childhood, growing up gay in Ireland and facing his own simultaneous experiences of sexual abuse and condemnation by Catholic priests.

It is a spare, moving novel that does not downplay the vastness of the problem or the seriousness of the damage done to children at the hands of the church. If you read this novel, be prepared for a deeply moving and introspective read.

John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971. The winner of two Irish Book Awards, he is the author of nine novels for adults and four for younger readers, including the international bestseller "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," which was made into a feature film and has sold more than six million copies worldwide. His novels are published in over 45 languages. He lives in Dublin.

Julie Najjar is a Kitchener librarian who blogs at juliesreadingcorner.com