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Render Unto Rome:
The Secret Life of Money In The Catholic Church
By Jason Berry
Jason Berry, famous for his investigation of the Legionaries of Christ and their founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, has now turned his attention to the finances of the Catholic Church. He has been drawn into this research because of the fallout from the sale of parish properties in Boston by Cardinal Bernard Law. At that time, parishioners had challenged the cardinal’s ownership of these properties, many of which were solvent established churches. Picking up the story here, Berry weaves a tale of intrigue and secrecy by following the footsteps of Peter Borre’, a Bostonian Catholic who becomes enraged at the losses suffered by the archdiocese, and who vows to defend other parishes from closure. Borre’ s travels around the United States and to Rome are the vehicle that allows Berry to explore everything from the Vatican’s financial and legal structure to corruption, both financial and ethical, in the American episcopate.
Render Unto Rome is addictive in its fast paced narrative. Like any good detective story, there is intrigue on every page, drawing the reader forward into a tale of institutional decadence that makes the mind reel with the revelations. Jason Berry ties all of the loose ends, clerical sexual abuse, episcopal malfeasance, money laundering, abuses of power, financial ineptitude, and the betrayal of the laity into a tightly woven tale, rightly suited to impeach the hierarchy responsible for this debacle.
Jamie Dance
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