Synopses & Reviews
The Piarist Order of priests has for hundreds of years been known for its history of important contributions to education, science, and culture. Yet in 1646, the Piarist order was abruptly abolished by Pope Innocent X. Fallen Order is the stunning story of how the sexual abuse of children, practiced by some of the leading priests in the order, led to the Piarists' collapse. Karen Liebreich spent several years researching in the order's archives and in the Vatican Secret Archive, and discovered how the founder of the Piarist Order, Father José de Calasanz (later honored as the patron saint of Catholic schools) knew of the scandal and tried to keep it a secret. Cardinals and bishops actively participated in the cover-up in an effort to protect the reputation of an important cleric with influential family connections. A brilliant portrait of seventeenth-century Rome, and the politics, personal rivalries, and Byzantine workings of the Vatican and the Catholic Church, Fallen Order is an explosive account of a history of cover-ups, deception, and shuttling known abuser priests from school to school that is frighteningly similar to the Catholic Church's response to child abuse in the priesthood today.
Synopsis
Fallen Order reveals, for the very first time anywhere, how 300 years ago, Calasanz, the patron saint of all Catholic schools, demonstrably covered up the first recorded child sex scandal in the church's history -- one that reached such proportions that the Pope took the (literally) unprecedented step of shutting a religious order down. Until this point, no religious order had ever been shut down by papal decree (with the possible exception of the legendary Knights Templar). Fallen Order draws on documents that have never been seen before, and this story is completely new. The present Catholic Church has based its defense in recent sex scandals on the fact that it has only recently become aware of child abuse; this book exposes this claim as an absolute lie.
Synopsis
Liebreich reveals, for the very first time anywhere, how 300 years ago, the patron saint of all Catholic schools covered up the first recorded child sex scandal in the church's history which resulted in the Pope shutting down a religious order.