For most of its history, the Catholic Church had a clear and open policy towards its priests who sexually abused children: the priest was to be stripped of office and handed over to the civil authorities for punishment. Then, in 1922, something changed. This change came from highest source within the Vatican. Since then, for almost a century, a regime of secrecy has prevailed in such cases of abuse within the Church.
The author's curiosity was piqued when he discovered that his former seminary professor - a man he considered to be honourable - had, in his role as a Catholic bishop, allegedly declined to cooperate with a police investigation into child sexual abuse by clergy within his diocese. This book is the result of the author's subsequent investigations.
In Potiphar's Wife, Kieran Tapsell reveals an almost unbelievable culture of clerical privilege, cover-up and obfuscation. In the course of his argument, Tapsell guides the reader through the intricacies of canon law (the church's internal code of law), the details of a theology that asserts priests are essentially changed (for the better) by the rites of ordination, and a culture of bella figura that gives precedence to the good reputation of the Church over justice for those it has wronged. Here we have an account of power and its tendency to corrupt those who possess it.
Potiphar's Wife is a powerful book that will leave few readers unmoved. While the topic of child sexual abuse is distressing, and while the background matters are complicated, Tapsell's prose is clear and inviting. The research is extensive and thorough, and the analysis is razor-sharp.
I highly recommend this book.
Kieran Tapsell is a former seminarian, and a retired Solicitor and Acting District Court Judge of New South Wales, Australia.
Tapsell, Kieran, Potiphar's Wife: The Vatican's Secret and Child Sexual Abuse, Adelaide: ATF Press, 2014.
