Tom Rastrelli is a survivor of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse who then became a priest in the early days of the Catholic Church鈥檚 ongoing scandals. Confessions of a Gay Priest divulges the clandes颅tine inner workings of the seminary, providing an intimate and unapologetic look into the psychosexual and spiritual dynamics of celibacy and lays bare the 鈥渇ormation鈥 system that perpetuates the cycle of abuse and cover-up that continues today.
Under the guidance of a charismatic college campus minister, Rastrelli sought to reconcile his homosexuality and childhood sexual abuse. When he felt called to the priesthood, Rastrelli be颅gan the process of 鈥減riestly discernment.鈥 Priests welcomed him into a confusing clerical culture where public displays of piety, celibacy, and homophobia masked a closeted underworld in which elder priests preyed upon young recruits.
From there he ventured deeper into the seminary system seeking healing, hoping to help others, and striving not to live a double life. Trained to treat sexuality like an addiction, he and his brother seminarians lived in a world of cliques, competition, self-loathing, alcohol, hidden crushes, and closeted sex. Ultimately, the 鈥渇or颅mation鈥 intended to make Rastrelli a compliant priest helped to liberate him.
鈥淚n demanding celibacy and damning homosexuality, the Catholic Church condemns legions of its best and brightest priests to lives of hypocrisy and shame. Rastrelli recounts his struggle with heart, wit, and courage. The Church鈥檚 loss is literature鈥檚 gain.鈥濃擬ary Roach, author, Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War
鈥淭his forceful memoir will immerse readers in the strain of priesthood and the difficulties of living a double life.鈥濃Publishers Weekly
鈥淭om Rastrelli is a gifted writer whose personal journey is in颅sightful and enormously important. Confessions of a Gay Priest is a riveting, powerful book, rich in detail and deeply relevant to the times we live in. It exposes painful truths that must be told. Read it.鈥濃擬ichelangelo Signorile, author, It鈥檚 Not Over: Getting Beyond Tolerance, Defeating Homophobia, and Winning True Equality
鈥淭om Rastrelli is that unique blend of courage and talent, a remarkable personal story to tell, a passionate voice, and a sharp, skillful pen with which to fashion the tale.鈥濃擩anet Fitch, author, Chimes of a Lost Cathedral
鈥淭om Rastrelli鈥檚 brave, candid, self-critical memoir is part of a great tradition of spiri颅tual autobiographies, from St. Augustine鈥檚 Confessions to Thomas Merton鈥檚 The Seven Storey Mountain. Tom鈥檚 story differs from theirs because of his time and place. But he shares with them a commitment to hon颅esty and to understanding the meaning of faith. This is an often beautiful, sometimes shocking, always important book.鈥濃擬. G. Lord, author, The Accidental Feminist: How Elizabeth Taylor Raised Our Consciousness and We Were Too Distracted by Her Beauty to Notice
"Confessions of a Gay Priest is an intimate, detailed, and fascinating look both within Catholic seminary life as well as the heart of its author, Tom Rastrelli. Confessions brings the reader into an odyssey of longing, frustration, times of joy, guilt, love, sorrow, inspiration, and insight . . . a fascinating look into the quest for self-acceptance, which drives Rastrelli to make difficult choices in order to be true to himself."鈥擬ark Tedesco, author, That Undeniable Longing: My Road to and from the Priesthood
鈥淩astrelli鈥檚 carefully observed testimony speaks real truth to power. I am amazed by his ability to navigate a traumatic emo颅tional landscape with such grace. This book is an essential document for the Church鈥檚 many victims of abuse.鈥濃擥arrard Conley, author, Boy Erased
"Confessions of a Gay Priest is a hard book to read--it鈥檒l make you squirm, it鈥檒l make your eyebrows raise, you鈥檒l want to toss it on the street and let trucks run it over--and yet, it鈥檚 stay-up-all-night compelling. . . . [Rastrelli] doesn鈥檛 pull back the curtains on his experiences, he rips them down and burns them.鈥濃Dubuque Telegraph Herald
