Epistles to the Pope: A Personal History of Perilous Priestcraft

In this poignant memoir, Daryl Verville gives an honest and harrowing victim-impact statement told through powerful letters to the Pope. His father was sexually and physically abused for years in the residential school system implemented by the Roman Catholic Church and the Canadian Government. His father became a violently abusive patriarch and Verville paints a vivid picture of the impact of his father's deeply imprinted trauma on his family. He explores the Vatican's complicity in the diverse crimes of physical, emotional and sexual abuse committed by the clergy, the corruption in these scandals and the generational consequences of the abuse. Epistle to the Pope provides a unique and intimate perspective, telling the inspiring story of Verville's early spiritual ascent followed by a dramatic moral decline culminating in two drug overdoses and near-death experiences, how he re-emerged from the hell, and how he ultimately achieved profound redemption.