This past year has been very revealing to Catholics, many of whom question, “Where on Earth is the Holy Spirit?” There is no better time for us to reflect upon the power of the Synod than a good old-time Christmas standard. I invite you to sing along.
On the 12th day of Christmas, the Synod gave to me,
12 lying prelates,
11 bent blessings,
10 trashed Tridentines,
9 bankrupt bishoprics,
8 pervs in prison,
7 diva deacons,
6 illegals looting,
5 cancelled clerics,
4 homo hookups,
3 Tucho smooches,
2 commie popes,
and a Pachamama in a pear tree.
Many Catholic parents lament how so many of their children, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces – baptized and even confirmed in the Catholic Church – no longer practice their faith. When Catholics read about how sexually active gays and lesbians like Gio Benitez and Rachel Maddow are welcomed into the Church while prelates like New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Pope Leo XIV remain silent, they can’t help but wonder if the Catholic Church is Catholic, or even Christian today.
In commenting about Maddow’s reported return to the Catholic faith, Chris Jackson wrote, “If your ‘return’ requires no repentance, no amendment of life, no rupture with public sin, and no submission to the moral law, then what exactly have you returned to? A community. A political symbolism. A moral NGO with candles.” Does the Catholic Church not teach that homosexual behavior, like adultery, is sinful and contrary to biblical teachings and the natural law? If so, how can bishops and priests – many closeted homosexuals themselves – give communion to people who lead lives that do not conform to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ?
At a time when many Catholics were leaving the Catholic Church, scandalized by the predatory actions of many priests and cover-ups by bishops, I decided that these complicit clergy were not going to disgrace my Church and destroy my faith. I began my journey into the sordid world of Vatican cover-up and intrigue by making a single-handed effort to remove an abuser from our parish. My two-year battle was eventually successful in removing a predator priest who admitted to abusing a young boy sixty times while he was the spiritual advisor in a minor seminary.
Similar to Stephen Brady who founded Roman Catholic Faithful (RCF) whose stated mission is “to expose the network of sexual immorality among the Catholic clergy in the United States, and to expose the bishops and cardinals who have enabled their crimes,” I have undertaken a similar mission through writing books that document the widespread infection of abuse and the callous hearts that would deny temporal justice for the many victims throughout the Church’s purview. My last three books are historical fiction in which the settings and dialogue are not just entertaining, but reveal the depth of deceit that should concern all Catholics of goodwill and result in a call to action.
I believe you will find that my works of “faction,” i.e., thinly disguised fictional accounts of factual events and real persons, are similar to works by Malachi Martin and Larry McMurtry. If you appreciate the irony and graphic nature of a Quentin Tarantino film, I’m confident you will consider reading my published works available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Caught Between the Gospel and the Magisterium – When Sheep Have to Shepherd
The ROMEOs – The Parable of the Prodigal
The World Youth Day Murders
Prohibition and the Priest
Msgr. Gene Thomas Gomulka, a well-known whistleblower, sex abuse advocate, and investigative journalist whose articles are widely read on Complicit Clergy and Substack, is currently reading Prohibition and the Priest. This is what he has to say about it:
After completing my Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) in Rome and having taught dogmatic theology and liturgy at a major seminary, I thought I was well-versed in the teachings and history of the Roman Catholic Church. After reading The World Youth Day Murders, and now half-way through Prohibition and the Priest, I can’t believe how much I really didn’t know about popes like John XXIII, religious orders like the Jesuits, and the history of the Catholic Church in the United States, even though I was taught by the famed church historian, Msgr. John Tracy Ellis. As an abuse advocate who is saddened by how abuse continues to be perpetuated and covered up in the Church, it’s nice to read a novel where a Theodore McCarrick figure has his beach house burned down by a seminarian who becomes the protagonist priest in the novel. Anyone concerned about the direction the Catholic Church is taking under the pontificates of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV, and the fact that Leo has yet to discipline accused rapists like Father Marko Rupnik and over 160 bishops credibly accused of abuse, should really enjoy reading David Tracy’s books.
While many Catholic and mainstream media sources cover up the growing rift between official Church teachings (e.g., on homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, gender ideology) and pastoral practice, such as the blessing of same sex couples and the reception of holy communion by pro-abortion politicians and celebrities, it is up to good Catholic editors, writers, journalists, and podcasters to speak truth to power. Hopefully, my books will help to defend authentic Catholic Church teachings at odds with compromising and heretical positions advanced by certain proponents of the Synodal Way.
David Tracy, a member of Holy Family Catholic Community in Denver, CO, worked for the Denver Catholic Register, The Rocky Mountain News, and The Denver Post. Scandalized by countless reported cases of clerical sexual abuse and episcopal cover-ups in the Roman Catholic Church, David began publishing books in 2021 that incorporate abuse cases throughout the United States, and which confirm what former Pennsylvania Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, said in 2018 about the abuse trail leading directly to the Vatican.