header-logo header-logo

Book review: Betrayed: The English Catholic Church and the Sex Abuse Crisis

06 June 2014
Issue: 7609 / Categories: Features
printer mail-detail

"His book is exhaustively researched, beautifully written, passionate yet objective & a major contribution to the literature on this heart-breaking subject"

Author: Richard Scorer
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
ISBN: 9781849546829
Price: £20

In 1956 Christopher Carrie, then 11 years old, was called to see Father John Tolkien, a Roman Catholic priest and son of the famous author, at the English Martyrs Presbytery in Birmingham. Tolkien gave Carrie a long talk about the “facts of life”, and then said that he needed to examine him. He ordered Carrie to strip naked, and then gave him a “special blessing”, which involved pouring holy water on Carrie’s penis and massaging it. Carrie was ordered to return the next week. The ceremony then involved rubbing Carrie’s penis between Tolkien’s praying hands. Don’t tell anyone about this, Carrie was told. If you do, Jesus will be offended, and you might lose your soul. Carrie was terrified.

The abuse wrecked Carrie’s life. He was full of self-disgust, suffered a mental breakdown, and his marriage fell apart. In

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Partner joins family law team inLondon

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Private client division announces five new partners

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Banking and finance team welcomes partner in London

NEWS
The landmark Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd—along with Rukhadze v Recovery Partners—redefine fiduciary duties in commercial fraud. Writing in NLJ this week, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley analyses the implications of the rulings
Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
Lord Sales has been appointed to become the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after Lord Hodge retires at the end of the year
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are reportedly in the firing line in Chancellor Rachel Reeves upcoming Autumn budget
back-to-top-scroll