The Priests

James Miller grew up in Australia and attended a Catholic secondary from 1978. A talented surfer and gifted academically, he soon drew the attentions of Principal Father Brennan and Deputy Father Helferty. Aided by his deputy, Brennan wielded his authority to find many occasions to see James alone and sexually abuse him, transforming James's naturally sunny disposition into one wracked with self-loathing and shame. James began drinking and secretly self-harming. Even as an adult, his marriage crumbled and his internal life was a wreck. Terrified that someone would find out his secret shame, he developed a deep-seated paranoia and a serious substance abuse problem. Out of the blue, he was asked to make a statement in criminal proceedings against a serial pedophile priest who was protected by Father Brennan. Faced with this dilemma, James had a breakdown, eventually becoming homeless, before finding the internal fortitude to resurrect himself and his life. In 2015 he began a lawsuit against the diocese. This is a powerful and gripping personal story by an educated, articulate man about the long term and far-reaching damage sexual abuse can inflict. It is also a riveting expose of the context and conditions of the Church which allowed child sexual abuse to flourish worldwide.