Father Tierney Stumbles

In the blink of an eye, everything has changed for Father Joe Tierney. He feels trapped. He needs to get away-far away. Dressed in disguise, he opens the door of the STD clinic and runs until his sides hurt and he is gasping for air. Father Tierney, activist pastor of a large Catholic parish and closeted gay man, has just learned he is HIV positive.

As if the diagnosis were not enough, a big city newspaper has just published an exposé on Catholic priests with AIDS. Father Tierney must guard his secret with his life or become the victim of a witch hunt or, worse yet, a public scandal of monumental proportions. Desperate to confide in someone, Father Tierney finally reveals his secret to Pascal LaVigne, his openly gay friend. But when Pascal hears from his ex-boyfriend, a freelance writer who wants to write a similar story with a local angle, Father Tierney and others in the Catholic Church fear the worst.

As guilt, shame, and a desperate struggle for redemption plays out in the lives of clergy, friends, and the media, Father Tierney struggles to keep a secret that has the potential to destroy everything-including his own soul.

John Shekleton was a member of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus and earned his BA in Philosophy and History from St. Louis University. Since leaving the Jesuits, he has worked as a systems analyst and freelance writer. His first novel, A Jesuit Tale, received one of four honorable mentions in the 2000 Writer's Digest in self-published fiction awards, mainstream fiction. He currently lives in Minnesota.

John Shekleton was a member of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus and earned his BA in Philosophy and History from St. Louis University. Since leaving the Jesuits, he has worked as a systems analyst and freelance writer. His first novel, A Jesuit Tale, received one of four honorable mentions in the 2000 Writer's Digest in self-published fiction awards, mainstream fiction. He currently lives in Minnesota.