Every Saint A Sinner (Paperback or Softback)

PRAISE FOR EVERY SAINT A SINNER

"[S]ubtle, nuanced, and sensitive both to its subject matter and characters, [but] muscular and fearless in its treatment of fearsome material. Bravo. . . . Miracle stories, "Are You There, Margaret, It's Me, God?" stories can be very ham-fisted and club a reader over the head with mysticism and righteousness, but that is not what this author has done. Instead, she has delivered a God through the trials and redemptions of very damaged, very damaging people, with incredible compassion for both those people--awful though they can be--and their victims, and all the other people in the fallout zones of their crimes." Joshua Moyes

"Credibly, Solas shows how the media portray child sex offenders as the lowest form of criminal, beyond correction, how God can forgive and restore these criminals, how a meeting of victim and perpetrator can lead to true healing and forgiveness, and what a Catholic Church’s genuine apology could look like. Although it is likely to be contentious, this is one of the best books I have read. It is brave, bold, and brilliantly written." Brenda Daniels for Readers' Favorite

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“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Veronica Matthews is on a mission to get the Catholic Church to accept its share of blame for Father Paul Peña’s rape of her son. While Peña himself is remorseless, it’s salt on the wound that the Church she’s always loved won’t admit that institutional failures enabled repeated abuse of its flock. Instead, it acts like every other litigious corporation: offering carefully worded statements of sympathy while refuting any responsibility.

By all words and deeds Father Frank Muncy is Peña’s opposite: a humble servant loved by all for his extraordinary empathic gifts, which he puts to use as a drug addiction counselor. But when a grave accusation against Father Frank coincides with the reappearance of a figure from his past, Frank, a fervent believer in God’s ability to forgive and ultimately redeem, chooses to reveal a shocking secret about himself that is sure to ruin his reputation.

When a miraculous event connects the lives of Veronica, Paul, and Father Frank, it also poses a great challenge to the Church. Survivors of the clergy abuse scandal are vehemently divided: some feel that for the Church to acknowledge the miracle is to effectively minimize the clergy’s abuse against children, while others believe that the miracle is God’s mysterious creative repurposing of tragedy into a lesson about just how far his love extends—a lesson that will facilitate survivors’ healing.

Told with unflinching bravery and compassion, Every Saint a Sinner asks what greater good can be done not just despite but because of man’s sinful nature. It’s an emotionally resonant and morally complex meditation on transformation, empathy, and forgiveness.

DISCRETION ADVISED: This work contains scenes of abuse against children and adolescents.