"All Hope Abandon, Ye Who Enter Here"

By Jennifer Haselberger
Canonical Consultation
November 10, 2015

http://canonicalconsultation.com/blog.html

If you have ever wondered what Dante's hell would look like if populated by the former leaders (and I use that word loosely) of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, I suggest that you pick up Saint Paul poet Zach Czaia's slim new book of poems Saint Paul Lives Here (In Minnesota).

In his poem 'If Dante Were Alive Today', the one feasting on heads and brains is not Count Ugolino but Archbishop John Nienstedt, and the treasonous one providing who makes up the meal is none other than the former Vicar General, Father Kevin McDonough.

There are several other poems in the collection that refer explicitly to the sexual abuse crisis in our Archdiocese, while others offer poetic reflections on Zach's experiences teaching in the Minneapolis public school system, his days as a high school quarterback, and his Catholic faith. All are extremely accessible and intriguing, and, as the jacket cover suggests, 'present a mode of healing in a difficult hour'.