UNITED STATES
Magic City Morning Star
By Laure McCourt Lopez
Mar 22, 2015
In life, there are subjects that one may find difficult to discuss and then there are those topics that create such an emotional upheaval within the soul that few dare venture to acknowledge let alone give words to. Fortunately, a voice has been raised via Carol Kuhnert, author of “No Longer on Pedestals,” a book that exposes the darkness that resided in the life of Carol’s brother, Fr. Norman H. Christian.
The purpose of the writing is made quite clear within the journal’s introduction: “My purpose in writing this book is to open the minds and hearts of those who find it difficult to believe clergy have been sexually abusing children for many decades and that the Catholic Church has made protecting the abusers and the church’s assets its number-one priority, while leaving the victims, their families and church members to fend for themselves in trying to heal, understand and cope.”
The backdrop is created as the reader is immersed in the daily activities and beliefs of the early years of the Henry and Verona Christian family of St. Louis, Missouri. One can relate to the memories that unfold upon the pages, particularly those readers of a Catholic upbringing. Amid the pleasantries of the past, particular characteristics begin to emerge in Carol’s brother’s personality, ones that will replay in future events. Fr. Norman Christian attended seminary and was ordained a priest on March 18, 1961. Carol writes of a common belief that was shared in that generation: “During my childhood, I held all clergy, priests and nuns as people with a very special calling from God. I was taught to trust them completely. They were right next to God in my eyes…”
As the years unfolded, it was revealed that Norman had harbored a dark thread of dishonesty and deceit that touched innocent lives; just as a pebble is thrown into a pond, one quickly views how the rings breaking the water expand outward, revealing how one introductory action multiplies and expands in time. And so it was with Fr. Christian.
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