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Since My Last Confession: A Gay Catholic Memoir | 
 enlarge | Author: Scott Pomfret
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $13.00
You Save: $13.00 (50%)
New (25) Used (9) from $12.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 54249
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 312
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1559708697
Dewey Decimal Number: 282.086642
EAN: 9781559708692
ASIN: 1559708697
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. 100% money back guarantee. All books shipped from Strand Bookstore, New York City, USA.
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Product Description
Scott Pomfret serves as a lector at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston. He also writes gay porn. His boyfriend is a flaming atheist, and his boyfriendOs Protestant grandmother counts Catholicism a sin worse than sodomy. From Pentecost to Pride, from the books of the Bible to the articles of The Advocate, PomfretOs wry, hysterically funny memoir maps with matchless humor the full spectrum of the gay Catholic experience. Listen in as Pomfret learns a thing or two about love and compassion from Father Bear Daddy, a priest with a hot Gay.com profile, and the Three Hale Marys, and join him as he sets out on a brave quest to convince his arch-nemesis, Cardinal OOMalley, to invite him to serve at a weekly mass.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
Excellent critique of (mis)management of gay issues by the Church August 20, 2008
Devout catholic lector (lay minister) Scott Pomfret weaves gay humor into his critique of the (mis)management of the Catholic church during the period from the first open discussions of the pedophile priests through the passage of the equal marriage rights law in Massachusetts. He exposes widespread homosexuality in the priesthood while clearly differentiating it from the pedophilia of a small minority. Scott is relentless in his criticism of the church hierarchy for their long-term cover-up of the actions of pedophile priests.
A central point in this book is hypocrisy. The Vatican very publicly issues rules. The bishops direct their priests to both publish and enforce them. Meanwhile, the parish priests decide whether these rules are appropriate for their congregations - and often simply ignore them. In some parishes, openly gay priests welcome their gay and lesbian congregants. In others, parish priests ignore constraints on marrying divorced parishioners. The vast majority of parishioners practice birth control, with no threat of pastoral approbation.
Much of the humor in this book revolves around Pomfret's ongoing battle with Cardinal O'Malley over God's and the state's acceptance of gays in the church and equal marriage rights. One would think that Pomfret's obvious, open violation of Church rules would lead to excommunication. It hasn't. He continues to lector, take communion, and participate in the Gay-Lesbian Spirituality Group in his church in South Boston.
Alongside the stories of his experiences, Pomfret provides short segments of his gay interpretations of various church rules. Since he means no threat to any of the lay people or specific priests in his church, he makes up special names for some of his characters. It is a fun book to read, while making strong points about the differences between the official church position on gay issues and the actions of their parishioners.
If you think the Church is infallible, you probably will not like this book. If you know the Church needs to get back to its roots - living and spreading Christ's teachings - you will enjoy it.
Re-affirmed My Faith...Had Me in Stitches, Too! August 11, 2008
Okay, the topic sounds like a heavy one - a gay man struggling to find his place in an increasingly homophobic Catholic Church - but Pomfret's witty writing had me in stitches. For confidentiality, the author has changed many of the names of parish priests and church members, giving them hysterical names like Father McSlutty and Father Daddy-Bear, and he offers us funny, yet handy cut-out guides along the way with titles like "How to Come Out to Hardcore, Bead-counting Catholics" and "Brokeback Lent."
That said, this memoir also deeply touched my heart and reaffirmed my own faith. Like many, I was surprised to learn that Pomfret - author of gay erotica books like "Hot Sauce" - is a devout Catholic and active lector and lay minister at his Boston parish. Where one might expect this to be an angry, Catholic-bashing book, Pomfret's memoir is actually a very loving one, as he attempts to accept the Church he loves, broken as she may be. "So why do I cling to a broken, dying Church and its broken prelate?" he writes. "Brokeness is an opportunity for the Spirit to enter."
I, too, have struggled to support and defend the Church in which I grew up. Many of us have left, but Pomfret's memoir reaffirms that we are all a part of the Church, and that she is incomplete without us. One gay father of three tells Pomfret, "I feel a political responsibility not to leave and not to be budged by people who don't want me there. It's the Rosa Parks thing. It's my church, too, as much as theirs."
So, while I howled with laughter throughout my reading of this wickedly-funny book, I, more importantly, have come away even more deeply committed to my own faith and in my resolve to help heal the Church from within. I have Pomfret - a kindred spirit - and his touching memoir to thank for that.
-Salvatore Sapienza, author of Seventy Times Seven: A Novel
I don't think I'm QUITE who... July 9, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
this book is aimed for, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it! I'm a straight Jewish woman and I found the book at the O'Hare airport bookstore recently. Hey, why not take a chance and learn about gay Catholic lawyers? I'm glad I took that chance as Pomfret is a wonderful writer.
A Must Read Book June 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Since My Last Confession
A GAY CATHOLIC MEMOIR
A Must Read Book for ALL GLBT Christians especially Catholics
Written by Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus
www.missionstsergius
www.missionstsergius/Divine_Mercy_Franciscans
SINCE MY LAST CONFESSION, A GAY CATHOLIC MEMOIR by Scott Pomfret is a must read book for al GLBT persons who are or ever considered themselves Catholic and in fact, all GLBT Christian persons.
The book will have you laughing hysterically, getting angry and make you think.
" Since My Last Confession" makes it clear how a Gay person can even consider being a Catholic while it points out the hypocrisy of the Roman Church and it's contradictions.
Filled with great humor, a true love and respect for the basic principals of the church as well as poignancy and regret for the church trying to use the smoke screen of homosexuality to hide it's failures in the pedophile sex scandal.
Set in Boston where the author is an active member of a Franciscan Church as well as an open Gay man living in a committed relationship the book is full of humor and historical facts that opens your mind to the truth of Christ's message and the differences between the Truth and the churches current position.
I strongly recommend this book for it's openness and honesty as well as historical facts presented in an enjoyable and humorous way.
 Give us this day our daily Father Bear Daddy ... June 3, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Does being a self-assured and proud gay man make you a bit of a hypocrite in also proclaiming to be a practicing Catholic? That's the question that Scott Pomfret asks himself in his hilarious (as well as insightful and seemingly historically/scholarly accurate) memoir. Starting with remembrances of how it felt to belong to the Church in his youth, he resumes practicing his faith in Catholicism, at a time and place where more people were leaving it: in Boston, at the time of the Church's lobbying to repeal gay marriages.
Pomfret (who works as a government attorney during the day and, with his partner Scott Whittier, is responsible for the "Romentics" series of explicit gay romantic novels) shows a knack for describing the stereotypical yet colorful individuals, both gay and straight, he met while involved as a lector (reader) at church services, and attending meetings of Dignity and a gay spirituality group. There's the tough pastor Father Bear-Daddy, a trio of elderly Irish lady volunteers he calls the Hale Marys (they're all named Mary), spirituality group leader Mama Bear, and the worldly Father McSlutty, among others. He also has a few choice names for the Archbishop, as well as the Pope (Pope Benedict XVI, whom he calls B-16.) He rants at, yet tries to reconcile, the rules and politics of the Church, which he correctly points out, largely came from individuals throughout history, not God. Ultimately, he focuses on the reality that the Church is made up of a diverse group of individuals, gay and straight, clergy or not, and spotlights the more memorable (or outrageous) among them.
As a "product" of 12 years of Catholic education (enough to turn off ANYone to organized religion for life!), I must admit I roared with laughter dozens of times at the author's spot-on depictions of the Church's less-than-logical rules and pronouncements. He deals with many concepts that would be considered in bad taste, and joyfully leaps over "the line" to tell it like it is. He almost (but not quite) made me want to give "my" church another try as well, which is certainly a miracle worthy of papal-declared sainthood! My only beef with the book is that it is somewhat unfocused and rambling, with many "deja vu" moments that seem to overlap with sections that went much earlier in the book. Don't know if non-Catholics can relate much to it, but I do recommend the book highly for both practicing and "lapsed" Catholics. Give it four stars out of five.
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