title: The Book of Gomorrah and St. Peter Damian's Struggle Against Ecclesiastical Corruption
author: St. Peter Damian
description: <div>"Hoffman has produced a highly readable translation of St Peter Damian's most famous work ... As the Church once again confronts the consequences of a collapse of clerical sexual discipline, we do well to read St. Peter's insistence on taking seriously the Church's early penitential tradition, and the Scriptural references which formed the foundation for this, as well as his zeal for the souls of both sinners and the victims of abuse. Hoffman has done a great service to his readers in preparing this edition." --<b>Dr. Joseph Shaw</b>, Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy at St. Benet's Hall, Oxford</div><br /><br /><div>"The <i>Book of Gomorrah</i> has recently been translated from the original Latin into English, with copious introductory material, by an erudite Catholic who is faithful to Christ and his Church: Matthew Cullinan Hoffman. I have accepted with pleasure the task of writing this brief presentation of a book which ... brings us to the realization that a thousand years ago sexual vices were being practiced by various sons of the Church that lamentably are present today and have been the occasion of scandal, discredit, and apostasy." --From the foreword by <b>Cardinal Juan Sandoval &#205;&#241;iguez</b></div><br /><br /><div>&quot;With this translation, Matthew Hoffman gives a tremendous gift to the Church, at a time when she desperately needs to hear the undiluted truth, spoken with love, even at the risk of offending.&quot; --<b>Fr. Shenan Boquet</b>, President of Human Life International</div><br /><br /><div>&quot;Peter Damian's <i>Liber Gomorrhianus </i>(<i>Book of Gomorrah</i>) tackles sexual immorality among Christians, especially clergy and religious, with shocking frankness. Yet his unwavering condemnation of sexual impurity appears alongside laments over the souls of those who have fallen into impurity and exhortations that they rise again. Scholars of ecclesiastical history ... will appreciate this readily accessible and faithful translation of the <i>Liber Gomorrhianus</i>.&quot; --<b>Dr. Daniel Van Slyke</b>, S.T.L., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Theology at Holy Apostles College</div><br /><br /><div>&quot;At a time when there is a tragic effort in our societies on both sides of the ocean, to consider normal what it is against nature, Matthew Hoffman has to be strongly congratulated for making accessible the<i> Liber Gomorrhianus</i>of St. Peter Damian, an important Doctor of the Church ... The translation is clear and well-articulated, rendering the book in elegant English.&quot; --<b>Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro</b>, J.D., S.T.D., Executive Director of the Rome Office of Human Life International</div>
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  1
  Catholic Family News 
  June-July 2002 
   
  Saint Peter Damian’s 
  Book of Gomorrah 
   
  A Moral Blueprint for Our Times 
   
   
  by Randy Engel 
   
   
  [Editor’s Note: Catholic Family News has asked Randy Engel to help clarify the basic issues surrounding 
  clerical pederasty and homosexuality in the Church today. She has studied and researched the homosexual 
  network in the Catholic priesthood and religious life for more than thirteen years and we believe that her 
  commentary based on the works of the 11th Century Italian monk Saint Peter Damian will help put the 
  current crisis into a proper perspective for our readers. Her latest book, The Rite of Sodomy — 
  Homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church is scheduled for publication in July 2006. JV] 
   
  Part I 
   
   
   
  The Life of Saint Peter Damian (1007-1072) 
   
   
  It appears that whenever Holy Mother Church has had a great need for a special kind of saint for a 
  particular age, God, in His infinite mercy, has never failed to fill that need. And s