Smothered

Rocco and Angelo are brothers – always together, caring for each other in a dangerous and evil world. What happens in the “home” will have dire consequences for Rocco and Angelo. Evil takes an unsuspected form from which there is no escape, causing Angelo’s death. Without Angelo to protect him, Rocco’s world is brutal and dangerous – can he survive and save the others? “I remember the pillow coming closer and closer and pushing into my face. She must have thought I was dead so she took the pillow off -- but I remember moving a little and made noise, trying to breathe. So she started again, pushing the pillow into my face harder. There was darkness and the pillow pressing and pressing on my nose and mouth and I couldn’t breathe, the pain got worse and worse – and then I drifted to nothingness.” At three years old my life was forever changed. A failed attempt at murder by a nun with a pillow put me in a coma that left me permanently brain damaged. My brother, like me, endured rape and abuse at the hands of those entrusted to care for us. He couldn’t live with it and killed himself at the age of 6. I told this true story to my wife and she wrote it for me. “Smothered” is more than just my story – it is the story of millions of children who were and still are being abused by the catholic church. The stories of clergy abuse that you now see in all the major newspapers in the U.S. and around the world just scratch the surface. To start to fix the problem we need to understand how and why such crimes against children became entrenched and tolerated in our society. The book is also a well-documented, comprehensive treatise on the whole story – the burden on society, the organizations that are fighting these heinous crimes and the people who are advocates: lawyers, journalists, doctors and abuse survivors. Can any major organization in the world get away with murder and rape of children, enabling dictators, money laundering, lack of financial transparency, disappearance of money, denials of blame, bank collapse, avoidance of taxes, and in return get donations, tax breaks, and legal immunity? Yes, if they hide behind God and deceive the people who believe in them. The children will not be safe until everyone who doesn’t know the church’s true history and agenda hears my story.

For updates on book topics see:http://catholicchurchabusebynunsandpriests.blogspot.com/

Of all the many kinds of evil in this world none is worse than evil done to innocent children. Such harm hijacks a whole life – those children that don’t die outright face an uphill climb -- carrying mental and physical scars that follow them all of their lives. Brave survivors have spoken out but most victims were terrorized into staying silent. Many, like me, are too damaged to ever realize their full potential or have a productive life. What really happened and who is responsible? Can we identify the abusers and hold them accountable? This book answers these questions. Why am I writing it now and not sooner? Like many victims, I thought I was alone in my suffering. Then, because the internet and social media made communication almost instantaneous and far reaching, I found other people like me who had been damaged and abused by priests and nuns. I found out that there were thousands and thousands of survivors. They are all over the world and they are sharing the facts of their ordeals on websites, blogs and in news media brave enough to reveal the truth about the catholic church. Those thousands of survivors are just the tip of the iceberg – there are many more who have been reluctant to talk about the abuse and the abusers. I hope this book encourages them to tell their stories. I can’t live on hope; I can only live on results. My goal is to make sure that they will never, not any perverted nun or priest or other male clergy, under any circumstances be in charge of or be near a child again. All abusers of children, whether church, family or strangers are criminals and their punishment should fit their crimes. For those that died at the hands of nuns, priests and other child abusers, I wrote this book. And for those that are still suffering or will suffer in the future if the abuse is not stopped, I also write for them. We may never heal but we will live to see justice served. I am telling this true story to my wife. She is writing this book for me because the brain damage caused by the nuns who “cared” for me prevents me from writing it myself. I wanted to tell my story and put all of the facts and information together in one place so you can understand what has happened, what is still happening and what the future will be like for innocent children if we don’t stop these abusers. I have a lot of determination to reveal the truth because of what they did to me, my brother and to all the other children in this world who suffered by their hands.

George Barilla recounted his story to Jean Barilla and she wrote it for him. Jean Barilla has been a writer, educator and author for over 25 years.  She has a background in medical, scientific and legal writing.