Dr. Dick's Stunning New Book
Reviewed by Kay Jaybee
You may think this an unusual choice of book to review for one of the world’s leading erotica websites. However, one glance at the name of the author, and you will see why I simply had to read this volume. Don’t recognize the name? Richard Wagner is in fact the one and only Dr. Dick, guru of the website Dr. Dick’s Sex Advice (“With an edge – don’tcha know!”). Now you understand my curiosity.
When I first heard that DD had once been Father Richard Wagner in the Catholic Church, I was more than a little surprised. How does one go from being a priest to one of the world’s foremost advisers on all matters sexual? This book is a step towards finding out...
Secrecy, Sophistry and Gay Sex In The Catholic Church begins in 1981, when Richard Wagner released his PhD; Gay Catholic Priests; A Study of Cognitive and Affective Dissonance. This, the very first study of its kind, was intended to be an honest account of how homosexuals were coping with their hidden sexuality within the confines of their calling. Its aim was to help and guide those individuals, and the religious community in which they served.
Soon, however, underhanded media intervention, combined with the Catholic Church’s double standards and paranoia, turned this well researched (and initially well supported) study into a means for persecuting Father Richard Wagner. So much so that he was considered to be “absent” from the church – a situation, which left him, neither included nor excluded from religious life. In other words – he was in limbo.
This book is a detailed account of the meetings and letters that flew between Richard and various members of the Catholic Church who, over 13 long years, left him confused, belittled, and outcast, not knowing if he was in or out of the Catholic Church. His celibate status was questioned, and his words were twisted in a variety of clever ways to make him appear guilty of breaking his vows (which was not the case), and questioning his superiors.
Church officials also used skillful phraseology to lead Father Wagner believe promises of a welcomed return to his status as a priest, but these promises just turned out to be one unfulfilled false hope after another. In fact, this uncertainty went on for so long, and was so well disguised, that many of Father Wagner’s ex-colleagues had believed he’d either left the fold of his own freewill years ago, or had been excommunicated!!
It is difficult not to read this book without getting angry. Especially when we discover that the same Church also refused to believe that Richard was sexually abused by a cleric as a boy. The continual blinkered refusal by those at the highest levels in the community to accept that their leaders could, at anytime, have made a mistake or committed an injustice just defies belief.
At anytime, all they had to do was say sorry...
Secrecy, Sophistry and Gay Sex In The Catholic Church is not an easy read. The terminology is obviously religious, and the sentiment is soul-destroying. The pages ache with frustration as the letters between Richard and his superiors go round in non-productive circles (or should that be knots?). Don’t let the heavy language put you off however, for it is a fascinating read.
I would urge any of you interested in the church, civil rights, or those who are merely curious about our own much loved Dr. Dick, to sit down in a cozy chair with a pot of tea (or double whiskey) on hand, and have a read.
Secrecy, Sophistry and Gay Sex In The Catholic Church, by Richard Wagner, $19.95 (just $15 on Amazon!).
Copyright September 8, 2011
Published with permission from author on OystersandChocolate.com. Copying or reprinting this work in part or in whole without permission is illegal.