Since My Last Confession: A Gay Catholic Memoir

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.

Pomfret's writing on the Catholic Church from his perspective as a gay man had me on my knees in hysterics! He brings a much needed light touch to what has otherwise been a heavy time for the Archdiocese of Boston. As a former seminarian who lived "inside those walls", I highly recommend Since My Last Confession for all who have struggled with the Catholic Church in recent years. This is a must read for gay and straight alike!

Scott Pomfret is a genius. This is a must read for every GLBT Catholic on the face of the planet. Every 100 years or so someone comes around and writes a brilliant and also funny account of lifes circumstances. In this case it is being GLBT and Catholic. Mr. Pomfret does it with such intellegence and wit. I feel like Mr. Pomfret has channeled my life of 64 years as a gay catholic man. No one understands gay humor like another gay person. I could not put this book down. Mr. Pomfret has validated every nuance of my life as a Catholic Gay Man. Dealing with the Hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church is made easier once you understand them better. Mr. Pomfret does a brillant job of peeling away the layers of Church B... S... and lays open a human experience that reflects our lives. I am so grateful to Mr. Pomfret. Every Roman Catholic Priest, Bishop, Arch-Bishop, Cardinal and Pope should read this book. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty and Mr. Pomfret, I am free at last. I am not alone.

Pomfret, Scott. "Since My Last Confession: A Gay Catholic Memoir", Arcade Books, 2008. The Humor of Being Gay and Catholic Amos Lassen I have read and reviewed other books by Scott Pomfret but as one of the Scotts of Scott and Scott, Usually the books I read by the two Scotts were erotic sizzlers so I was quite surprised when I got "Since My Last Confession" as this is not the kind of book that I expected him to write. The same humor of the other books is there and there is some of the playful eroticism that I have grown to love in the other books. Yet even with the humor this book deals with the very serious issue of sexuality and organized religion. So let's meet Scott Pomfret. He is a lector at Saint Anthony Shrine and he also writes (for lack of better words) gay porn. He has a boyfriend whose name is also Scott who is a total non-believer, an atheist (Sacre Bleu). The boyfriend's grandmother considers Catholicism to be a crime worse than sodomy. Pomfret pokes fun at the entire Catholic experience and he says so with great humor and possible excommunication from Mother Church. The cast of characters in this novel fills three and one-half pages and their names are wonderful--Father Bear-Daddy, Father McSlutty, three females with the initials of "MF" and who all share the first name of Mary, Thelma and Louise, Ward and June, to name a few. Before I continue, let me give a quote from the author's note: "This is not an attack on the Church. It's an invitation to laugh". And laugh you will--in fact, I am still laughing as I type this. However there is a great deal of pain here. As Pomfret attempts to make sense of the way the Church regards the GLBT community, he sees a humor in the pain it has caused. He points out of the irony of the church in that many issues of anti-gay policy are mouthed by sexually active gay priests. Pomfret really tries to give a religious relationship to the church and in this lies the humor of the book. By using satire, he considers the role of the church in modern life. The book looks at all of the important topics with which a gay Catholic is faced--excommunication (and how to achieve it), Catechism (and its many uses), faith (and its uses and merits), the role of priests (in and out of the closet). Does this sound sacrilegious? It probably is but how would I know? I don't have these problems--I'm Jewish and I have headaches of my own. It is the wit, the humor and the truth beneath it that makes "Since My Last Confession" such a good read, if you can stop laughing long enough to turn the pages. One reviewer has dubbed Scott Pomfret as the "patron saint of devilish wit" and I have to agree. This is quite a book and quite a read.

Pomfret nails what it's like to be a gay Catholic in this funny, vivid portrait of a man on a mission to be accepted in a Church that often makes it clear it doesn'[t want his kind. Peppered amidst the story line are little sidebar items and quizzes that make for fascinating learning about others (one looks at how to tell of Cardinal O'Malley is a homosexual) and yourself (one asks questions to determine if you're a gay Catholic; I scored 12 out of 14! I guess I know where I sit!) Employing contemporary imagery with well researched history and facts, Pomfret creates a personal tour-de-force. Pope Benedict XVI (who Pomfret calls B16), probably wouldn't be too happy, but, then again, maybe he would. Pomfret ultimately embraces all the imperfections of the Church, just as he embraces all the imperfections in himself and those around him. In the middle of a gay-Catholic discourse that usually ends up in bitter division, it's a masterful achievement of Pomfret's to end with laughter and redemption.