Press Room
Press Release
Iveagh Lodge Press Publishes "Driving Straight on Crooked Lines" a Memoir About One Man’s Reaction to Life’s Events
Author Jack Keogh says, "One could be forgiven for thinking
that 'Driving Straight on Crooked Lines' might just belong on the shelf in
your local bookstore near Elizabeth Gilbert’s 'Eat, Pray, Love.'"
Trumbull, CT, August 18, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Jack Keogh , the author
of "Driving Straight on Crooked Lines," says, "one could be forgiven for
thinking that my story might just belong on the shelf in your local
bookstore near Elizabeth Gilbert’s 'Eat, Pray, Love.' I decided to write my
story," he explains, "when I was in Mexico City’s Izote restaurant, sipping
mescal and listening to a tale about a monk who killed a cow."
But the book’s sub-title suggests a different take: “How an Irishman found
his heart and nearly lost his mind.” First impressions can be deceiving, and
when Keogh tells us in the book’s Prologue, “God writes straight on crooked
lines”— we hope we will learn how to understand how adversity can bring out
the best in us.
Dr. Ken Davis says, “Keogh’s memoir is a splendid example of Joseph
Campbell's ‘hero's journey.’ By the time Keogh leaves his Dublin home and
family to follow a dream—to change the world as a missionary with the
Legionaries of Christ, he soon finds himself in a world of contradictions:
the huts of Africa's poor and the homes of the United States' and Mexico's
wealthiest families; his personal devotion and the politics of power; his
vow of poverty and his superior's taste for luxury.”
The author ends up indeed playing a role in changing the world, and in the
process, changing himself. By the time the tale is finished, readers have
journeyed with him from Dublin to Rome, then to Salamanca in Spain and on to
Mexico City. After a sojourn in Rome where the author experienced the inner
workings at the headquarters of the Legionaries of Christ, we travel with
him to New York. Aoife Rinaldi commented, “He describes the complicated
structure of the Church in a way that is straightforward and interesting
while also disclosing the ins and outs of everyday life in the Legionaries
of Christ.”
By the time Keogh arrives in Gabon in Central West Africa, he has to
confront his doubts, and his grief accepting that God might have different
plans for his life. As the title suggests, the author needed to learn how to
“drive straight on the crooked lines of life” in order to find his heart and
happiness.
“For anyone interested in the developing world, in the Catholic Church, in
organizational theory, or in intercultural communication, Driving Straight
provides excellent object lessons--and takes readers on an exciting journey
of their own,” says Davis.
###
Priests take new path from scandal-plagued order
Legionaries of Christ members take posts in Milwaukee
Archdiocese
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
July 9, 2010
Father Cliff Ermatinger had always wanted to be a Catholic priest, but
he'd begun to doubt the path he'd taken, through the order known as the
Legionaries of Christ.
Then, last year, Legion leaders and the Vatican all but confirmed what
had been rumored for decades: that the Legion's late founder had lived a
double life as a philandering husband and notorious pedophile.
Ermatinger knew then it was time to go.
"As soon as I knew the truth, I knew what I had to do," said Ermatinger,
who took over this week as pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic
Church on Milwaukee's south side. "It was like a light went on, and I
just started preparing myself."
Ermatinger, 46, is one of two Legionaries who have asked to shift their
affiliation to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Father Robert Weighner, 47,
starts his new post at St. Anne's Parish in Pleasant Prairie on Monday.
The men, both of whom are in a three-year discernment process required
to leave an order, are thought to be the first Legionaries to work in
the archdiocese.
"They're coming at the invitation . . . of Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome
Listecki," archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf said in an e-mail. "He
knows them both and feels like they would be an asset to the
archdiocese."
The Legionaries of Christ, one of the wealthiest and most influential
orders in the Catholic Church, has been rocked in recent years by
revelations that its founder, the late Marcial Maciel Degollado, had
fathered several children by at least two women and molested young
seminarians over decades.
Maciel, who died in 2008, was banned from public ministry in 2006, but
it wasn't until this year that the Vatican fully acknowledged his sins,
issuing a statement saying he had committed "true crimes" and condemning
him as immoral and devoid of scruples and "authentic religious feeling."
Dozens of Legion priests have moved to
leave the order in the year since the Vatican launched a sweeping
investigation of Maciel and the Legion, said Jack Keogh, a former priest
who recounts 20 years in the order in his memoir, "Driving Straight on
Crooked Lines."
"Many, especially younger American recruits, resent the fact that the
Vatican and their superiors hid the truth about Maciel from the rank and
file for so long," he said.
Weighner and Ermatinger, both of whom spent two decades in the Legion in
posts around the world, said the revelations affected their decisions to
leave. However, both said they'd been contemplating diocesan life for
some time.
Founded by Maciel in Mexico 1941, the conservative Legion had drawn a
worldwide following with as many as 800 priests, 2,500 seminarians, and
70,000 in its lay organization, Regnum Christi, according to some
estimates. Its assets have been estimated at more than $33 billion.
Allegations of abuse had dogged Maciel for years, but he avoided Vatican
scrutiny, according to some news accounts, by plying key cardinals with
gifts and money.
Derided by some as a cult, the order has been described as strict and
secretive. It's been banned from some U.S. dioceses and barred from
working with minors in at least one other because of its persuasive
methods of attracting young recruits.
Both Ermatinger and Weighner joined the Legion as young men in their
20s.
"I was drawn by the mission and formation, the stress on spiritual
growth and study," said Ermatinger, a Chicago native who was a student
of Listecki's when he taught at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary.
Ermatinger, who speaks six languages and has authored books on
spirituality, hesitated when asked whether he considered the order
cultlike.
"I didn't know any other religious life," he said. "I knew there were
orders with very strict rules. . . . It's not like it's a shock."
Ermatinger spent the past year at a Chicago parish and sought out
Milwaukee, he said, because he has family here. Weighner spent a year in
the Diocese of La Crosse, where Listecki was bishop before coming to
Milwaukee in January.
Ermatinger said he has no regrets about joining the Legion, or leaving
it.
"There are a lot of good people there, they love our lord and they
really want to serve him," he said.
"But vocation is such an intimate question. At the end of the day, it
comes down to the question: What is your will for me?
"And that's something nobody can answer for you. It's something each one
of us has to figure out on our own."
Press Release
New Memoir About Life in the Controversial Legion of Christ by a Former Member Reveals Insights into the Double Life of Founder Father Marcial Maciel
TRUMBULL, Conn., May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- As Vatican-watchers await the appointment of a papal delegate to oversee the Legion of Christ, a new memoir by a former member claims that few Legionaries were aware of the double life led by their founder, the late Father Marcial Maciel.
Driving Straight on Crooked Lines: How an Irishman Found his heart and Nearly Lost his Mind, http://www.drivingstraight.com (ISBN 978-0-9845227-0-5, Trade paperback, 352 pp, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2) provides author Jack Keogh's insights into the inner workings of the Legion of Christ and the intimate thoughts of a former priest who collaborated with the controversial Maciel, the founder of the Mexican congregation.
Keogh, the first Irish-born Legionary to set foot in Mexico, tells how he ultimately came to believe that God does indeed drive straight on the crooked lines of our lives after first nearly losing his mind.
Spanning locations across the globe, Keogh's "gripping story offers realistic insight, told with a subjective, non-judgmental outlook," says Australian writer and editor Cerian Griffiths. "Keogh's sincere narrative, in which he faces many challenges, inspires an attitude of hope for the future. His story is told with candor, a sparkle in the eye, plenty of blarney, and Irish good humor."
Investigative reporter, author and film director Jason Berry, whose recent report on the Legion of Christ's Father Marcial Maciel was published in the National Catholic Reporter says, "I was pulled along by the story of a young Irishman drawn into the world of the Legionaries of Christ, unable to see the raw truth of Father Maciel, coming to the painful realization of Maciel's psychological tyranny as time passed, and having the fortune to leave early enough to make a new life. This is a sad yet, in the final measure, uplifting memoir."
Keogh is Managing Director of Keogh & Associates Consulting, LLC of Trumbull, CT, which advises multinational corporations on leadership and cross-cultural communications. A resident of Fairfield County, CT, Keogh studied in Spain and Italy and is fluent in their languages. Many thousands of people around the globe have attended his presentations.
For more information about Driving Straight on Crooked Lines or to schedule an interview, please contact Jack Keogh at (203) 268-3126 or visit http://www.drivingstraight.com. The book is available on http://www.amazon.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com.
Book Cover: http://www.ereleases.com/pic/DrivingStraightonCrookedLines.jpg
CONTACT: Jack Keogh Iveagh Lodge Press Trumbull, CT (203) 268-3126 info@iveaghlodgepress.com
This press release was issued through eReleases(R). For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.
SOURCE Jack Keogh
###
An Irishman's story of his life in the controversial Legion of Christ
and the lessons he learned from the Mexican priest, Marcial Maciel, founder
of the Congregation.
Trumbull, CT, May 03, 2010 --(PR.com)--
Spanning locations across the globe, "Driving Straight on Crooked Lines" is
a memoir by Jack Keogh that gives insight to the inner workings of the
Legion of Christ, and to the thoughts of a former priest who collaborated
with the controversial Fr. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Mexican religious
congregation. — (ISBN 978-0-9845227-0-5, Trade paperback, 352 pp, 5½ x 8½).
What makes this book different? According to Australian writer Cerian
Griffiths, "Amongst the literature available on the Legionaries of Christ,
Driving Straight on Crooked Lines, offers a realistic insight, told with a
subjective, non-judgmental outlook. It’s both moving, and heartening." Keogh
tells how he ultimately came to believe that God does indeed drive straight
on the crooked lines of our lives. Griffiths said: "Keogh's sincere
narrative, in which he faces many challenges, inspires an attitude of hope
for the future. His gripping story is told with candor, a sparkle in the
eye, plenty of blarney, and Irish good humor." It tells how an Irishman
found his heart, and in doing so, nearly lost his mind. The Author of the
memoir, Jack Keogh, is Managing Director of Keogh & Associates Consulting,
LLC. He consults with multinational corporations on leadership and
cross-cultural communications. He studied in Spain and Italy, and is fluent
in their languages. Many thousands of people around the globe have attended
his presentations.
###
The following press release erronously identifes the issuer as "Iveagh League Press." It should of course read "Iveagh Lodge Press." We apologize for the inconvenience.
<