Fallen Order

Catholic hierarchies protecting paedophile priests is a scandal as old as time, and one that has plagued the Church since the 1600s. 

In 1643, after a failure by the Church hierarchy to deal with child abuse scandals amongst their members, a group of priests took control of the Order of the Clerics Regular of the Pious Schools.

It would be anachronistic to call this group a paedophile ring, but it is nevertheless true that a man accused of abusing the boys in his care was promoted to universal superior of a Catholic teaching order, supported by a small group of like-minded priests, and with the full complicity of the Inquisition and the pope himself.

This is the world that Karen Liebreich uncovers; one of ancient, deeply disturbing and intensely secretive shames that was endorsed by Joseph Calasanz, the founder of The Order of the Pious Schools.

It was at these private schools, run by the Piarist order of priests, that some of the most famous children in history were educated and vast contributions to science, art and culture were also overseen by heads of the Church. 

Yet investigations into child-molestation and the relentless brutality of priests were frequently quashed – countless children who were the recipients of abuse and psychological violence were silenced. 

Great lengths were taken to protect the reputation of the Church as rivalry, bribes, conspiracy, evil and pressure from the Vatican continued to mount amongst the priests. 

Liebreich brilliantly depicts the dangerous politics of the Church in seventeenth-century Rome, revealing previously hidden and immensely sobering information she uncovered during her intense historical research.

‘Liebreich’s sources are as rich in incriminating detail as the Watergate tapes … it is time the modern Catholic Church “took a closer look” at the Piarist order.’ - Damian Thompson, Sunday Telegraph

‘One reads Liebreich’s vigorous account of the order’s downward spiral with mounting disbelief, though with immense admiration for her calm sense of perspective.’ - Christopher Silvester, Sunday Times

‘Karen Liebreich brings alive one of the darkest episodes in Catholic history … a superb work of historical detection.’ - Tim Luckhurst, The Herald

‘A compulsive page-turner.’ - Septimus Waugh, Catholic Herald

‘Karen Liebreich has pulled off a difficult trick with this engrossing book.’ - Sunday Telegraph

‘Fallen Order, despite its seventeenth century context, takes on a creepy relevance … Liebreich, in a compelling investigation, unearths letters and records that prove how a number of Piarists were accused … of molesting their charges.’ - Cristina Odone, Evening Standard

‘it reads more like a racy thriller than research … Liebreich is a superb storyteller.’ - Jonathan Boardman, Church Times

Karen Liebreich has a doctorate in history from Cambridge University and a research diploma from the European University Institute in Florence. She has worked as cultural assistant for the French Institute in London and has been a television documentary researcher and producer for the BBC and The History Channel.