Stigma

STIGMA: The Rape of Faith is the story of a charmed-and charming-reprobate, Theodore Roosevelt McGraw, who is haunted by his past. It is the late twentieth century and "Teddy" is immersed in a religious education, whether he likes it or not. As Teddy matures into manhood, he eventually experiences a delayed recall of a violent episode that prompts him to embark down a determined path to achieve justice, despite the Catholic Church's resistance. Encounters with the divine and the demonic launch him on a journey into an otherworldly American past, and further into the shrouded past of Old World atrocities. What he discovers will test his resolve and courage, against universal opposition, to bring these atrocities to light. The reader will be challenged as well to face outrages at the core of our culture, and decide who-or what-truly bears the STIGMA.



STIGMA: The Rape of Faith is a fictional expos of the Roman Catholic Church's historical and current handling of allegations of priestly sexual misconduct affecting minors in its care.



Antoine Nusmun is a classically trained independent scholar, poet, philosopher, essayist, and singer/songwriter. He has traveled widely and held a variety of positions, but his lifelong interest has been the origins of man and his religious practices. Antoine lives in Cataloochee, North Carolina with his wife Constance and a menagerie of faithful pets.



"A transformational novel told with flashes of humor and outrage, and steeped in southern atmospherics, Stigma is thoroughly original and uses a timely theme as a fulcrum for a profound philosophical, theological, and historical rumination. One could say it picks up where Spotlight left off."

-Tom Sancton,

author of Song For My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White.