‘Unholy Communion’ seeks accountability

When Thomas Rumreich was a freshman at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., he was sexually abused by a priest at the men’s college. The year was 1960, but the incident greatly affected his life then and still causes him moments of anguish today.
A couple of years ago, the retired dentist from Scandia put his thoughts on paper and wrote the novel “Unholy Communion.” The book cites actual incidents of abuse but is written as a mystery, with a small-town investigator pursuing a serial killer who is going after priests.
“I have been thinking about this book on and off for some years, and occasionally the circumstances were a bit painful to revisit,” Rumreich said. “But as I heard more and more about abuse cases, I finally decided to tell my story. It might be cathartic for me, and this behavior on the part of the Catholic clergy has to stop.”
He said that with the practice of moving abusive priests from one parish to another, he wanted this behavior to be in the forefront of people’s minds.
“I grew up with a very Catholic father,” Rumreich said. “He thought priests were as close to God as you can get on this earth. And given that, there was no way in the world I could have told my father what happened to me at St. John’s. I would have been punished for lying about a priest.”
Rumreich said that was not uncommon in those days. There was really no one to talk to about such incidents.
“I couldn’t go to the dean of college, and did not want to tell my roommate. I wondered what it was about me that attracted this guy, and this caused me to question my own sexuality.”
Rumreich was starting a pre-dental program, intending to go to dental school. “I got sidetracked because of the abuse situation and basically flunked out my sophomore year,” he said. “I had failed chemistry and math and did not do well in biology, so I never qualified to get into dental school. I transferred to the University of Minnesota-Duluth and then went to the U of M in Minneapolis. I did very well academically and got my bachelor’s degree in psychology, perhaps in an attempt to learn more about myself.”
Rumreich then moved to Oklahoma and got his master’s in psychology. He went to work for a corporation in Minneapolis and stayed there two years. “I still wanted so badly to be a dentist,” he said. “So I quit my job, went back to the U of M, enrolled as a freshman and started over. I got my physics, chemistry and math and at age 29, I entered dental school.”
He opened a practice in Forest Lake and was a dentist there for 40 years. “While practicing in Forest Lake and for several years after I retired, I was the forensic dentist for the Ramsey County Medical Examiner. I also became certified as a trial expert witness.”
A full life, but his abuse while a young man and the emotional trauma it caused never left him. And he still felt anger at the Catholic Church for what they were allowing priests to do to kids. So he started writing.
“It took me five years to write the book, because I had to revisit some emotions I would rather have left buried,” he said.
“Unholy Communion” is a mystery, but Rumreich said the book is also an expose of the goings on internally of the Catholic Church. “I wouldn’t say it is a book about revenge, but it’s a story that I want people to hear. And think about the effect that this abuse has on the victims. That is brought out in the book.”
Rumreich said that after his book was published in 2022, a number of readers told him they felt it should be on screen. His book had been published by Beaver Pond Press, operated by Lily Coyle, Patrick Coyle’s wife. She suggested that Rumreich connect with Coyle. “I sent him the book, and he read it a couple of times. He agreed to do the screenplay. I was impressed with him, and felt very comfortable working with him.”
Rumreich said he helped on some of the medical and forensic information for the screenplay, but otherwise Coyle was responsible for most of the writing. “I watched some of the filming, but only as an observer. It was very, very interesting,” Rumreich said. ‘
“The characters in the film matched up to those I wrote about in the book,” he added. “Patrick did a phenomenal job of casting.”
When he watched the film for the first time, Rumreich said he cried. “I couldn’t believe we had accomplished this. And when I watched it the second time, I cried. They were happy tears, though.”
Rumreich said he wanted to affirm that there are a great many very good priests. “I’m not condemning individual priests as much as the behavior of the administration.”
He said he still has occasional flashbacks about the abuse. “I’m a little bit ashamed that it happened, but at the same time I realize now that it was not my fault.”
With the response he has received for “Unholy Communion,” the first book he has ever written, Rumreich said he has considered writing more. “I have a number of ideas, but probably the biggest issue is time.”
The book has won the Cadmus award, a world-wide competition in the Mystery-Thriller genre. The novel is available at bookstores: Once Upon a Crime in Minneapolis, Lake Country Booksellers in White Bear Lake, The Marine General Store in Marine-on-St.-Croix and Amazon.
Profits from the book are being donated to Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).