Pride is at the dark heart of this monk's tale

• Published in: The Independent on Sunday
• Main Author: Buxton, James
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: London (UK) Independent Digital News & Media 03.01.2016
• Subjects: Anderson, Lindsay

My boarding school used to be visited occasionally by a monk. No ordinary monk, though; he played squash with economic wiliness and preached witty, unstuffy sermons that were talked about in class all week. It was the 1970s, just a few years after Lindsay Anderson's film If... set the template for posh stroppiness. It was unthinkable that any self-respecting boy would find a monk charismatically cool. But we did. With hindsight, it's easy to think that Father Peter saw himself as a bit of star. There's a difference between wearing a habit out of humility and showing it off as a form of humble brag. He offered this humility to the high and mighty as a sort of gift by association and they, in turn, became proud of their links with him - too proud to see his flaws. He was clever and manipulative and, in the end, pride must have weakened the bonds that controlled his criminal urges to reveal a calculating, dominating paedophile.