Avoiding Corporate Responsibility – Page 119

June 7, 2016June 7, 2016

Release Secret Clergy Abuse Files and Protect the Youth of Seattle Archdiocese

Sartain

Dear Archbishop Sartain:

We, as Catholics of the Archdiocese of Seattle, believe that the profound damage and alienation caused by the clergy abuse crisis remains with us and that our young people continue to be vulnerable because of the incomplete response to this crisis by the Archdiocese. We know of your deep concern for abuse victims and appreciate your willingness to extend pastoral care to them. We also acknowledge that some procedures have been put in place to safeguard our youth. However, we believe that more is needed if we are to truly protect our youth, heal the wounds caused by this horrific evil, and address the continued alienation of Catholics from their Church. We urge you to:

Establish and implement a protocol for the release of all files, memoranda, settlements and communications related to credible claims of abuse by all clergy and religious who have ministered in this Archdiocese or will do so in the future (with the names of victims redacted). Doing so would meet the expectation set forth in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” (Dallas Charter) that there be “open and transparent communication with the public.” (Article 7)
Consistent with the intent of the Dallas Charter, empower a reconstituted Review Board that would have: a) broad, independent access to all Church files concerning clergy abuse of minors, and b) authority to investigate and make recommendations as to policy and discipline for all matters relating to such abuse in the Archdiocese – past, present and future. The majority of members on this independent Review Board should be selected by the laity and all of its recommendations made public unless the Archbishop explains in writing to the Catholic community the reasons for not doing so.

We urge you to take these actions because the interests of abuse victims must be placed above those of the abusers and those who protected them. A final and definitive revelation of the historical truth regarding clergy abuse, including attempts to cover up acts of abuse and shield abusers, will provide some measure of justice to the victims who have suffered so horribly. Although many victims continue to come forward, we know, too, there are many others who have and will continue to suffer in silence. We must honor them as well by disclosing the whole truth of what has happened.

Full disclosure of secret files and the ongoing involvement of an independent Review Board are necessary to create a sustainable culture and structure of deterrence and accountability, thereby significantly reducing the possibility that this systemic evil will ever happen again. As stated by Cardinal Frances George, when he released the Chicago Archdiocese files in 2014, “We cannot change the past but we hope we can rebuild trust through honest and open dialogue.” Revealing secret files is one step in rebuilding trust. Reconstituting and empowering a truly independent Review Board would verify that the trust is well placed.

Now is the time for us to move forward in mercy and justice (gifts of the good Spirit), instead of remaining mired in fear, obfuscation and self-preservation (reactions not borne of the good Spirit). We recognize that the steps we urge you to take are not easy steps, but we also believe that God’s Spirit will be with us as we take them together. “When there is mercy, justice is more just, and it fulfills its true essence.” (Pope Francis)

Finally, we wish to emphasize that as Catholics we are deeply conscious of our baptismal identity, of our vocation and mission in the Church, and of the many dedicated and faithful clergy of our Archdiocese. Pope Francis, in declaring this Extraordinary Jubilee to be a Holy Year of Mercy, emphasizes the healing power of God’s grace, forgiveness and mercy. We pray that you recognize that full and open disclosure of these files and reconstituting the Review Board as a permanent, independent body are necessary if we are to become a more just, healing Church, one that will bring us all closer to the Mercy of God.

Complete Article HERE!

June 6, 2016June 6, 2016

Advocates for kids march across Brooklyn Bridge in support of Child Victims Act

BY Michael O’keeffe Stephen Rex Brown

More than 200 advocates for reform of the state’s statute of limitations on claims of child sexual abuse marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday, proudly proclaiming they were part of a new civil rights movement defending children.

The rain let up as the diverse group of marchers — including Matt Sandusky, stepson of notorious Penn State pervert Jerry Sandusky, and Phil Saviano, who was portrayed in the movie “Spotlight” — departed from Cadman Plaza in downtown Brooklyn.

“It is time to lift the shades, open the window and let justice and the protection of children shine through,” said Kathryn Robb, an abuse survivor and advocate.

Participants came from as far away as Ohio and Florida. Others hailed from Pennsylvania and New Jersey — where advocates are waging similar fights to reform those states’ statutes of limitations on child sex abuse claims.

In New York, a victim must bring criminal or civil charges prior to his or her 23rd birthday.

abuse-march — Hundreds march across Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday to press for child abuse law reform.

“We need to send a message. We need statute of limitations reform round the country. It is so important for people to understand who the law is protecting — the lobbyists and the church and not the children,” said Annette Nestler of Cape May County, N.J., who wore a broken screen window around her neck — a symbol of opening the window of opportunity for justice.

Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens), chief sponsor in the Assembly of the Child Victims Act, told advocates she decided to fight for reform because of a family member who was a victim of sexual abuse as a child.

“I truly believe I am doing the work of the Lord,” said Markey, who has been a Eucharistic minister and lector at her parish in Queens.

She first proposed legislation to reform the statute of limitations a decade ago. Her efforts have at times met with harsh resistance.

Child abuse survivor Ana Wagner (right) before hundreds march across the Brooklyn Bridge calling for passage of the Child Victims Act on Sunday.

A candidate vying for her seat four years ago made robocalls saying she did not have “Catholic values,” Markey said.

Marchers were adamant that the reform include the so-called lookback, which would allow victims a window of time to revive claims previously barred by the current statute of limitations.

Francis Piderict, with the advocacy group Voice of the Faithful, said 300 abusers were identified in California after legislation was passed granting victims the right to sue.

“That is one of the biggest advantages of the window,” Piderict said.

Advocates for children marched across Brooklyn Bridge to urge pols to change the state's kid-rape law. — Advocates for children marched across Brooklyn Bridge to urge pols to change the state’s kid-rape law.

“The window is nonnegotiable for us,” he added.

Joining the marchers were about 20 members of the Zulu Nation, which initially rallied in support of hip-hop legend Afrika Bambaataa when the Daily News reported on accusations he sexually abused young boys.

The Zulu Nation changed its tone last week and distanced itself from Bambaataa, who founded the group.

“We don’t tolerate the abuse of women and children in our communities,” said Rekae Medina, a member of the Zulu Nation.

Complete Article HERE!

June 3, 2016June 3, 2016

Archdiocese: Law firm, investigator examine allegations

By Haidee V Eugenio

he Archdiocese of Agana announced Friday it is working with a prominent U.S. law firm and an independent investigator to look into recent allegations made against Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

In a media release, the church responded to accusations made in recent days by a local deacon.

Deacon Steve Martinez, the former coordinator of a local church group charged with reviewing sexual abuse allegations involving clergy, said at a press conference Wednesday that Apuron purposely kept the archdiocese’s sexual abuse policy weak to protect himself.

On Friday, the church said that this allegation is a “calumny of such magnitude that the only avenue, which we are following, is recourse to the civil and canonical legal processes to address these intentional lies.”

The statement continues: “We are working with one of the most prominent U.S. legal firms to address these issues and with an independent investigator to inquire about this allegation and these rumors. These intentional lies oblige the Archbishop to take appropriate and immediate canonical measures in regard to Stephen Martinez.”

The media release identifies Martinez as “Mr. Stephen Martinez.” His title as deacon is not stated.

Martinez, when sought for comment, said on Friday the key word is “incompetence,” adding that the archbishop was incompetent when he failed to investigate his own violation of the sex abuse policy regarding notification that Martinez advised him of in 2014.

The archbishop removed Martinez from his position as sexual abuse response coordinator after that.

Martinez said the archbishop was incompetent when he failed to initiate an investigation into recent allegations by Roy Quintanilla, a 52-year-old man who said he was molested by Apuron as an altar boy, and Doris Concepcion, whose son allegedly told her he was molested before he died in 2005.

The archbishop decided to attack them “rather than reach out to them with care and support,” he said.

He also said the archbishop was incompetent when he failed to step aside as the accused until the investigation has been completed.

“Perhaps the true test of competence would be to rapidly commence an independent and professional investigation of the sex abuse allegations brought forward in 2015 and 2016,” Martinez said.

‘Unsubstantiated’

The Archdiocese, in its statement, said it is facing “one allegation — contradicted by other testimonies — and some unsubstantiated rumors of sexual abuse.”

“We are dealing with unproven allegations, not with proven crimes,” the statement said. “To insult the archbishop as Mr. Martinez did is not only against any Christian standard, but also below any standard of due process which have to be granted to every person: a man is innocent until proven guilty and the Archbishop has adamantly denied these allegations.”

The archbishop, the highest leader of the Catholic Church in Guam, has twice been accused publicly in recent weeks of sexual abuse.

Quintanilla, who now lives in Hawaii, said he was sexually abused by Guam’s current archbishop about 40 years ago. Quintanilla said he was a 12-year-old altar server for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, in Agat, when the alleged abuse took place.

Days later, Concepcion, of Prescott, Arizona, told Pacific Daily News her deceased son, Joseph “Sonny” A. Quinata, was molested by Apuron when the latter was the parish priest in Agat in the late 1970s.

The archbishop denied the allegations. He has not been charged with any crime.

The Archdiocese of Agana’s media release does not specify whether the law firm or independent investigator will look into the sexual abuse allegations against the archbishop.

When asked for additional details about the law firm’s and the independent investigator’s scope of work, the Archdiocese of Agana’s Chancellor, Father Adrian Cristobal, said “at this time, the Archdiocese is not providing the specifics of the investigation but I wish to assure you that we are applying the sex abuse policy in this area.”

The Archdiocese said the archbishop has always taken very seriously any allegations, and even rumors, of sexual abuse and acted on them.

It said this is what the archbishop did in the case of Father Paul Gofigan, who was removed when he refused to restrict from active and voluntary church activities a registered sex offender and murderer. Gofigan was removed in 2013.

The Archdiocese said this is what the archbishop also did when he limited the faculties of Father John Wadeson following the surfacing of an old unproven allegation, subsequently cleared by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Wadeson left Guam in 2014 after the archbishop removed him from his position of priest.

This was also what the archbishop did when Father Luis Camacho was removed as pastor, and has had ministry limited, “when his only accuser was the same Stephen Martinez who was reporting rumors,” the Archdiocese said. Camacho was accused of custodial interference in 2015.

‘Incompetence’

Both the Archdiocese of Agana’s statement and Martinez used the word “incompetence.”

The Archdiocese said Martinez has distinguished himself “egregiously for his incompetence.”

Martinez, for his part, said the archbishop was incompetent in at least 11 instances, from dealing with Father Wadeson’s issue in 2014 to dealing with persons who have recently come forward alleging sexual abuse by Apuron of two altar boys in the 1970s.

The Archdiocese said Martinez, as the former archdiocesan financial officer, unbeknownst to the archbishop, failed for six consecutive years to submit the required financial reports to the proper authorities at the Vatican.

“This glaring incompetence caused many problems for the Archdiocese,” the church said.

“It is obvious that Mr. Martinez is part of the (Tim) Rohr group conspiring to topple Archbishop Apuron from his service as Shepherd and a successor of the Apostles, a service he had been doing for the last thirty years defending Guam from many immoral inroads and we challenge anybody to prove the contrary.”

Tim Rohr, a local blogger who runs the website JungleWatch.info, which features articles on the local Catholic Church, was previously named by the Archdiocese as among those spreading malicious lies about the archbishop and the Archdiocese. The Archdiocese said earlier it plans to sue Rohr and his associates.

Martinez said the archbishop was also incompetent when he failed to do the following:

perform a required psychological evaluation and background checks on Father John Wadeson;
update the sexual abuse policy to address the issue of conflict of interest should there ever be an allegation against the archbishop or any person involved in the administration of the sex abuse policy; and
promptly investigate the allegation against Father Luis Camacho.

Complete Article HERE!

June 3, 2016June 3, 2016

Diocese of Winona’s Colletti resigns after details of 30-year-old sexual misconduct emerge

Monsignor Richard Colletti has resigned his positions with the Diocese of Winona as Vicar General and Chancellor.

The announcement of the resignation was contained in a Wednesday evening email from Bishop John Quinn to diocesan clergy.

“Monsignor Colletti’s resignation stems from recent media reports involving accusations of sexual misconduct with an adult female that dates back to 1986,” Quinn’s email said.

The bishop’s announcement coincided with a Rochester Post-Bulletin story published Thursday morning detailing a personal injury lawsuit filed in 1992 against Colletti, the Diocese, Saint Mary’s University and others.

Colletti admitted in court documents to having a sexual relationship with a female student he was counseling while on staff at Saint Mary’s. The lawsuit was closed in December 1993. Terms of the settlement are confidential.

Quinn’s email described Colletti’s service as Vicar General and Chancellor as “exemplary.”

“Monsignor Colletti tendered his resignation to me because of his concern that the situation would impede the effective administration and governance of the Diocese,” Quinn said in a statement Thursday.

Colletti was also assigned as rector of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, pastor of St. Casimir’s Church and chaplain of the WSU Newman Center. Colletti has also resigned from his chaplain role, Quinn said Thursday; his other ministerial duties are under review.

“I am not able to address the specifics of the claim due to the Confidentiality Agreement signed between the parties to the lawsuit,” Quinn said in the statement. “The Diocese of Winona takes every allegation of clergy sexual misconduct very seriously and remains committed to upholding the inherent dignity of every person.”

Colletti, 63, had served in those roles since 2011. He had previously been assigned to a number of roles in the diocese in Rochester and Mankato dating back to the mid-1990s.

Colletti admitted in Winona County District Court documents filed in the early 1990s to an ongoing relationship with the woman he had been counseling. They met at Saint Mary’s, where she was a first-year student and Colletti was then the director of campus ministry.

Colletti soon started scheduling appointments almost daily, according to court records, with the two meeting for several months and the relationship eventually turning sexual in nature.

Colletti, having told diocese administration about the relationship, was eventually transferred to Rochester. It wasn’t clear whether Colletti and the woman had any contact after the suit was filed in 1992. She is in her 40s and now lives in a different state, the Post-Bulletin reported.

The revelation comes amid a time of growing uncertainty about the Diocese of Winona’s future and the close of the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which allowed a three-year window for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil claims against their abusers. The woman would not have qualified to file suit under the act because she was 18 at the time.

More than 100 cases seeking financial compensation for damages have been filed against the Winona diocese during that period, connected to incidents that date back in some cases to the 1940s, all against clergy members who either have died or are no longer active in the diocese.

The diocese has not clearly said yet whether it is considering bankruptcy protection, as the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and others have done.

Complete Article HERE!

June 2, 2016June 2, 2016

Deacon: Other victims of priest abuse have reached out

By Haidee V Eugenio

Deacon Steve Martinez, the former coordinator of a group in the local Catholic Church charged with reviewing sexual abuse allegations involving the clergy, said Thursday he’s aware of “three other victims that have made contact but they are still not ready or willing to move forward with filing a formal complaint.”

The highest leader of the Catholic Church in Guam, Archbishop Anthony Apuron, has twice been accused publicly in recent weeks of sexual abuse.

Apuron and the Archdiocese of Agana have denied the two allegations and announced plans to file lawsuits against those whom it said have been perpetrating “malicious lies” about the archbishop and the Catholic Church.

There still is no investigation by the local church conducted in relation to the sexual abuse complaints, Martinez said.

The first public accusation against Apuron was by a former altar boy in Agat, Roy Quintanilla. He said he was molested by Apuron when the latter was parish priest at Mount Carmel Church in Agat in the 1970s.

The second one was by the mother of a former altar boy also in Agat. Doris Y. Concepcion, now living in Prescott, Arizona, told Pacific Daily News her son, Joseph “Sonny” A. Quinata, revealed his secret about Apuron molesting him in the 1970s, shortly before he died 11 years ago.

Martinez reiterated that assistance, including counseling, is available to victims.

‘Bullying tactics’

“One problem is the bullying tactics by the Archbishop and his cohorts. They are worried about being harassed by the Archbishop and they are worried about being sued. I am working to try and help them get past this fear. It took a fair amount of courage for them to make even a first contact,” Martinez told Pacific Daily News.

Martinez said he’s hoping his work on Wednesday when he called a press conference “will help them and others to come forward.”

“Some of them have had terrible lives because of (what) Father Tony (did) and each needs to come to the point of admitting this sad reality at their own pace. It is a tragic situation that must be fixed. The Church should be helping in every way possible. But since the accused is the leader of the Church, he is making every effort to block their stories from coming out. Intimidation is his biggest weapon at this time. Sad,” Martinez said.

The identities of the three others are not disclosed, and it is not known at this time whether these other three individuals’ allegations also point to Apuron or other priests serving or used to serve in Guam.

Martinez said victims or those who know of any victim of sexual abuse can contact the numbers advertised in the newspapers recently: 777-6836 and 997-6969.

Apuron removed Martinez from his post as sexual abuse response coordinator for the Archdiocese of Agana through a letter dated Oct. 24, 2014, the same date the archbishop appointed to the same position the current coordinator, Deacon Rizal “Larry” Claros.

Martinez received his replacement letter after he sent two letters to Apuron in July and then in August 2014.

In those letters, Martinez alleges the archbishop violated his own Church’s sexual abuse policy and about the need to make the policy stronger so it can better protect not only the Archdiocese but also the children and the community.

Martinez said the local church’s sexual abuse policy is “weak,” “flawed” and a “failed” one that needs to be changed. The current sexual abuse policy, according to Martinez, protects only Apuron and those around him but not the innocent children who are victims.

For example, even if the archbishop is the one accused of sexual abuse, the archbishop has the “sole authority” to determine which sexual abuse allegation gets investigated and has the final word on any probe findings. Martinez said the archbishop, as the accused, cannot be the judge himself.

The Archdiocese of Agana was sought for comment but none was received.

“Like I said (on Wednesday), our Church has a wound that needs to heal. But before it can heal, it needs to be fully cleaned so no infection comes back later,” Martinez said.

Complete Article HERE!