Category: Living A Lie

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Lawyer: Church official threw monsignor ‘under the bus’ amid child sex accusations in Philly

An indicted Catholic church official is showing signs he won’t take the fall alone for the priest abuse scandal in Philadelphia, with his lawyer saying Wednesday that a successor threw him “under the bus.”

Monsignor William Lynn, 61, is the only official from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia facing trial for allegedly failing to remove accused predators from the priesthood. He served as secretary of clergy from 1992 to 2004.

Defense lawyers argue that Lynn took orders from then-Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and other superiors in the church hierarchy.

Prosecutors hope to include dozens of old abuse allegations to show a pattern of conduct at the trial, which is scheduled to start in late March and last several months.

One such case involves a West Chester University chaplain accused in 1994 of taking pictures of students in their underwear.

He next became chaplain of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, worked with a parish youth group and later admitted taking boys on overnight trips, one to Jamaica, before retiring to the New Jersey shore, prosecutors said.

When a New Jersey diocese asked the Philadelphia archdiocese about the priest, Monsignor Timothy Senior allegedly wrote in a letter that Lynn, his predecessor, did not fully investigate complaints against the priest.

“Maybe that’s an answer to why Monsignor Senior is not here (as a defendant). He obviously doesn’t mind throwing Monsignor Lynn under the bus,” defense lawyer Jeffrey Lindy argued.

Prosecutors call the archdiocese “an unindicted co-conspirator” in the case. A 2005 grand jury report blasted Bevilacqua and his successor, Cardinal Justin Rigali, for their handling of abuse complaints, but they were never charged. Bevilacqua is now 88 and in failing health.

A judge will hear more arguments Monday on whether 27 of the 63 priests described in that grand jury report can be referenced at Lynn’s trial. Prosecutors want to show that Lynn kept them on the job despite knowing of complaints stored in “secret archives” at the archdiocese.

They have detailed the cases over a three-day pretrial hearing this week. The cases include a priest who allegedly pinned loincloths on naked boys playing Jesus in a Passion play, and whipped them, in keeping with the drama; a priest who held what prosecutors called “masturbation camps” at the rectory, having boys strip naked and teaching them to masturbate; and a pastor written up for disobedience for complaining to Bevilacqua about an accused priest being transferred to his parish.

“I truly would love a jury to see how these were handled,” Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington said in court. “The more cases they see … the clearer the picture becomes.”

Although some of the abuse dates to the 1960s through 1980s, before Lynn’s time as secretary for clergy, he had access to the secret files. And many of the cases were not reported until years later, during his tenure.

Defense lawyers hope to limit the trial evidence to Lynn’s handling of the priest and ex-priest on trial with him. The Rev. James Brennan, 48, and defrocked priest Edward Avery, 69, are charged with rape. All have denied the charges.

The archdiocese declined to respond to the comments made Wednesday about Monsignor Senior, citing a gag order in the case.

Lynn is on leave from the archdiocese. Jury selection is set to start next month.

Complete Article HERE!

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Priest who fathered child removed from New York church

A newly installed Roman Catholic priest has been removed from his suburban New York parish after church officials on Thursday said he secretly fathered a child while attending seminary.

The removal of Reverend Casmir Mung’aho, 34, from his post at St. Stephen the First Martyr Church in the Orange County town of Warwick, New York, comes two weeks after the resignation of a Los Angeles assistant bishop who admitted he had two children.

Mung’aho was asked to step down after officials learned he fathered a child in a consensual relationship with an adult woman during his first year of seminary school, Bishop Dominick Lagonegro said in a statement.

While Mung’aho was removed from the congregation in Warwick, it was not yet clear whether he will remain a priest or be defrocked by the New York Archdiocese, said archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling. He said officials had yet to discuss with Mung’aho what action will be taken.

“Father never revealed this to our bishops or seminary authorities, which he certainly should have done,” Lagonegro said in a statement.

“Given the need for Father Casmir to address this matter and reflect on his responsibilities in a very serious way, his assignment to St. Stephen’s is now ended. Please pray for him, as well as for the mother and the child whose lives are so precious.”

The Catholic Church requires celibacy from its priests.

When asked how the church found out about the young child, the Rev. Michael McLoughlin, St. Stephen’s pastor, declined to elaborate to Reuters.

“We’re all sad and we’re all praying for him,” McLoughlin said. “Everything is out there now and other than that I have nothing to say.”

Attempts to reach Mung’aho were not immediately successful. According to his biography published in the New York archdiocese’s official newspaper last year, he grew up in Tanzania and came to the United States about six years ago. As a child, he had always dreamed of becoming a priest.

“The support and respect for the church in general is very high,” he said in his biography. “I see myself here being a model. It’s being an example every day.”

Mung’aho graduated from St. Joseph’s Seminary school in Yonkers, just north of New York City, last year before taking a position at the church in Warwick, a town about 60 miles north of New York City.

Earlier this month, Gabino Zavala, an assistant bishop of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles, resigned after admitting he had a secret family and the two teenage children he fathered were living with their mother in another state.

Complete Article HERE!

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Minn. archbishop warns priests to toe line

Catholic Archbishop John Nienstedt has warned a Minnesota priest to toe the church line in support of a marriage amendment referendum or face the consequences.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Sunday Nienstedt sent a letter last fall to the Rev. Mike Tegeder, the pastor at St. Frances Cabrini and Gichitwaa Kateri churches in Minneapolis who has voice opposition to the proposed amendment to the state Constitution that goes before Minnesota voters in November.

Nienstedt told Tegeder unless he desists in opposing the amendment that would define marriage as a union only between a man and woman he would strip the priest of his “faculties to exercise ministry” and remove him from his “ministerial assignments.”

Tegeder said he doesn’t believe the church should be actively campaigning in support of the amendment. Minnesota has about 1.1 million Catholics.

“That’s not the way to support marriage,” Tegeder said. “If we want to support marriage, there are wonderful things we can do as Catholic churches and ministers. We should not be focused on beating up a small number of people who have this desire to have committed relationships.”

But Nienstedt has told Catholic clergy across the state there is to be no “open dissension” of the church’s support for the measure. As the archbishop sees it, the very existence of marriage hangs in the balance.

“The endgame of those who oppose the marriage amendment that we support is not just to secure certain benefits for a particular minority, but, I believe, to eliminate the need for marriage altogether,” he said in a letter to the state’s clergy.

“As I see it, we have this one chance as Minnesotans to make things right. The stakes could not be higher.”

Nienstedt is marshaling his forces, sending priests and married couples to Catholic high schools to talk about marriage and having parishes organize committees to work for the amendment’s passage, the Star Tribune said.

Complete Article HERE!

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Searches of Belgian Church Property Continue

Belgian authorities are searching the administrative offices of the bishop of Bruges a day after raiding similar offices in three other cities as they investigate whether church officials protected child abusers instead of their victims.

Peter Rossel, a spokesman for the church in Bruges, 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Brussels, confirmed Tuesday that the searches are ongoing. He said the church was cooperating fully with the investigation.

On Monday, authorities searched church offices in Hasselt, Mechelen and Antwerp. A judicial official close to the investigation told the AP on Monday the investigation, called “Operation Chalice,” could result in charges against church officials. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Complete Article HERE!

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Catholic bishops to flock: Fight same-sex marriage

Washington’s four Roman Catholic bishops have taken a foursquare stand against legalization of same-sex marriage, a cause rapidly gaining momentum in the State Legislature.

Catholics should contact their legislators and tell them to “defend the current definition of marriage” against legislation to legalize marriage between same-sex couples, the bishops declared in a strongly worded pastoral letter posted late Friday.

Society’s recognition of marriage is “related to bringing children into the world and the continuation of the human race,” argue the bishops, and any change of definition would add “to the forces already undermining family life today.”

The letter is signed by Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, Spokane Bishop Blase Cupich, Yakima Bishop Joseph J. Tyson, and Seattle Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo. It is published on the Archdiocese of Seattle web site.

“My first reaction, as a practicing Catholic, is that this is very hurtful,” said State Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, chief sponsor of marriage equality. Murray is a gay man in a 20-year committed relationship.

Earlier Friday, 23 senators introduced legislation to allow same-sex couples to receive marriage licenses. The marriage equality legislation was requested by Gov. Christine Gregoire, who is also a Catholic.

The Catholic bishops root their argument in what they see as the role of procreation in marriage.

“Marriage is certainly about the public recognition of a relationship between a man and a woman,” said the letter. “But it is much more. Marriage in faith and societal traditions is acknowledged as the foundation of civilization.”

“It has long been recognized that the stability of society depends on the stability of family life in which a man and a woman conceive and nurture new life.”

The Catholic bishops argue that “civil recognition of marriage” has sought to bestow “on countless generations of children the incomparable benefits of a loving mother and father committed to one another in lifelong union.”

“Were the definition of marriage to change, there would be no special laws to support and recognize the irreplacable contribution that these married couples make to society, and to the common good by bringing to life the next generation.”

The definition of marriage has been undergoing change by courts and legislators. Six states and the District of Columbia have legalized marriage between couples of the same sex. Nine states, including Washington, have extended legal recognition and rights to domestic partners.

Several of the states where same-sex marriage is legal — notably Massachusetts and Connecticut — are heavily Catholic.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, a Catholic, pushed his legislature to approve same-sex marriage last spring. Another Catholic governor, Martin O’Malley of Maryland, is campaigning for approval. Gov. Jerry Brown of California, a former seminarian, has refused to defend a narrowly passed initiative that rolled back gay marriage.

Catholic bishops in Washington have taken progressive stands on numerous social issues. They have championed the rights of immigrants, defended social programs, opposed the death penalty, and even taken a strong position for restoring decimated Columbia River salmon runs.

But the statement released Friday upholds traditional Catholic teachings, and appeals beyond the faithful.

“Upholding the present definition of marriage does not depend on anyone’s religious beliefs,” the bishops argue. “Washington State’s present law defining marriage as a ‘civil contract between a male and a female’ is grounded not in faith, but in reason and the experience of society.

“It recognizes the value of marriage as a bond of personal relationships but also in terms of the unique and irreplacable potential of a man and woman to conceive and nurture new life, thus contributing to the continuation of the human race.”

The bishops end their letter by calling for practical action, adding.

“We urge you to contact your own State Senator and your two State Representatives to request that they defend the current legal definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.”

The letter will be made available — or read — at Saturday vigil and Sunday masses around the state.

The reaction is hard to predict.

Bishops often refer to their “flock,” but American Catholics do not behavie like sheep. An ABC News/Washington Post poll last spring found that 63 percent of Catholics in the U.S. support civil marriage betwen same-sex couples.

In Minnesota, where the Catholic Church is supporting a constitutional amendment entrenching heterosexual marriage, Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedy has issued a warning to priests:

“There ought not to be open dissension on this issue. If any have private reservations, I do not wish that they be shared publicly. If anyone believes in conscience he cannot cooperate, I want him to contact me directly and I will plan to respond personally.”

As in New York, the legislation introduced in Olympia Friday would allow churches and clergy full rights in terms of who they choose to marry, and whether to allow marriage on church property.

“As the bill is written, the church would never be forced to marry people of the same sex or divorced people,” said Murray.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/connelly/article/Catholic-bishops-to-flock-Fight-same-sex-marriage-2520855.php#ixzz1jjCZfmIT

Complete Article HERE!