Category: Priests In Trouble

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Archbishop installation revives conversation of clergy sexual abuse scandal

Archbishop Richard Henning was installed as the seventh archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross while protesters outside the church called for transparency and settlement in clergy sexual abuse cases on Oct. 31, 2024

By Yogev Toby

Archbishop Richard Henning was installed as the seventh archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston on Thursday. It was a bittersweet ceremony, shadowed by the church’s dark past.

More than 1,400 people, including clergy, religious figures, and prominent Boston community members, gathered at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross to celebrate what some called a surprising appointment.

Henning obtained the role after serving only a little over a year as Providence bishop, to a significantly smaller laity.

The event started with Henning’s ceremonial three knocks on the cathedral door and the greeting of the exiting archbishop, Cardinal Seán O’Malley. The two embraced each other in a hug and entered the building.

O’Malley’s 21-year tenure as archbishop was riddled with challenges following the clergy sexual abuse scandal in which hundreds of children were sexually abused by priests in the Boston archdiocese. These assaults occurred under O’Malley’s predecessor, Cardinal Bernard Law, in early 2002. The case—brought to national attention by the Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigation—created hundreds of lawsuits against the Boston Roman Catholic Church and encouraged others across the country to come forward against sexual abuse in their churches.

More than 150 priests in Boston were accused of sexual abuse, Cardinal Law resigned, and the church paid more than $95 million in settlements to victims.

Archbishop Richard Henning talking with protesters gathered outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Oct. 31, 2024

Outside the festive entrance to the cathedral in South End, a group of about two dozen individuals stood with signs urging for transparency and the completion of ongoing settlements.

As Henning prepared to enter the cathedral, Robert Hoatson, a former priest and survivor of sex abuse, called out to the incoming archbishop. “What about the survivors? Are you going to talk with us?” he shouted.

Henning turned and slowly paced toward the protesters.

One of the survivors asked Henning if he would be honest, transparent, and open as an archbishop.

“I’m very sorry, I have to learn. I have to listen,” answered Henning.

In an interview with The Beacon, Hoatson said he was surprised Henning approached the group.

“Normally, bishops and cardinals completely ignore us,” he said. Hoatson was not moved by the brief conversation, and added that it was “more of a public relations thing than coming from a real concern.”

Two dozen protesters gather outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross urging for transparency and the completion of ongoing settlements in clergy sexual abuse cases ahead of the installation Archbishop Richard Henning on Oct. 31, 2024

Hoatson is the co-founder of Road to Recovery, a support and advocacy organization that helps victims of sexual abuse of all kinds. He said they have been advocating for transparency by the church, which he said O’Malley did not provide.

While O’Malley swiftly settled many of the lawsuits, Hoatson and other critics said he was still withholding information, including omitting names from a list of clergy accused of sexual abuse. 

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represented more than 1,400 victims of sexual abuse and won the settlement against the Boston Roman Catholic Church, said Henning will “create a new layer of responsiveness.”

Garabedian told The Beacon that Henning “says the right things about clergy sexual abuse, but will not put into place any meaningful programs to protect children or to help victims heal.”

Behind the tall entrance of the cathedral, the crowd welcomed Henning in a roaring applause. French Cardinal Christophe Pierre thanked O’Malley for his service to the church and introduced Henning by reading the appointment letter, written by Pope Francis.

As part of an ancient ritual, members of the clergy inspected the letter for its authenticity. After their approval, Henning marched throughout the halls of the cathedral and joyfully presented the letter to the enthralled crowd. He was led to the “cathedra,” the seat of the archbishop, to officially assume the archbishop’s role.

Clergy members perform rituals for the installation of a new archbishop of the Archdiocese during a ceremony for Archbishop Richard Henning on Oct. 31, 2024

Henning addressed the church’s wrongdoings in his homily, his first speech as the archbishop.

“This church of Boston, it is, in a very real sense, a wounded church because of the failure to act with compassion and healing,” he said.

“We have seen over these decades a passionate effort to protect the vulnerable, but still we feel the weight of those wounds,” Henning added. “We owe a debt of gratitude to victims, survivors, who tell their story, for they have helped to protect new generations by their courage and by their prophetic truth-telling to us.”

Henning has confronted sexual abuse cases in his former role as an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island N.Y. The Diocese is in an ongoing legal battle with about 650 abuse survivors, which has reached $320 million in settlements after the diocese filed for bankruptcy.

Even though the Boston archdiocese is under scrutiny, it continues to see an increase in school enrollment, and ongoing ordainment of new priests.

“Kids are still being abused right now,” said Hoatson.

Hoatson said that new cases arrive at his office every week, many of them say they were abused over 30 years ago. He said he recognizes a pattern in which survivors sometimes take years or decades to report sexual abuse.

Garabedian said he is advocating to remove the civil statute of limitations on sexual abuse cases. The law states that civil cases have a three-year time limit per case, which limits ongoing sexual abuse settlements.

“We need to break the silence,” Hoatson added. “Silence is deadly.”

Archbishop Richard Henning was installed as the seventh archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Oct. 31, 2024
Archbishop Richard Henning speaking with a crowd outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Oct. 31, 2024

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Retired priest: Catholic church knew of Guam sex abuses for decades

By Haidee V Eugenio

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The Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagåtña is shown in this 2014 file photo. Guam

World’s largest clergy abuse survivors network says abusive priests ‘dumped’ in faraway places

Guam’s Catholic church leadership has known for decades about clergy sex abuses that happened as early as the 1950s, a retired priest said in a signed statement released Nov. 1. The statement was released in connection with civil lawsuits filed by several former altar boys, who allege sexual abuse at the hands of Guam priests decades ago.

He said his only form of punishment for molesting at least 20 boys at the time was to say prayers — as instructed by then-Archbishop Apollinaris W. Baumgartner.

Retired priest Louis Brouillard, now 95 and living in Minnesota, said his sexual contact with children when he was on Guam was known to other priests, including Baumgartner, the highest Catholic leader on Guam from 1945 to 1970. Brouillard served as a priest on island from the late 1940s to 1981.

Brouillard said Baumgartner approached him to talk about the “situation.”

“I was told to try to do better and say prayers as a penance,” Brouillard wrote. “I believe the Catholic Church should be honest and truthful regarding what happened on Guam during my time there.”

Brouillard made a video at his Pine City, Minnesota, residence and signed a written statement dated Oct. 3 in support of a former altar boy’s Nov. 1 lawsuit against him for allegedly sexually abusing him six decades ago.

“I am making this video to reach out to the parishioners of the Archdiocese of Guam, and anyone I may have harmed, to ask forgiveness for action done by me many years ago,” Brouillard said in the statement attached to the lawsuit against him and others.

Leo Tudela, 73, pulls off his eyeglasses as he is overcome with emotions during his testimony in support of Bill 326 at the Guam Legislature in Hagatna on Monday, Aug. 1. Tudela testified that as a child, he served as an altar boy with the Mount Carmel Church in Chalan Kanoa, Saipan until he was given the opportunity to attend Catholic school on Guam. Tudela told lawmakers during his testimony that he was sexually abused by three members of Guam’s Catholic Church, including a priest, on three different occasions.

Leo Tudela, now 73, said Brouillard sexually abused him at a church rectory and during Boy Scouts of America activities in the 1950s. Tudela said the abuse started when he was 13 years old.

Through attorney David Lujan, Tudela sued not only Brouillard but also the Archdiocese of Agana and up to 50 other people who may have a role in covering up, concealing or disguising Brouillard’s sex abuses, among other things, the lawsuit states.

On Aug. 1, Tudela publicly accused Brouillard of sex abuse when Tudela testified in support of a bill lifting the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases. A few days later, Brouillard, who was called at his Minnesota home, admitted that he abused multiple boys while he was a priest on Guam.

The church and some of its priests on Guam can be sued over sex abuses for the very first time only this year, courtesy of a new law that lifts all civil statutes for child sex abuse cases.

‘Geographic solution’

Brouillard, who was ordained as a priest on Guam in 1948, left the island in 1981.

Although church leadership on Guam was aware of Brouillard’s sexual abuse of boys on Guam, Brouillard left island and was allowed to serve as a priest in at least three parishes in Minnesota.

It was only in 1995 that Brouillard was removed from ministry, following credible allegations of child sexual abusethere.

The world’s largest and oldest network of clergy abuse survivors, called the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said Brouillard’s case is not unique.

“He was given what advocates like to call ‘the geographic solution.’ Brouillard was sent as far away as possible so that victims could not find him. He was still paid so that he would keep quiet,” said Joelle Casteix, SNAP’s volunteer Western regional director.

“Abusive priests are dumped in unsuspecting communities so that the priest and his home diocese can escape legal accountability. The fact that Brouillard somewhat admitted his crimes is remarkable. Hopefully, that gave his brave victims some sense of vindication,” Casteix said.

It is also only this year, starting in May, that former altar boys have come forward to publicly accuse priests on Guam of sexually abusing them decades ago. Former accusations against priests were done by relatives of alleged victims.

Current and former members of the Catholic church who have so far been publicly accused of sexual abuse include Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, who is now facing a canonical trial at the Vatican, Brouillard, and the late Brother Mariano R. Laniyo.

The late priest John H. Sutton, who worked on Guam from 1971 to 1974, was accused in 2015 by a man of raping him repeatedly when he was a student in Texas.

In 2014, the San Francisco Archdiocese in California removed the Rev. John Howard from ministering in the city after he was removed from his post on Guam over allegations he molested two boys four decades ago while serving in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Tudela is not the only former altar boy who has sued the Archdiocese of Agana and clergy members over sex abuse. Three others — Roland Sondia, Walter Denton and Roy Quintanilla — filed separate lawsuits on Nov. 1 against Archbiship Anthony Apuron, the archdiocese and up to 50 others. They allege Apuron sexually abused them in the 1970s, when he was parish priest in Agat.

Lujan said he is representing at least a dozen more victims of alleged child sex abuse on Guam, and the alleged perpetrators include other priests who were not previously publicly accused.

The second batch of lawsuits involving former altar boys and others is expected to be filed this week, Lujan said.

‘Crossed the line’

Brouillard’s two-page signed statement outlines his sex abuse of minors during the more than four decades he was on Guam, holding many positions in the Catholic church.

He managed the Boy Scouts and served as its president on Guam. He was assigned at the Santa Teresita Church in Mangilao. His other job was teaching sexual education to the boys in the parish.

“Looking back now, I realize that I crossed the line with some of my actions and relationships with the boys,” Brouillard said. “During some of the sex education talks, while at Santa Teresita, I did touch the (private parts) of some of the boys and some of the boys did perform oral sex on me. Some of these incidents took place in Mangilao at the rectory of the Santa Teresita Church.”

Brouillard said because of the many years that have passed, he does not remember the exact dates and times or the names of the boys involved.

“There may have been 20 or more boys involved. Other locations where the sexual contact may have happened would be at San Vicente and Father Duenas Memorial Schools,” he said. “At that time, I did believe that the boys enjoyed the sexual contact and I also had self-gratification as well.”

Brouillard said he has come to learn the name of one of the boys he had sexual contact with at the Santa Teresita rectory.

“His name is Leo Tudela. He is from the island of Saipan. I apologize to you Leo and the rest of the boys that I may have harmed. I regret with all my heart any wrong I did to them. I pray for all the boys I may have harmed and ask for their forgiveness and for forgiveness from God,” the retired priest said.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis named on Oct. 31 a successor to Archbishop Apuron, now 71.

The pope appointed Detroit Bishop Michael Jude Byrnes as coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana. As coadjutor archbishop, Byrnes has the right to succeed Apuron if Apuron resigns, retires or is removed. Under church law, bishops are required to resign at 75. Byrnes arrives on Guam on Nov. 28.

Editor’s note: A previously published version of the story named another priest as someone who had been removed by the San Francisco Archdiocese in 2014. The priest who was removed was the Rev. John Howard.

Complete Article HERE!

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Vatican condemns radio station over anti-gay comments on quake

File under: Me thinks she doth protest too much.

The Vatican has condemned a right-wing Catholic radio station after a broadcast said the recent earthquakes in Italy were “God’s punishment” for gay civil unions.

The remarks, made on the station Radio Maria, were “offensive and scandalous”, the Vatican said.

A Dominican friar said the quakes, including one in August that killed nearly 300, were caused by sins of man.

He said these included the approval of same-sex civil unions last May.

But the Vatican rejected the remarks as pagan, and said they had nothing to do with Catholic theology.

 

“They are offensive statements for believers and scandalous for those who do not believe”, said Monsignor Angelo Becciu, deputy secretary of state, who is close to Pope Francis.

Monsignor Becciu said Radio Maria, which has come under criticism in the past for comments seen as anti-Semitic, had to “moderate the tone of its language” and conform to the Church’s message of mercy.

But the friar at the centre of the scandal stood by his description of the quakes as divine intervention.

“Just read the catechism,” Father John Cavalcoli said, referring to Roman Catholic religious instruction.

Radio Maria has published a statement (in Italian) on its website, saying the offensive comments did not reflect the views of the station.

Complete Article HERE!

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N.J. priest charged with possession of child pornography

By Jeff Goldman

Priest sentenced for child pornography said it was 'revenge' against God for poker losses | Crux

Fr. Kevin Gugliotta

A Roman Catholic priest from New Jersey has been arrested on child pornography charges.

Kevin Gugliotta, 54, of Mahwah allegedly uploaded illicit images from a computer in his vacation home in Lehigh Township, Pa. on July 9, the Wayne County District Attorney said in a news release on Wednesday.

Gugliotta worked at Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church in Union, but has been removed from the parish, according to a spokesman for the Newark Archdiocese.

He faces 40 counts of sexual abuse of children — 20 counts of possession of child pornography and 20 counts of dissemination of child pornography.

Officials in Wayne County learned about the uploaded images in August and began an investigation. They eventually learned the IP address was registered to Gugliotta’s vacation home.

Gugliotta was taken into custody at a home in Toms River on Thursday. He is in the Ocean County jail awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania.

A nationally ranked poker player, Gugliotta also faces a charge of being a fugitive from justice in Toms River because he failed to turn himself in after being notified that he was being charged.

Before transferring to Holy Spirit Gugliotta spent almost two years at Immaculate Conception in Mahwah, according to his LinkedIn page.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office declined to answer additional questions from NJ Advance Media about why Gugliotta was in Toms River or when he is expected be moved to Pennsylvania to answer the charges.

Complete Article HERE!

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San Diego priest charged with sexual assault of Minnesota woman during private mass

San Diego priest charged with sexual assault of Minnesota woman during private mass | FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

A Catholic priest from San Diego has been charged with criminal sexual conduct for an incident during a private mass for the victim in her parents’ Mendota Heights, Minnesota home back in 2010. Jacob Bertrand, 33, was charged by summons with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct by clergy.

According to the charges, a 30-year-old woman contacted Mendota Heights police on April 28, 2016 to report sexual contact between her and Bertrand. The victim told police she met Bertrand in 2009 while studying spirituality at a university in Rome, Italy. Bertrand was also a student and a deacon at a Catholic church at that time. The victim asked Bertrand to be her spiritual guide, and the two began to meet every Wednesday for “holy conversation.”

A ‘mystical’ proposal’

In the fall of 2009, Bertrand told the victim “the Holy Spirit was compelling him to tell her about his sexual past.” Bertrand gave the victim two of his personal journals, and she provided him with her own journals, in which she wrote about wanting to find a husband in Rome. After reading her journals, Bertrand told the victim that he was the man she was sent to Rome to meet. While at a church, he held her hand and “mystically proposed” to her.

In June of 2010, the victim and Bertrand flew to San Diego, where he was ordained as a Catholic priest. During their time in San Diego, they kissed on multiple occasions.

Minnesota visit

In July of 2010, Bertrand flew to Minnesota to spend time with the victim’s family in Mendota Heights. During the stay, he performed mass for the family, offered the sacrifice of the mass and heard their confessions.

During this trip, Bertrand and the victim went a family cabin in Wisconsin, where they had sex. But the criminal charges concern a private mass in the basement of the Mendota Heights home. According to the charges, Bertrand and the victim had sexual contact during the performance of the mass, and after this ceremony he told the victim they had “fulfilled the second holiest sacrifice next to Jesus and Mary on Calvary.”

Later that summer, Bertrand sent the victim a $1,000 check, telling her that God told him to give her the money for her studies. In December of 2011, he spoke to her by phone and said, “the devil tempts me to think that you will tell someone and ruin my ministry.”

Reports to Catholic Church

In 2012 and 2014, the victim reported the sexual contact with Bertrand to the Catholic Church. In 2014, the victim’s report was sent to officials in the San Diego Diocese for investigation. In a bulletin to his parishioners, Bertrand said he had undergone a psychological evaluation and was taking a leave of absence. He was later reassigned to a new church in the San Diego Diocese a few months later, and is currently serving as a priest at that church.

Apology

The victim provided Dakota County investigators with a letter of apology for Bertrand. He also said he had destroyed the journals they shared and prayed for their “release from any demonic attachments that were leading me into such a folly and were keeping me from protecting you as a true priest should have.”

Bertrand is scheduled to appear in court in Minnesota on Monday, Oct. 10.

The law

According to Minnesota law, consent is not a defense if: “The actor is or purports to be a member of the clergy, the complainant is not married to the actor AND the sexual penetration occurred during the course of a meeting in which the complainant sought or received religious or spiritual advice, aid, or comfort from the actor in private; OR the sexual penetration occurred during a period of time in which the complainant was meeting on an ongoing basis with the actor to seek or receive religious or spiritual advice, aid, or comfort in private.”

Diocese of San Diego statement

“Fr. Jacob Bertrand, a priest of the Diocese of San Diego, is facing charges in Minnesota stemming from a sexual encounter with an adult woman there in 2010. The facts behind the encounter are a matter of dispute and will be resolved by the courts and civil authorities. Fr. Jacob asked for and received a Leave of Absence when he learned of the possibility of these charges several weeks ago. There have been no allegations lodged against Fr. Jacob here in San Diego, where he remains on a leave of absence and currently has no faculties. The diocese is not involved in his legal defense. Out of respect for all parties and for the legal process, the diocese will make no further statement at this time.”

Bertrand’s attorney

In a phone interview, Christa Groshek, his co-counsel, said, “These are false allegations, they’re suspect. The woman behind them has a motive. our investigation has revealed the truth behind it. Father Bertrand is a young, reputable priest. He’s worked in large parishes in Southern California.”

Complete Article HERE!

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Minnesota Catholic Church Leaders Cover Abuse With Cash

File under:  Follow The Money

by Robert Lawson

Catholic church leaders in Minnesota were investigated by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), who alleges that the church embezzled funds to cover child abuse and other misconduct with church cash, sources in the Twin Cities report. The investigation cited internal church documents to make their case that leaders of the Catholic church, such as the Archdiocese in the Twin Cites (Minneapolis/Saint Paul), paid millions of dollars to keep secrets quiet.

Minnesota-Catholic-Church-Leaders-Cover-Abuse-with-Cash-450x337MPR reported that the church had several secret accounts that led to financial abuse in the system. The accounts were used for payoffs for people like Rev. Stanley Kozlak, who fathered a child. Kozlak received payoffs for rent and living until he reached the age to retire on social security benefits. The internal documents in the church indicate that part of the agreement held that Kozlak would still be a priest, the Archbishop would have to sign a letter that states Kozlak isn’t a pedophile and that there would be negotiated child support. Over the course of nine years, from 2002 to 2011, the accounts had been used repeatedly and paid out around $11 million. That amounts to about three percent of revenue for that time period.

The efforts by the Catholic church to deal with clergy problems is staggering. Money was used to quietly allow some to leave their ministries. This strategy proved to be the back door to embezzlement within their secretly constructed financial system. Legal costs and therapy were also listed expenditures. In one instance, a private investigator was hired and paid more than $1o0,000 the Rochester Post Bulletin reported via Associated Press (AP). The Minnesota Catholic church leaders investigated appeared to have decided it was easier to cover up the problems with cash, but other abuse followed and it proved to be an expensive strategy.

The archdiocese made a statement on Thursday to address news of the investigation by MPR. They said they already hired a new CFO in December of 2012 to improve transparency, according to the report in the Post Bulletin. There are no government regulators that the Catholic church leaders are accountable to and the archbishop can spend money how he sees fit. There is a council that advises him, however. There will be a full audit completed by February.

MPR investigated to find that these payments, referred to as “disability” in the ledger account, were paid to victims and clergy. MPR reported a culture that kept many secrets within the walls of the Catholic church. Once accountant already pleaded guilty to stealing around $650,000 in cash from the church during these activities. He said people there knew what questions not to ask.

The MPR report and investigation also reveals the plump and healthy financial condition of the church, which has been infused with revenue over a five-year time span. Their operating revenue was up to around $40 million up to the point of 2011. Cash levels and assets grew as well, but now the Catholic church faces pressure from legal circumstances. The Minnesota Catholic church leaders tried to cover abuse with cash only to find more abuse and the threat of losing that very cash.

Complete Article HERE!

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Chicago Archdiocese hid abuse for decades, documents show

Soft peddling bullshit:  The archdiocese released a statement Tuesday saying it knows it “made some decisions decades ago that are now difficult to justify” and that society has evolved in how it deals with abuse.

 

After a 13-year-old boy reported in 1979 that a priest raped him and threatened him at gunpoint to keep quiet, the Archdiocese of Chicago assured the boy’s parents that although the cleric avoided prosecution, he would receive treatment and have no further contact with minors.

But the Rev. William Cloutier, who already had been accused of molesting other children, was returned to ministry a year later and was accused of more abuse before he resigned in 1993, two years after the boy’s parents filed a lawsuit. John_Cody

Officials took no action against Cloutier over his earliest transgressions because he “sounded repentant,” according to internal archdiocese documents released Tuesday that show how the archdiocese tried to contain a mounting scandal over child sexual abuse.

For decades, those at the highest levels of the nation’s third-largest archdiocese moved accused priests from parish to parish while hiding the clerics’ histories from the public.

The documents, released through settlements between attorneys for the archdiocese and victims, describe how the late Cardinals John Cody and Cardinal Joseph Bernardin often approved the reassignments.

The archdiocese removed some priests from ministry, but often years or decades after the clergy were known to have molested children.

While disturbing stories of clergy sexual abuse have wrenched the Roman Catholic Church across the globe, the newly released documents offer the broadest look yet into how one of its largest and most prominent American dioceses responded to the scandal.

The documents, posted online Tuesday, cover only 30 of the at least 65 clergy for whom the archdiocese says it has substantiated claims of child abuse. Vatican documents related to the 30 cases were not included, under the negotiated terms of the disclosure.

The records also didn’t include the files of former priest Daniel McCormack, who pleaded guilty in 2007 to abusing five children and whose case prompted an apology from Cardinal Francis George and an internal investigation of how the archdiocese responds to abuse claims.

But the more than 6,000 pages include internal communications between church officials, disturbing testimony about specific abuses, meeting schedules where allegations were discussed, and letters from anguished parishioners.

The names of victims, and details considered private under mental health laws were redacted.

In a letter distributed to parishes last week, Cardinal George apologized to victims and Catholics, and said the archdiocese agreed to turn over the records in an attempt to help the victims heal.cardinalgeorge

The archdiocese released a statement Tuesday saying it knows it “made some decisions decades ago that are now difficult to justify” and that society has evolved in how it deals with abuse.

“The Church and its leaders have acknowledged repeatedly that they wished they had done more and done it sooner, but now are working hard to regain trust, to reach out to victims and their families, and to make certain that all children and youth are protected,” the statement read.

Officials in the archdiocese said most of the abuse detailed in the files released Tuesday occurred before 1988, none after 1996, and that all these cases ultimately were reported to authorities.

But victims’ lawyers argue many of the allegations surfaced after George assumed control of the archdiocese in 1997, and some of the documents relate to how the church handled the cases more recently.

“The issue is not when the abuse happened; the issue is what they did once it was reported,” said Chicago attorney Marc Pearlman, who has represented about 200 victims of clergy abuse in the Chicago area.

When a young woman reported in 1970 that she’d been abused as a teen, for example, Cody assured the priest that the “whole matter has been forgotten” because “no good can come of trying to prove or disprove the allegations.”

Accused priests often were quietly sent away for a time for treatment or training programs, the documents show. When the accused clerics returned, officials often assigned them to new parishes and asked other priests to monitor them around children.

In one 1989 letter to Bernardin, the vicar for priests worries about parishioners discovering the record of the Rev. Vincent E. McCaffrey, who was moved four times because of abuse allegations.

“Unfortunately, one of the key parishioners … received an anonymous phone call which made reference by name to Vince and alleged misconduct on his part with young boys,” wrote vicar for priests, the Rev. Raymond Goedert. “We all agreed that the best thing would be for Vince to move. We don’t know if the anonymous caller will strike again.”

When the archdiocese tried to force accused clergy into treatment or isolate them at church retreats, some of the priests refused, or ignored orders by church administrators to stay away from children.

Church officials worried about losing parishioners and “potential priests” over abuse scandals. “This question I believe is going to get stickier and stickier,” Patrick O’Malley, then-vicar for priests, wrote in a 1992 letter.

Then, in 2002, a national scandal about dioceses’ failures to stop abusers consumed the American church. U.S. bishops nationwide adopted a toughened disciplinary policy and pledged to remove all guilty priests from church jobs in their dioceses.

But for many victims, it was too little and too late.

“Where was the church for the victims of this sick, demented, twisted pedophile?” one man wrote in a 2002 letter to George about abuse at the hands of the Rev. Norbert Maday, who was imprisoned in Wisconsin after a 1994 conviction for molesting two boys.

“Why wasn’t the church looking out for us? We were children, for God’s sake.”

Complete Article HERE!

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Chicago Catholic archdiocese releases documents detailing cover-up of abuse

Settlement between archdiocese and victims reveals decades of evasion and bungled action by church officials

By Karen McVeigh

Thousands of pages of previously secret documents relating to the abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests in the archdiocese of Chicago was published on Tuesday, detailing the faltering response of senior clerics who routinely swept allegations under the carpet despite clear evidence of wrongdoing.

Cardinal-BernadineSome 6,000 documents, released as part of a settlement with victims, shed a light on how allegations against priests were acknowledged within the church leadership, but were kept secret as those accused of abuses were shuttled from one parish to another.

Many of the documents describe how church leaders, including the late cardinals John Cody and Joseph Bernardin , would approve the reassignments.

One document, from the vicar for priests in April 1990, warned a church leader not to mention “rumours that have been circulating for the last 10 years” concerning Mark Holihan, a pastor, and “especially to say nothing at all” about an allegation by a cook at the church that she had witnessed him in bed with a young boy.

The same file shows that, four years earlier, Cardinal Bernadin had received a letter warning him of a “potentially dangerous situation” regarding the sexual activities of Holihan and “little boys”. The letter specified an incident regarding “my closest friend’s son” who said he had witnessed Holihan molesting an altar boy. The altar boy later told his mother.

Holihan, who was known by students as “Happy Hands Holilhan”, was subjected to restrictions after the accusations, but was not removed from public ministry until 2002. He was never defrocked by the archdiocese and “laicised himself” in 2008, the documents show.

The documents cover only 30 of at least 65 clergy for whom the archdiocese has substantiated claims of child abuse. The names of victims have been redacted, Vatican documents related to the 30 cases were not included, under the negotiated terms of the disclosure.

The records also do not include the files of Daniel McCormack, a former priest who pleaded guilty in 2007 to abusing five children. McCormack’s case drew an apology from Cardinal Francis George and an internal investigation of how the archdiocese responds to abuse claims.

Marc Pearlman, one of two attorneys acting for victims of abuse by Catholic priests, said at a press conference that the documents reveal the leadership at the archdiocese of Chicago was involved in the “systematic cover-up” of abuse.

Each file, said Pearlman, “shows the same story: reported abuse, reported allegations, the archdiocese working hard to cover-up and keep it secret. The transfer of the priests.”

Taken together, they demonstrated a concern, not for the abused, but that the public would find out that their priests were abusive, he said. “They knew precisely what they were doing,” said Pearlman. “They were not mistakes.”

Among the documents are relatively recent letters from Cardinal George to Norbert Maday, who is in prison serving a 20 year sentence, after being found guilty in 1994 for child sex abuse and threatening witnesse. He was informed by George in a letter written two years later that he would not be dismissed from the clerical state. “You have suffered enough by your present deprivation of ministry and your incarceration,” George wrote.

Another letter from George to Maday, on 4 February 2002,informs him that the archdiocese had tried, unsuccessfully “a number of avenues to see if your senten ce might be reduced or parole be given early”.

Cardinal George apologised to victims and Catholics, in a letter distributed to parishes last week. He and said the archdiocese agreed to turn over the records in an attempt to help the victims heal.

On Tuesday, he released a statement, saying it knows it “made some decisions decades ago that are now difficult to justify” and that society has evolved in how it deals with abuse. George said that while the detail in the documents is “upsetting” and “painful to read”, it is “not the Church we know or the Church we want to be”.

The statement, which apologised to the victims and their families, read:

The Archdiocese acknowledges that its leaders made some decisions decades ago that are now difficult to justify. They made those decisions in accordance with the prevailing knowledge at the time. In the past 40 years, society has evolved in dealing with matters related to abuse. Our understanding of and response to domestic violence, sexual harassment, date rape, and clerical sexual abuse have undergone significant change and so has the Archdiocese of Chicago. While we complied with the reporting laws in place at the time, the Church and its leaders have acknowledged repeatedly that they wished they had done more and done it sooner, but now are working hard to regain trust, to reach out to victims and their families, and to make certain that all children and youth are protected.

Officials in the archdiocese said most of the abuse in the released files occurred before 1988, that none occurred after 1996 and that all the cases were ultimately reported to authorities.

The lawyers for the victims said that many of the allegations emerged after George headed the diocese in 1997. Some of the documents, in particular a letter from George to Maday in 2002, clearly related to how the church handled cases much more recently.

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Archbishop faces trial in Vatican over teenage ‘rent boys’

A POLISH archbishop could become the first cleric to be put on trial by the Vatican for alleged child abuse.

It was announced at the weekend that Josef Wesolowski was under criminal investigation as a citizen of the Holy See.

If Vatican prosecutors proceed with the case, Archbishop Wesolowski faces the prospect of an unprecedented sex-abuse trial in a Vatican court and even imprisonment in the city state’s tiny jail.

The case will be a major test for the Pope, who has announced he plans to set up a committee to try to remedy the problem of child abuse by Catholic clergy.

Not only was Archbishop Wesolowski an official representative of the Pope, he was also ordained a priest and bishop by his fellow Pole, John Paul II, who is to be made a saint in April.

Archbishop Wesolowski was recalled to Rome from his post as papal nuncio in the Dominican Republic in August after a television expose accused him of hiring teenage “rent boys”.

The NCDN channel alleged the Vatican ambassador was known as “Jusepe” among the boys who frequented a known pick-up area in the Plaza de Montesinos in the capital, Santo Domingo.

A 13-year-old shoeshine boy said Archbishop Wesolowski paid him several times to masturbate while filming him on his mobile phone.

The boy alleged that the nuncio sometimes took up to five boys together to a house where he masturbated them.

The program showed the Vatican diplomat walking along the waterfront in the area, drinking a beer by himself.

A second Polish cleric in the Dominican Republic, Father Wojciech Gil, a friend of the former nuncio, faces similar allegations, which he denies.

The Vatican has refused to disclose the whereabouts of Archbishop Wesolowski since his recall. The church says, however, that he is “at the disposition of his superiors”.

As a former papal nuncio and a citizen of the Holy See, Archbishop Wesolowski has diplomatic immunity and cannot be extradited from the Vatican City State.

He faces two investigations, one canonical and one criminal. Canon law convictions can result in defrocking while breaches of the Vatican’s criminal code can carry jail terms.

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Philly Judge Again Finds Church Cardinal Competent

A retired Roman Catholic cardinal with dementia is competent and his recent deposition testimony can be used at an upcoming priest abuse trial, a judge ruled Monday.

A church official charged with child endangerment and accused of keeping pedophiles in ministry argues that Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua can no longer recognize him, even though he served the cardinal for more than a decade.

Monsignor William Lynn, 61, is the first U.S. church official ever charged in the priest abuse crisis over accusations of administrative failings.

Prosecutors argue that Lynn and the archdiocese fed predators a steady stream of young victims for decades rather than expose the church to scandal — and costly lawsuits. Lynn served as secretary of clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004. He faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

His lawyers hint that he won’t go down alone. They stress that Lynn took his marching orders from Bevilacqua, who was never charged despite two grand jury reports that blasted both the cardinal’s leadership and his 10 grand jury appearances.

They say prosecutors are trying to make Lynn the scapegoat for the dozens of Philadelphia priests credibly accused of abusing children.

Prosecutors, though, say Lynn was among the select few who had access to sex abuse complaints kept in “secret archives” at the archdiocese.

No one was charged after the first grand jury report in 2005 because of legal time limits.

The second report last year recommended charging Lynn with child endangerment; prosecutors later added conspiracy charges as well. In court last week, they called the archdiocese “an unindicted co-conspirator.”

Lynn is set to go on trial in March with two co-defendants, a priest and a defrocked priest who are each charged with sexually assaulting a single boy, based on complaints filed under newly expanded time limits in Pennsylvania. Lynn’s defense lawyers want to limit the trial to his handling of those two men alone.

Prosecutors hope to tell jurors how Lynn and other church officials handled the careers of 27 other priests “credibly accused,” to show a pattern of behavior.

The judge heard details of those allegations, which range from “grooming” to fondling to rape, for several days last week. She pledged to rule by Monday.

“It’s very, very difficult, and maybe impossible, for us to defend 27 or 28 cases, which involve disparate elements and occurred 20, 30, 40 years ago,” Thomas Bergstrom, a lawyer for Lynn, argued Monday.

Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington debated the point.

“This case is not impossible, it’s (just) unprecedented,” he said.

Defense lawyers may call Bevilacqua to court if prosecutors seek to use his recent testimony. Bevilacqua was deposed in late November, to preserve his sworn statements in case he is unavailable during the monthslong trial. The retired cardinal suffers from both dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer, church lawyers have said.

Lynn’s co-defendants are former priest Edward Avery, 69, and the Rev. James Brennan, 48.

Brennan’s lawyer also wants to keep out the uncharged priest abuse allegations, lest his client get “swept up” by the tide.

“If that comes in, the danger we confront is whether my client, a Catholic priest, is going to be swept up in a perception that the Catholic Church, that the archdiocese, has a big problem, and he’s one of them, so he must be guilty,” said lawyer William Brennan, who isn’t related to his client.

Jury selection is scheduled for Feb. 21. The trial is scheduled to start on March 26.