Gallery slideshow: Ocean shots of the family after confession and mass at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Brookings, Oregon.
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Monthly Archives: March 2010
The Just Judge — Setting the record straight in the case of abusive Milwaukee priest Father Lawrence Murphy
“The Catholic Church is probably the safest place for children at this point in history…” Father Thomas Brundage, JLC
Then-presiding judge for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee gives first-person account of church trial
By Fr. THOMAS BRUNDAGE, JLC
To provide context to this article, I was the Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee from 1995-2003. During those years, I presided over four canonical criminal cases, one of which involved Father Lawrence Murphy. Two of the four men died during the process. God alone will judge these men.
To put some parameters on the following remarks, I am writing this article with the express knowledge and consent of Archbishop Roger Schwietz, OMI, the Archbishop of Anchorage, where I currently serve. Archbishop Schwietz is also the publisher of the Catholic Anchor newspaper.
I will limit my comments, because of judicial oaths I have taken as a canon lawyer and as an ecclesiastical judge. However, since my name and comments in the matter of the Father Murphy case have been liberally and often inaccurately quoted in the New York Times and in more than 100 other newspapers and on-line periodicals, I feel a freedom to tell part of the story of Father Murphy’s trial from ground zero.
As I have found that the reporting on this issue has been inaccurate and poor in terms of the facts, I am also writing out of a sense of duty to the truth.
The fact that I presided over this trial and have never once been contacted by any news organization for comment speaks for itself.
My intent in the following paragraphs is to accomplish the following:
To tell the back-story of what actually happened in the Father Murphy case on the local level;
To outline the sloppy and inaccurate reporting on the Father Murphy case by the New York Times and other media outlets;
To assert that Pope Benedict XVI has done more than any other pope or bishop in history to rid the Catholic Church of the scourge of child sexual abuse and provide for those who have been injured;
To set the record straight with regards to the efforts made by the church to heal the wounds caused by clergy sexual misconduct. The Catholic Church is probably the safest place for children at this point in history.
Before proceeding, it is important to point out the scourge that child sexual abuse has been — not only for the church but for society as well. Few actions can distort a child’s life more than sexual abuse. It is a form of emotional and spiritual homicide and it starts a trajectory toward a skewed sense of sexuality. When committed by a person in authority, it creates a distrust of almost anyone, anywhere.
As a volunteer prison chaplain in Alaska, I have found a corollary between those who have been incarcerated for child sexual abuse and the priests who have committed such grievous actions. They tend to be very smart and manipulative. They tend to be well liked and charming. They tend to have one aim in life — to satisfy their hunger. Most are highly narcissistic and do not see the harm that they have caused. They view the children they have abused not as people but as objects. They rarely show remorse and moreover, sometimes portray themselves as the victims. They are, in short, dangerous people and should never be trusted again. Most will recommit their crimes if given a chance.
As for the numerous reports about the case of Father Murphy, the back-story has not been reported as of yet.
In 1996, I was introduced to the story of Father Murphy, formerly the principal of St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee. It had been common knowledge for decades that during Father Murphy’s tenure at the school (1950-1974) there had been a scandal at St. John’s involving him and some deaf children. The details, however, were sketchy at best.
Courageous advocacy on behalf of the victims (and often their wives), led the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to revisit the matter in 1996. In internal discussions of the curia for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, it became obvious that we needed to take strong and swift action with regard to the wrongs of several decades ago. With the consent of then-Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland, we began an investigation into the allegations of child sexual abuse as well as the violation of the crime of solicitation within the confessional by Father Murphy.
We proceeded to start a trial against Father Murphy. I was the presiding judge in this matter and informed Father Murphy that criminal charges were going to be levied against him with regard to child sexual abuse and solicitation in the confessional.
In my interactions with Father Murphy, I got the impression I was dealing with a man who simply did not get it. He was defensive and threatening.
Between 1996 and August, 1998, I interviewed, with the help of a qualified interpreter, about a dozen victims of Father Murphy. These were gut-wrenching interviews. In one instance the victim had become a perpetrator himself and had served time in prison for his crimes. I realized that this disease is virulent and was easily transmitted to others. I heard stories of distorted lives, sexualities diminished or expunged. These were the darkest days of my own priesthood, having been ordained less than 10 years at the time. Grace-filled spiritual direction has been a Godsend.
I also met with a community board of deaf Catholics. They insisted that Father Murphy should be removed from the priesthood and highly important to them was their request that he be buried not as a priest but as a layperson. I indicated that a judge, I could not guarantee the first request and could only make a recommendation to the latter request.
In the summer of 1998, I ordered Father Murphy to be present at a deposition at the chancery in Milwaukee. I received, soon after, a letter from his doctor that he was in frail health and could travel not more than 20 miles (Boulder Junction to Milwaukee would be about 276 miles). A week later, Father Murphy died of natural causes in a location about 100 miles from his home
With regard to the inaccurate reporting on behalf of the New York Times, the Associated Press, and those that utilized these resources, first of all, I was never contacted by any of these news agencies but they felt free to quote me. Almost all of my quotes are from a document that can be found online with the correspondence between the Holy See and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. In an October 31, 1997 handwritten document, I am quoted as saying ‘odds are that this situation may very well be the most horrendous, number wise, and especially because these are physically challenged , vulnerable people. “ Also quoted is this: “Children were approached within the confessional where the question of circumcision began the solicitation.”
The problem with these statements attributed to me is that they were handwritten. The documents were not written by me and do not resemble my handwriting. The syntax is similar to what I might have said but I have no idea who wrote these statements, yet I am credited as stating them. As a college freshman at the Marquette University School of Journalism, we were told to check, recheck, and triple check our quotes if necessary. I was never contacted by anyone on this document, written by an unknown source to me. Discerning truth takes time and it is apparent that the New York Times, the Associated Press and others did not take the time to get the facts correct.
Additionally, in the documentation in a letter from Archbishop Weakland to then-secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone on August 19, 1998, Archbishop Weakland stated that he had instructed me to abate the proceedings against Father Murphy. Father Murphy, however, died two days later and the fact is that on the day that Father Murphy died, he was still the defendant in a church criminal trial. No one seems to be aware of this. Had I been asked to abate this trial, I most certainly would have insisted that an appeal be made to the supreme court of the church, or Pope John Paul II if necessary. That process would have taken months if not longer.
Second, with regard to the role of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), in this matter, I have no reason to believe that he was involved at all. Placing this matter at his doorstep is a huge leap of logic and information.
Third, the competency to hear cases of sexual abuse of minors shifted from the Roman Rota to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith headed by Cardinal Ratzinger in 2001. Until that time, most appeal cases went to the Rota and it was our experience that cases could languish for years in this court. When the competency was changed to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in my observation as well as many of my canonical colleagues, sexual abuse cases were handled expeditiously, fairly, and with due regard to the rights of all the parties involved. I have no doubt that this was the work of then Cardinal Ratzinger.
Fourth, Pope Benedict has repeatedly apologized for the shame of the sexual abuse of children in various venues and to a worldwide audience. This has never happened before. He has met with victims. He has reigned in entire conferences of bishops on this matter, the Catholic Bishops of Ireland being the most recent. He has been most reactive and proactive of any international church official in history with regard to the scourge of clergy sexual abuse of minors. Instead of blaming him for inaction on these matters, he has truly been a strong and effective leader on these issues.
Finally, over the last 25 years, vigorous action has taken place within the church to avoid harm to children. Potential seminarians receive extensive sexual-psychological evaluation prior to admission. Virtually all seminaries concentrate their efforts on the safe environment for children. There have been very few cases of recent sexual abuse of children by clergy during the last decade or more.
Catholic dioceses all across the country have taken extraordinary steps to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. As one example, which is by no means unique, is in the Archdiocese of Anchorage, where I currently work. Here, virtually every public bathroom in parishes has a sign asking if a person has been abuse by anyone in the church. A phone number is given to report the abuse and almost all church workers in the archdiocese are required to take yearly formation sessions in safe environment classes. I am not sure what more the church can do.
To conclude, the events during the 1960’s and 1970’s of the sexual abuse of minors and solicitation in the confessional by Father Lawrence Murphy are unmitigated and gruesome crimes. On behalf of the church, I am deeply sorry and ashamed for the wrongs that have been done by my brother priests but realize my sorrow is probably of little importance 40 years after the fact. The only thing that we can do at this time is to learn the truth, beg for forgiveness, and do whatever is humanly possible to heal the wounds. The rest, I am grateful, is in God’s hands.
Father Thomas T. Brundage, JCL
Editor’s note: Father Brundage can be contacted at brundaget@archmil.org or by phone at (907) 745-3229 X 11.
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French Foreign Faith: Thiberville suffers loss of priest
From Osservatore Vaticano…
Fr. Z is reporting via Rorate the following broken brick… ‘Cong. Clergy rejects appeal of parish priest in Thiberville’.
My Google translation follows and Rorate provided these links for background: For those not yet aware of the Thiberville saga, please read this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this.)
GOOGLE TRANSLATION:
Everyone knows the famous case of Thiberville in the diocese of Evreux. This diocese is one of the victims of France. After Bishop Gaillot and Bishop David, the little genius Nourrichard Bishop manages the bankruptcy of a formerly Christian land, where churches are closing one after the other, the catechisms were deserted, vocations discouraged finances dried up.
In this desert, a priest, Father Francis Michael, maintains the most vibrant parishes, Thiberville. It happens that this priest, who is not from the world traditionalist but that is deeply traditional, had applied in advance the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum for many years. With him are celebrated mass in the form known today as “extraordinary” and masses in the form of “ordinary”, but in a manner consistent with the wishes of Benedict XVI and “tours” to the Lord.
The result?
Thiberville and the 14 towers that serve the Abbe Michel formed all over the Catholic life and most of the missionary diocese of Evreux: Church Thiberville fills all the masses, serving “carousel” of other churches, catechisms, active participation the faithful crowd of choir boys, fraternities, all beautifully restored churches, funerals celebrated by the priest himself … These parishes where the communion of Catholics lived in an exemplary manner is a model of the control Pope.
That’s what “the spirit of the Council”, with 40 years late, could not bear. At the end of last December, Archbishop Nourrichard informed the pastor … his parish was removed and attached to a “whole parish.” In fact, the parish Thiberville no longer own pastor, who was “dismissed”.
We know what ensued: January 3, Bishop went to Thiberville with his staff to announce with “pain” his decision final. But he ran into the rebellion of an entire county, which rejected the end of Catholicism in this corner of Normandy. A church packed to the rafters, foremost of which was attended by the mayor and general counsel with the whole council, cheered their pastor and prevented the bishop announced that he had removed the parish and the priest.
An appeal was then filed within the time prescribed in two phases, with the Congregation for the Clergy. The case was overwhelming to the bishop. You should know that such action is suspension that things remain unchanged until the Roman decision irrelevant. And in such cases, it is usually only very late, when the spirits are appeased.
Everyone also knows that Rome takes a very dim view of these groupings parish legally undefinable. It is a problem of great concern to the Roman canon law: the rights of cure have been depleted by the bishops since the Council. The principle remains true that the traditional tenure of the pastor (that reflected the popular saying: “The priest is the pope in his parish”). But the conferences of bishops of each country were given the power to waive. This is the case in France: the priests are now called “ad tempus”, which significantly unbalanced structure of the traditional life diocesan: Bishop postconciliar French has a lot more power over his cures by the play of appointments that was the traditional bishop. Moreover, it often happens that bishops call for more priests, but only parish administrators, making them more dependent priests of the diocesan administration.
It is thus moving towards a long examination of the record, after which, the calm restored, and common sense show that life continues in the Catholic parish of Father Michael, the unjust decision, legally and pastorally disastrous, for the bishop could only be broken.
Now is exactly the opposite has happened. Filed in shape at the end of February, the action received a response within one month after: March 26, Father Michael has been informed … that was dismissed and his appeal is purely and simply rejected . The decision was signed by Cardinal Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, in person: Parish Thiberville no longer exists and therefore no longer cure.
In Rome itself, one is stunned. But everyone understands that the pressure of the Conference of Bishops of France was of uncommon strength. The French authorities the most prominent have been a matter of principle. They have won.
At least for now. Because the decision is of course subject to appeal, and that other means may be used. There have been rumors about this already, I’ll tell you more as soon as possible …
But the fact remains that for the good people of God, the negative sign is given and catastrophic.
Par Vini Ganimara – Publié dans : Dicastères By Vini Ganimara – Published in: Dicasteries
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NYT: Visiting the Benedict Scandal Learning Network for Kids…
‘Teaching And Learning With The New York Times…’
Nice propaganda Huh?
Dissident Catholic rags like the National Catholic Reporter have nothing over the New York Times (or as some prefer to call it these days Hell’s Bible) when it comes to hit jobs. NYT takes no prisoners–women and children be damned…
Our daily permeation of scandal spew continues on with Holly Epstein Ojalvo’s effort on The Learning Network found within the Education Section of the NYT’:
We realize that many teachers and parents want to help their students and children understand the current sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. I chose the article below because it provides a good basic overview, without any graphic details. To find updated news and more background, visit the Times Topics pages on the Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cases, Pope Benedict XVI and the Roman Catholic Church.
WHO are the key figures in the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church?
WHAT has been the current pope’s role in and response to the scandal, including when he was serving as an archbishop?
WHERE in Europe and the United States are extensive cases of sexual abuse by Catholic priests concentrated?
WHEN did the abuse reported in the article take place?
WHY are many Irish Catholics experiencing a “growing sense of anger”?
HOW did church officials initially respond to allegations made against priests?
Education is where the false spirit of Vatican II reformation of the church failed, crashed, and continues to burn… Under John Paul II and today under Benedict XVI the Church is being refreshed in truth… Albeit, slowly and to the chagrin of many…
COUNTERPOINT: Here’s some reliable facts on the Benedict scandal: A Response to the New York Times by Father Raymond J. de Souza
VIDEO H/T — St. Joseph’s Vanguard And Our Lady’s Train (A fine site I just discovered…)
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Palm Sunday Woe: Wailing women and children, dogs got into the goat pen
Prayer need: My little guy Gabriel (left) went next door to bottle feed the neighbor’s new baby goats. Gate left open, and the dogs got into the pen… The kids have been tending the goats all week along with the little neighbor boy and all are absolutely heartbroken at present… Wailing on both sides of the fence, women and children all… Thanks for your prayers.
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(Full Text) N.Y. Archbsp. Dolan defends pope: Remarks at Palm Sunday Mass
“No one has been more vigorous in cleansing the Church of the effects of this sickening sin than the man we now call Pope Benedict XVI…”
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, made the following remarks at the conclusion of Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York on Sunday, March 28, 2010.
“May I ask your patience a couple of minutes longer in what has already been a lengthy — yet hopefully uplifting —Sunday Mass?
“The somberness of Holy Week is intensified for Catholics this year.
“The recent tidal wave of headlines about abuse of minors by some few priests, this time in Ireland, Germany, and a re-run of an old story from Wisconsin, has knocked us to our knees once again.
“Anytime this horror, vicious sin, and nauseating crime is reported, as it needs to be, victims and their families are wounded again, the vast majority of faithful priests bow their heads in shame anew, and sincere Catholics experience another dose of shock, sorrow, and even anger.
“What deepens the sadness now is the unrelenting insinuations against the Holy Father himself, as certain sources seem frenzied to implicate the man who, perhaps more than anyone else has been the leader in purification, reform, and renewal that the Church so needs.
“Sunday Mass is hardly the place to document the inaccuracy, bias, and hyperbole of such aspersions.
“But, Sunday Mass is indeed the time for Catholics to pray for “ . . . Benedict our Pope.”
“And Palm Sunday Mass is sure a fitting place for us to express our love and solidarity for our earthly shepherd now suffering some of the same unjust accusations, shouts of the mob, and scourging at the pillar, as did Jesus.
“No one has been more vigorous in cleansing the Church of the effects of this sickening sin than the man we now call Pope Benedict XVI. The dramatic progress that the Catholic Church in the United States has made — — documented again just last week by the report made by independent forensic auditors — — could never have happened without the insistence and support of the very man now being daily crowned with thorns by groundless innuendo.
“Does the Church and her Pastor, Pope Benedict XVI, need intense scrutiny and just criticism for tragic horrors long past?
“Yes! He himself has asked for it, encouraging complete honesty, at the same time expressing contrition, and urging a thorough cleansing.
“All we ask is that it be fair, and that the Catholic Church not be singled-out for a horror that has cursed every culture, religion, organization, institution, school, agency, and family in the world.
“Sorry to bring this up … but, then again, the Eucharist is the Sunday meal of the spiritual family we call the Church. At Sunday dinner we share both joys and sorrows. The father of our family, il papa, needs our love, support, and prayers.”
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It’s the Pope’s turn to retaliate in Catholic civil war by Gerald Warner
Well, here’s a tasty piece from friends across the pond in Scotland…
It’s the Pope’s turn to retaliate in Catholic civil war
by Gerald Warner
HT/PM – CATHOLIC TRUTH SCOTLAND
‘NEVER let a good crisis go to waste” was the political maxim formulated by Hillary Clinton. It has been adopted by the fading trendies in the Catholic Church who still carry the burnt-out torch of the Second Vatican Catastrophe, in their Intifada against Pope Benedict XVI.
The sex abuse scandal in the Church – the product of the post-Conciliar nihilists’ own iconoclastic destruction of traditional Catholic morals and spirituality – has audaciously been conscripted to serve their desperate agenda to overthrow the Pope, secure a “progressive” successor and eventually replace the Papacy with some kind of lay soviet (well, that is what happens to your brain if you inhaled substances other than incense, back in the 1960s).
Such an inversion of the truth is not without precedent: the Venerable Pius XII saved 860,000 Jews from the Nazis; but today, thanks to defamation by a German playwright, propagated by “liberal” Catholics, the one individual who did more than anyone on earth to help the Jews is demonised and bracketed with Heinrich Himmler. Now, the Spirit-of-Vatican II groupies are going after Benedict XVI on the child abuse ticket.
“Radical” Catholics are attacking the Vatican, like the chav mobs that sporadically besiege the houses of paediatricians. Our television screens are filled with geriatric ex-Jesuits, feminist nuns, “progressive” theologians and every variety of Lollards and Fifth Monarchy Men. Even their 1960s poster-boy Hans Küng (yes, he is still alive) has emerged from obscurity to throw his pebble at Benedict.
Who was to blame for child sex abuse but precisely the generation of Vatican II revolutionaries who are now wringing their gnarled hands in hypocritical outrage? As the official Irish government report into abuse in the archdiocese of Dublin proves, this orgy of evil was overwhelmingly perpetrated in the post-Vatican II era. During the 1970s and 1980s, when it was at its height, there was only one mortal sin in the Catholic Church: attempting to celebrate or attend the Latin Tridentine Mass.
Contrast the vicious persecution of traditionalist priests and laity with the extravagant indulgence extended to serial child abusers. Today, their chickens have come home to roost. These were the children of Paul VI, of aggiornamento, of the great Renewal: now they must be made to take ownership of their own scandal. It is they who are in denial, not the Pope.
They are being supported by the media, whose agenda is to pressurize the Catholic Church into moral relativism, to withdraw its condemnation of abortion, contraception, divorce, homosexuality, embryo experimentation, ordination of priestesses and every other precept that conflicts with the secularist New World Order.
That will not happen. The fatuity of much of the attack is blatant. Evidently priests abused altar boys because of clerical celibacy. There is no compulsory celibacy in the Church of England, yet vicars and boy scouts have been mainstays of the Sunday tabloids for a century. The Dublin report recorded a ratio of 2.3 boy victims to one girl: the last thing these men wanted was a wife.
The much-hyped Wisconsin scandal, used to traduce Benedict XVI, is another example of forcing the wrong pieces into the jigsaw to fabricate the required picture. The local police investigated Father Murphy in 1974 and refused to believe his accusers. More than 20 years later, when Murphy was dying, his case was referred to the then Cardinal Ratzinger. In 1998 he declined to unfrock the now repentant offender who died four months later.
The Milwaukee district attorney had refused to prosecute Murphy because the statute of limitations had run out; the Vatican faced the same canonical problem. Why are the Milwaukee authorities not blamed instead of the Vatican? Why was Cardinal Ratzinger expected to unravel a case that had baffled the local police 24 years earlier?
Unfrocking would not have deprived Murphy of his priesthood – that is irremovable. It would only have prevented him functioning as a priest, which he was no longer capable of doing.
It is time for the Pope to retaliate. He should adopt the liberals’ strategy of not wasting a crisis. The media are howling for the heads of bishops. Very well: give them dozens, even hundreds. This is an opportunity to get rid of every mitred 1960s flower-child obstructing the return of the Tridentine Mass, liturgical reverence and doctrinal orthodoxy. The episcopal gerontocracy, along with the flared-trousered seminary rectors promoting the ordination of social worker priests and blocking genuine vocations, is ripe for a cull. The abuse scandal is only a part of the larger crisis that has engulfed the Church since the Second Vatican Catastrophe – it really is too good to waste.
‘My Son, deliver your church from the National Catholic Reporter and…
…dissipative structuring’
Fresh off its support for federally funded abortions the National Catholic Reporter turns on the Holy Father this week…
Catholic columnists are beginning to state the obvious when it comes to the enemies of Pope Benedict exploiting the current sex abuse scandal for their own ends: “It’s payback time for Benedict.”
But, that’s not the whole story, is it?
No, it’s not. There’s a more troubling side to the NCR story…
Here’s a bit on the underlying movements flying just beneath radar detection “inside” NCR’s airspace this week:
- VOTF is one of the Catholic reform groups that is joining others under the umbrella “American Catholic Council.” Their first gathering is scheduled for Pentecost, June 10-11, 2011 in Detroit.
- The goal of the American Catholic Council, in simple terms, is to create and promote an autochthonous Church; a Church both Catholic and American modeled on, as ex-Jesuit Robert Blair Kaiser says, “the Maronites, the Melchites, the Byzantines, the Copts and sixteen other autochthonous churches in the Middle East that are loyal to the pope, but glory in their own governance, their own married clergy, and their own liturgies.”
- Actually, there is nothing “loyal” about conveners of the American Catholic Council when it comes to the Chair of Peter and his teaching magisterium. These want an independent Catholic Church in America that elects its own priests and hierarchy, condones abortion, contraception, homosexual relations, married clergy, women priests, divorce and other “radically inclusive reforms.”
- One such group under the ACC umbrella, and mentored by VOTF, is the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (CCCR) within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
- Most telling of the many ”tactics” the ACC is deploying in order to achieve its goal of re-creating a new ecclesiology, (i.e. a false Christ and false church), comes from CCCR co-chairman Bernie Rodel:
The tactic is called ‘dissipative structuring’. There are four basic characteristics of dissipative structures:
1. Disorder and Disequilibrium – It is necessary for the system to generate sufficient disequilibrium (Disorder) within itself to create the degree of freedom within which the system’s change can take place.
2. Symmetry Breaking – For a new order to emerge, the old order must be demolished.
3. Experimentation – Breaking symmetry alone can lead to chaos unless it is also supplemented by activities which will generate new forms or configurations around which the system can reorganise.
4. Reformulation – The experimentation process leads to the development of new possible configurations, around which the system must reformulate.
- To simplify: Dissidents believe under this theory that it’s necessary to create disorder (chaos) within the Church because the divinely instituted hierarchical nature of the Church in the world must be destroyed in order for the body of Christ on earth to finally accept the spurious proposals and reconfigured “American Church” VOTF, CCCR, and the American Catholic Council offers…
Yes, it’s payback time. But, the enemy’s attack by means of NCR and ACC proponents has nothing personal against Benedict himself per se, he’s merely a roadblock. No, this hell inspired attack on the papacy is aimed at weakening–with the intent to destroy–one of the three pillars of God’s divine revelation to man: Magisterial teaching. The hierarchal nature of the Church…
There’s a problem with this course of reformation, however, and something to seriously consider in your own reading of NCR’s article: God is not a God of disorder but of peace… 1 Cor. 33
The following is a combox appeal for the American Catholic Council from VOTF’s Sister Maureen Paul Turlish found on the NCR site following its attack article. I’ll leave it up to you to sniff out if it promotes a diabolic attempt at reformation of the one Church of God through means of the four basic characteristics of dissipative structures. My mind’s already made up…
This will be hard to believe
Submitted by Maureen Paul Turlish (not verified) on Mar. 26, 2010.
This will be hard to believe but the pope does have the power to turn the corner on this even at this very late date.
He is the only one who can but it depends on whether he has the will to do it. It will cost him everything and I do mean everything.
The curia has its own vested interest in opposing the pope but, again, the pope is the only one who has the power. He is the most knowledgeable of anyone about this given his former position as Head of the Holy Office. He knows. He always knew.
What will he have to do? Take the next step to start with.
For years he has been saying how sorry, etc., etc., he was and is that this happened. His sincerity is not doubted but he has not followed up by taking the next step.
He has apologized for “any mistakes that may have been made,” much like Boston’s Cardinal Law and the American bishops have said but they never actually ever said they were sorry for what they individually did or did not do, they never admitted that in so many cases that they committed crimes or were complicit in the commission of crimes.
While every country, Ireland, the States, Australia, Germany, etc., has its own variation on this horrid theme, the bishops, generally, have not admitted guilt. In the U.S. they have not.
In the United States no bishop, not even Cardinal Law, left his diocese in disgrace. Law was actually rewarded with his present position. He got to vote for Benedict XVI, he heads important church committees and such.
Auxilary bishops in Boston received their own dioceses like William Murphy and John McCormack to name just two.
Mostly the Catholics I have talked to fall into two groups. Those who have walked away from the institution, although they still think of themselves as “Catholic” and they always will be, and those who are angry and want to help in the reformation of the church. Voice of the Faithful members, www.votf.org have joined with others, the movement for an American Catholic Council, www.americancatholiccouncil.org, to start that going. Bishops in the U.S. and I suspect other countries have as we say, “cut a deal” with individual state prosecutors to avoid being charged criminally.
Yes, the church has lost its way. Leadership, all male remember, has failed big time but why?
Unless the pope admits that there were broad, fundamental, systemic and endemic reasons that allowed, permitted, facilitated this happening and then works with all interested parties to correct those flaws, developing a new paradigm for governmental leadership in the church, the church will evenually(sic) bleed out.
The church’s ministry is pastoral. It should be reaching out in every way possible, first to victim/survivors then to all members who have been affected by this this. The bishops should be welcoming of any group that wants to help, but they aren’t very welcoming.
Leadership hasn’t really been doing this, they refuse to meet with people, they bad mouth groups like Voice of the Faithful and they continue in the U.S. to viciously oppose statute of limitation reform in the individual states by the power of the states’ Catholic conferences, and remember, we have 50 of them!
No, actions need to follow words. They need to speak Truth to Power and they haven’t done that.
Actions have consequences and bishops in the U.S. should be removed from office as should some in other countries.
They have failed the People of God.
Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victims’ Advocate
New Castle, Delaware, USAYou may contact sister with your concerns. Or, better yet, simply pray for her conversion as with all of these…
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R.I.P. Ron Provost
Love’s the greatest healer to be found…
To The Family and Friends of Ron Provost:
This past Sunday I offered my heart in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the soul of my friend of many years, Ronald Provost.
I will again this Sunday.
Since hearing of Ron’s death earlier this week I’ve found myself, even now, conflicted over his passing. If truth be told, my friendship with Ron occurred during a time when dissipation of life ruled both our days and our nights. Alcohol, drugs, false philosophies and lying political movements, all of which, could never set us free. No, underlying this dissipating cloud was our shared need–and at times–desperate search for, love and truth. Yes, this is what Ron and I shared in common during our time together on earth, the search for love and truth–the meaning of life.
For many years this search of ours always ended in terrible defeat. On too many occasions we found ourselves in the position of men full of sorrows and woe. Yet, thankfully, it was at those very times–when one or the other of us was most in need–that we were there for the other, even though neither of us possessed the cure to what ailed us. ..If it’s true that the human mind can only take so much, and it is, it’s true because of the absence of authentic love and truth within these frail human hearts of ours—something only God can provide in full, and does. It is just as St. Augustine states, “O’Lord our hearts are always restless until they rest in you.”
With his passing, my friend has flown on ahead of us all and met up with the heart of God’s love and truth in fullness—Jesus Christ. Little did we in our day discuss together this merciful God of Love who for our sake became the man of all sorrows for his creatures; and thus the only way, truth, and life capable of leading these thirsty souls of ours up and into the needed love, peace, joy, and rest that is the eternal beatific vision of God the Father in Heaven…
Ron knows well today the meaning of life: to come to know, love, and serve God in this life and be with him forever in the next… On this, I’m not conflicted. And so, may his soul ever increase in such blessedness as a true child of the Light. This is the prayer of my heart I’ll be offering up along with the Virgin Mother of God, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters this coming Sunday…
Rest in peace Ron Provost.
I send herein the love of our family and continued prayers on behalf of the entire Provost family, relatives, and friends.
A closing song for my friend I think he’d enjoy; followed by the Sacred Scripture readings of the day, on this his memorial…
Reading I
Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
King Nebuchadnezzar said:
“Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
that you will not serve my god,
or worship the golden statue that I set up?
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made,
whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe,
and all the other musical instruments;
otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace;
and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar,
“There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you
in this matter.
If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god
or worship the golden statue that you set up.”
King Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.
Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles,
“Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?”
“Assuredly, O king,” they answered.
“But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.”
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him;
they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god
except their own God.”
Responsorial Psalm
Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56
R. (52b) Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim;
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
praiseworthy and glorious forever.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Gospel
Jn 8:31-42
Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever,
but a son always remains.
So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.
I know that you are descendants of Abraham.
But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you.
I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence;
then do what you have heard from the Father.”
They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children,
you would be doing the works of Abraham.
But now you are trying to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God;
Abraham did not do this.
You are doing the works of your father!”
So they said to him, “We were not born of fornication.
We have one Father, God.”
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,
for I came from God and am here;
I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”
END OF POST
A Non-Catholic Perspective — “The Myth of the Pedophile Priest”
A Researcher Puts Scandals in Context
EDITOR NOTE: Excellent commentary and bullet-points from Fr. Dwight Longenecker today on his blog Standing On My Head, followed by Penn State professor, Phillip Jenkins, and his fine article on the scandal and nature of sexual abuse within society:
As more pedophile priest scandals blow up across Europe we should be ashamed of the offenders and those who sheltered them and oppressed the victims. The guilty should be weeded out, removed from office and handed over to the civil authorities where they are guilty of crimes. Systems to avoid abuse must be established and rigorously maintained, and victims should be justly compensated for their suffering.However, Penn State professor Philip Jenkins (who is not a Catholic) has written the most objective book on the subject, and he summarizes his arguments in this excellent article.
In light of his work, we should remember some basic facts and principles:
- Priestly celibacy is not the issue – married men are more likely to abuse children than unmarried
- Most child abuse takes place within the home.
- All religious groups have pedophile scandals, and the Catholics (while the largest religious group) are at the bottom of the list statistically.
- Child abuse is prevalent in all areas of society: schools, youth organizations, sports, etc.
- Statistically, of all the professions, Christian clergy are least likely to offend. Doctors, Farmers and Teachers are the professions most likely to abuse children–not clergy.
- Among clergy offenders Catholic priests are least likely to offend.
- Catholic cases of pedophilia make more headlines because of anti Catholic prejudice and because the Catholic Church is bigger and more lucractive to sue.
- Pedophilia and Euphebophilia are different problems. The former is sexual attraction to pre-pubescent children. The latter is attraction to teenagers. Most cases branded ‘pedophila’ are actually ‘euphebophila.’
- Most of the cases of euphebophilia are homosexual in nature, however the politically correct do not want this problem to be associated with homosexuality.
- The number of Catholic priests guilty of pedophilia is very small.
- What we now call ‘cover up’ was often done in a different cultural context, when the problem was not fully understood and when all establishment organizations hushed scandals. They did so for what seemed good reasons at the time: protection of the victims and their families, opportunity for rehabilitation of the offender, the avoidance of scandal to others. It is unfair to judge events thirty years ago by today’s standards.
- When lawsuits are looming people smell money. We must be wary of false accusations.
- The accused must be entitled to a fair hearing. The church should insist on hard proof of the abuse, and for the sake of justice, ensure that the innocent are not prosecuted.
- When guilt is established the offender must be punished, not sheltered.
- Distinctions must be made between types of abuse. Some offenses are worse than others. Verbal abuse or corporal punishment during a time when that was acceptable, while lamentable, is not the same as sexual abuse or extreme physical abuse.
- Sexual abuse of an adult, or a sexually experienced older teenager is wrong, and damaging, and should be punished, but it is not the same as the sexual abuse of a younger, innocent child.
- Number of offenses must be considered. One lapse is not of the same seriousness as repeated, persistent and premeditated offenses.
I am in no way wishing to be soft of pedophiles and those who covered for them, however justice and truth demand an objective analysis of the facts.
A Researcher Puts Scandals in Context
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, MARCH 11, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Philip Jenkins, a Penn State University professor of history and religious studies, is author of “Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis” (Oxford University Press, 1996). He wrote this article for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, which published it March 3 under the headline “The Myth of the Pedophile Priest.”
* * *
By Philip Jenkins
Every day, the news media have a new horror story to report, under some sensational headline: Newsweek, typically, is devoting its current front cover to “Sex, Shame and the Catholic Church: 80 Priests Accused of Child Abuse in Boston.” Though the sex abuse cases have deep roots, the most recent scandals were detonated by the affair of Boston priest John J. Geoghan.
Though his superiors had known for years of Geoghan´s pedophile activities, he kept being transferred from parish to parish, regardless of the safety of the children in his care. The stigma of the Geoghan affair could last for decades, and some Catholics are declaring in their outrage that they can never trust their church again.
No one can deny that Boston church authorities committed dreadful errors, but at the same time, the story is not quite the simple tale of good and evil that it sometime appears. Hard though it may be to believe right now, the “pedophile priest” scandal is nothing like as sinister as it has been painted — or at least, it should not be used to launch blanket accusations against the Catholic Church as a whole.
We have often heard the phrase “pedophile priest” in recent weeks. Such individuals can exist: Father Geoghan was one, as was the notorious Father James Porter a decade or so back. But as a description of a social problem, the term is wildly misleading. Crucially, Catholic priests and other clergy have nothing like a monopoly on sexual misconduct with minors.
My research of cases over the past 20 years indicates no evidence whatever that Catholic or other celibate clergy are any more likely to be involved in misconduct or abuse than clergy of any other denomination — or indeed, than nonclergy. However determined news media may be to see this affair as a crisis of celibacy, the charge is just unsupported.
Literally every denomination and faith tradition has its share of abuse cases, and some of the worst involve non-Catholics. Every mainline Protestant denomination has had scandals aplenty, as have Pentecostals, Mormons, Jehovah´s Witnesses, Jews, Buddhists, Hare Krishnas — and the list goes on. One Canadian Anglican (Episcopal) diocese is currently on the verge of bankruptcy as a result of massive lawsuits caused by decades of systematic abuse, yet the Anglican church does not demand celibacy of its clergy.
However much this statement contradicts conventional wisdom, the “pedophile priest” is not a Catholic specialty. Yet when did we ever hear about “pedophile pastors”?
Just to find some solid numbers, how many Catholic clergy are involved in misconduct? We actually have some good information on this issue, since in the early 1990s, the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago undertook a bold and thorough self-study. The survey examined every priest who had served in the archdiocese over the previous 40 years, some 2,200 individuals, and reopened every internal complaint ever made against these men. The standard of evidence applied was not legal proof that would stand up in a court of law, but just the consensus that a particular charge was probably justified.
By this low standard, the survey found that about 40 priests, about 1.8 percent of the whole, were probably guilty of misconduct with minors at some point in their careers. Put another way, no evidence existed against about 98 percent of parish clergy, the overwhelming majority of the group.
Since other organizations dealing with children have not undertaken such comprehensive studies, we have no idea whether the Catholic figure is better or worse than the rate for schoolteachers, residential home counselors, social workers or scout masters.
The Chicago study also found that of the 2,200 priests, just one was a pedophile. Now, many people are confused about the distinction between a pedophile and a person guilty of sex with a minor. The difference is very significant. The phrase “pedophile priests” conjures up images of the worst violation of innocence, callous molesters like Father Porter who assault children 7 years old. “Pedophilia” is a psychiatric term meaning sexual interest in children below the age of puberty.
But the vast majority of clergy misconduct cases are nothing like this. The vast majority of instances involve priests who have been sexually active with a person below the age of sexual consent, often 16 or 17 years old, or even older. An act of this sort is wrong on multiple counts: It is probably criminal, and by common consent it is immoral and sinful; yet it does not have the utterly ruthless, exploitative character of child molestation. In almost all cases too, with the older teen-agers, there is an element of consent.
Also, the definition of “childhood” varies enormously between different societies. If an act of this sort occurred in most European countries, it would probably be legal, since the age of consent for boys is usually around 15. To take a specific example, when newspapers review recent cases of “pedophile priests,” they commonly cite a case that occurred in California´s Orange County, when a priest was charged with having consensual sex with a 17-year-old boy. Whatever the moral quality of such an act, most of us would not apply the term “child abuse” or “pedophilia.” For this reason alone, we need to be cautious when we read about scores of priests being “accused of child abuse.”
Get the rest of the story at the source: ZENIT
END OF POST
