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Saturday, June 15, 2002
10 Questions About Coverage
Poynter.org
Among the questions:
When should the names of the accused -- and the accusing -- be reported?
Where should this story go next?
Any lessons learned so far?
Readers and journalists
respond.
Wrap-up coverage from the bishops meeting in Dallas
Dallas Morning
News
06/15/2002
Bishops adopt abuse policy
U.S. Catholic bishops voted overwhelmingly Friday to remove any priest guilty
of child molestation from his duties, no matter when the abuse happened, but they
stopped short of mandatory defrocking of those priests.
• Video: Rebecca Lopez and Gary Reaves report
• Give us your thoughts: What do you think of the bishops' new policy? Comment
| View comments
• Text of bishops' charter resolution
• Complete coverage
Critics don't see discipline for bishops
The policy approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday was specific
about penalties for priests or deacons caught sexually abusing minors. There was,
however, no explicit punishment for a bishop who has shielded an abusive priest.
Poll: Crisis hasn't been handled well
The new sex-abuse policy adopted Friday by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
may come as good news for Texans.
Not nearly enough, groups say
Catholic reform groups and victims advocates said the policy adopted Friday by
U.S. bishops to halt child sexual abuse in the church fell short in virtually
every respect.
Rules take effect immediately; next step is review by Vatican
Officials from the Vatican withheld comment Friday on the sex abuse policy that
was approved by an overwhelming margin. The policy requires the removal from ministry
of any diocesan priest guilty of ever sexually abusing a minor.
Notebook
A wider circle of clergy abuse sexual activity with minors
Christian Science
Monitor
By Jane Lampman Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Date: 06/14/2002
(DALLAS)The spotlight in the Catholic clergy-abuse crisis has fallen on high-profile
allegations involving the abuse of boys, but the scandal is spreading to another,
less publicized, side of the story: priests' sexual involvement with girls and
women. As US bishops meet here this week to develop a national policy to protect
children, new developments highlight the scandal's broader scope.
* Auxiliary Bishop James F. McCarthy, a former adviser to New York Cardinal John
O'Connor, resigned Tuesday after admitting to several affairs with women.
* A panel of victim advocates meeting here today alongside the US Conference of
Catholic Bishops will discuss sexual exploitation of girls and women by clergy.
They say publicity over the unfolding scandal is emboldening hundreds more female
victims to come forward.
* A Roman Catholic priest in Santa Rosa, Calif., Don Kimball, was sentenced last
Friday to seven years in prison for molesting a 13-year-old girl in a church rectory
two decades ago. Studies by scholars and anecdotal evidence from therapists show
that sexual involvement of priests with women - which includes the exploitation
of vulnerable females who go to priests for counseling, as well as consensual
relationships - is far more prevalent than sexual activity with minors.
U.S. Bishops Adopt Policy on Sex Abuse
Catholicism: Church leaders seek to remove all offenders, but they draw fire for
allowing them to technically stay in the priesthood.
Los
Angeles Times
By TERESA WATANABE , Times Staff Writer
DALLAS -- Under intense pressure to stem a spiraling sex abuse crisis, the nation's
Roman Catholic bishops on Friday overwhelmingly approved their first national
policy to oust all priests from public ministry who molest minors.
In passing a "zero tolerance" policy by a 239-13 vote, the bishops closed a controversial
loophole that would have allowed perpetrators of a past single offense to eventually
return to a restricted ministry after treatment.
NEWS ANALYSIS
Carrying Out New Policy Will Put Bishops to the Test
Los
Angeles Times
By LARRY B. STAMMER , Times Staff Writer
DALLAS -- To hear the bishops talk, sexually abusive priests can expect knocks
on their door as soon as their bishops get home Monday...
Indeed, while the bishops stood up and applauded themselves for an undeniably
historic vote, they know better than anyone that the real work lies ahead. They
laid down the rules of the game, but winning it will be no slam-dunk.
Bishops: Abusers will lose their jobs
Priests face stricter new policy on sexually exploiting a minor
Detroit Free
Press
June 15, 2002
BY DAVID CRUMM AND PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
DALLAS -- The nation's Catholic bishops overwhelmingly adopted a tough new policy
Friday that bars priests who sexually abuse a minor from working in the church,
publicly celebrating mass or even wearing a Roman collar.
"No free pass. No second chance. If you abuse a child," Bishop Wilton Gregory,
president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, declared after the vote,
"you will never be given another chance through our church to do it again."
Mahony's Cronies
In covering up for predator priests, Cardinal Roger Mahony's stayed true to a
prestigious old boys' network of fellow alums from St. John's Seminary in Camarillo.
(Los
Angeles) New Times
BY RON RUSSELL
When Roger M. Mahony pulled the plug on child-molesting priest Carl Sutphin earlier
this year after elevating him only recently to associate pastor of the soon-to-open
Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral downtown, the cardinal's visible anguish stemmed
from more than just embarrassment. In announcing the 69-year-old Sutphin's departure
in April, Mahony first expressed sorrow -- not for the pedophile cleric's victims,
whom the cardinal had misled and ignored for years -- but for the priest. Saying
he felt bad for each of the several clerics he was forced to let go as a condition
of settling a lawsuit last year that enabled him to avoid testifying about another
of his predator pals (disgraced former Santa Rosa bishop G. Patrick Zieman), Mahony
expressed special sympathy for Sutphin.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/15/2002
10:19:54 AM
Diocese Strips Placa of Duties
Newsday
By Rita Ciolli
STAFF WRITER.
June 14, 2002
Bishop William Murphy yesterday stripped Msgr. Alan Placa, the former vice chancellor
of the Diocese of Rockville Centre and a key player in the handling of abuse complaints
against priests, of his right to function as a priest. Murphy said he took the
action immediately after being notified by the Nassau district attorney's office
that Placa was under investigation for sexual abuse.
"This afternoon we got word from Denis Dillon that Richard Tollner has made an
allegation about Alan Placa," said Murphy in Dallas, where he is attending the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "I have taken Alan Placa's faculties away
like everyone else against whom an allegation is made."
That means Placa, who stepped down in April as vice chancellor, can no longer
say Mass, hear confessions or deliver any of the other sacraments.
In past interviews, Placa, who is on a leave of absence after his removal in April
from the diocese's review board for priestly misconduct, has denied any sexual
misconduct. His current whereabouts are not known, and he could not be reached
for comment yesterday.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 6/15/2002
09:43:07 AM
Bishops Set Policy to Remove Priests in Sex Abuse Cases
New York Times
Bishops Set Policy to Remove Priests in Sex Abuse Cases
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and SAM DILLON
DALLAS, June 14 — The nation's Roman Catholic bishops decided today to bar any
priest who has ever sexually abused a minor from ministerial duties, acknowledging
in anguished debate that with the eyes of the world on them they could no longer
offer any protection to predator priests.
The decision — the centerpiece of a binding national policy intended to deal with
the devastating sexual abuse crisis in the church — means that any priest known
to have ever abused a child, no matter how long ago, may no longer serve as a
pastor or chaplain in a parish, school, hospital or nursing home. He may retain
the title of priest, but he will no longer be allowed to dress in clerical garb
or to say Mass anywhere but in private. [Text, Page A12.]
The Bishops' Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People
New York Times
Following is the policy adopted yesterday by the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, titled "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," as
posted on the conference's Web site:
Preamble
The church in the United States is experiencing a crisis without precedent in
our times. The sexual abuse of children and young people by some priests and bishops,
and the ways in which we bishops addressed these crimes and sins, have caused
enormous pain, anger and confusion.
Rules Approved by Bishops for Dealing With Accusations
New York Times
ollowing are the norms the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops decreed
yesterday for dealing with accusations of sexual abuse of minors by church personnel,
as posted on the conference's Web site:
1. These norms, after approval by the Apostolic See, constitute particular law
for all the dioceses/eparchies of the United States of America. Two years after
recognitio has been received, these norms will be evaluated.
Trying to Restore a Faith
New York Times
Opinion By FRANK KEATING
DALLAS
Yesterday I accepted a request by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
to become chairman of a special lay commission that will address the crisis of
confidence — and in too many cases, a crisis of faith — in my church...
In any case where a bishop is found to have provable knowledge of illegal activities
committed by a priest under his charge, and where that bishop knowingly covered
up such activities, he should also be held legally accountable as an accessory
to the crimes involved.
Seeking Atonement in Dallas
New York Times
Editorial
The conference of Roman Catholic bishops in Dallas demonstrated that the leaders
of the American church are at last ready to confront the extraordinary moral and
managerial carelessness that allowed so many abusive priests to flourish for so
long at such great cost.
The plan calls for review boards in each diocese and for a lay commission that
Gov. Frank Keating of Oklahoma has been asked to lead. (An article by Mr. Keating
appears on the Op-Ed page.) Among other duties, the commission will act as a watchdog
over the dioceses. But the key will be the moral commitment of the men who bowed
their heads, listened in sorrow and then voted for change in Dallas.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/15/2002
09:14:42 AM
posted by Kathy Shaw on 6/15/2002
09:00:54 AM
Bishops move to bar abusers
Boston Globe
(By Michael Paulson and Thomas Farragher, Globe Staff)
DALLAS - The US Conference of Catholic Bishops, responding to the firestorm that
has erupted over the church's frequent failure to fire sexually abusive clergy,
yesterday voted to bar from ministry any priest who has ever abused a minor.
Critics call policy on clergy too lenient
Boston
Globe
(By Sacha Pfeiffer, Globe Staff)
DALLAS - In the end, many survivors of clergy sex abuse said, it still came down
to this: priests first, victims second.
Law says painful journey led to policy's passage
Boston
Globe
(By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff)
DALLAS - Cardinal Bernard F. Law of Boston, saying his painful experience mishandling
clergy sexual abuse cases helped lead US Catholic bishops to approve tougher child
protection measures yesterday, declared last night that he now hopes to restore
his effectiveness as archbishop of Boston with the help of God.
DEPOSITIONS
Law tapes withheld pending hearing
Boston
Globe
(By Matt Carroll, Globe Staff)
A state Appeals Court judge in Boston yesterday barred the release of written
transcripts and videotapes of Cardinal Bernard F. Law and two other bishops until
another judge can hear the issue.
Charter seeks to take steps to protect the young
Boston
Globe
(By Globe Staff)
Below is the complete text of the bishops' charter that was issued yesterday.
Church adopts abuse policy: Victims not satisfied
Boston
Herald
by Eric Convey
DALLAS - U.S. bishops, responding to the molestation scandal that emanated from
Boston this year and engulfed the Roman Catholic Church in this country, overwhelmingly
adopted a policy yesterday that drives any guilty priest from the ministry but
lets his bishop decide whether to pursue defrocking.
Law breaks media silence, discusses role in scandal
Boston
Herald
by Eric Convey
Saturday, June 15, 2002
DALLAS - Bernard Cardinal Law, submitting to media interviews for the first time
in months, acknowledged blame and deep personal shame for his role in the clergy
molestation scandal.
Bishops back off zero tolerance
Boston
Herald
by Jack Sullivan and Marie Szaniszlo
Saturday, June 15, 2002
The specter of a Vatican veto likely weighed heavy on the minds of American bishops
who yesterday decided against implementing a zero-tolerance policy for abusive
priests despite heavy public pressure, experts said.
``The Vatican would not have allowed the American bishops the authority to laicize
priests,'' said the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a leading critic of how church officials
have handled the sexual abuse scandal. ``I sure as hell think they're afraid of
Rome. They're afraid that Rome would shoot down some stronger requirements.''
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/15/2002
08:23:58 AM
Friday, June 14, 2002
Last modified: 07:02 PM CDT on Friday, June 14, 2002
Bishops adopt sex abuse policy
Plan would bar sexually abusive priests from contact with parishioners
Dallas
Morning News
By JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a policy Friday that mandates
the removal from ministry of any diocesan priest guilty of ever sexually abusing
a minor.
The unprecedented proposed national policy voted on in Dallas was the bishops'
response to five months of overwhelming attention drawn to thousands of cases
of children abused by priests — often many years ago.
The bishops approved the policy by 239 to 13. Of the 284 bishops eligible to vote,
252 voted.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/14/2002
09:30:24 PM Documents from the bishops meeting
United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops
Statements
News Conference by Bishop Wilton Gregory Opening Remarks
A Catholic Response to Sexual Abuse: Confession, Contrition, Resolve
Presentations
The Present Crisis through the Lens of the Laity
Margaret O'Brien Steinfels, Commonweal Magazine
The Church at Risk - Remarks to the USCCB
Scott Appleby, University of Notre Dame
Statement of Craig Martin
Craig Martin, St. Peter's Church, Forest Lake, MN
Impact Statement of Paula Gonzales Rohrbacher
Paula Gonzales Rohrbacher, Juneau, Alaska
Impact Statement of Michael Bland
Michael Bland
Impact Statement of David Clohessy
David Clohessy
"The Experience of the Victim of Sexual Abuse:" A Reflection
Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea, Ph.D.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/14/2002
08:03:55 PM
Last modified: 04:45 PM CDT on Friday, June 14, 2002
Bishops adopt sex abuse policy
Plan would barr sexually abusive priests from contact with parishioners
Dallas
Morning News
By JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a policy Friday that mandates
the removal from ministry of any diocesan priest guilty of ever sexually abusing
a minor.
The unprecedented proposed national policy voted on in Dallas was the bishops'
response to five months of overwhelming attention drawn to thousands of cases
of children abused by priests — often many years ago.
The bishops approved the policy by 239 to 13. Of the 284 bishops eligible to vote,
252 voted.
The policy does not go as far as some survivors of abuse wanted — to require defrocking
of all priests guilty of abusing a minor. But it moved further than an earlier
draft of the policy that allowed flexibility in restrictions of some priests guilty
of a single case of abuse long ago.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/14/2002
05:49:49 PM
2:49 PM CDT Friday, June 14, 2002
New draft falls short of uniform U.S. policy
Bishops continue to debate sex abuse proposal
Dallas
Morning News
By JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops continued to debate a policy Friday afternoon
that would fall short of setting a uniform national policy for how to deal with
priests who sexually abuse minors.
A long series of amendments to a draft document were discussed and debated all
morning.
Vatican to review new sexual abuse policy drafted in Dallas by US bishops
Associated
Press
VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican withheld comment Friday on a sex abuse policy for
priests drafted by U.S. bishops, pending a review of the plan by the Holy See.
By Frances D'Emilio, Associated Press, 06/14/02
There have been clear indications, however, that Vatican officials have differences
with some of the American positions debated Friday by Roman Catholic bishops meeting
in Dallas.
In Kansas Parish, a Shaken Trust
Priest and Recent Converts Struggle With Legacy of Abuse Elsewhere
Washington
Post
By Hanna Rosin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 14, 2002; Page A01
WICHITA -- The "Question Box" at St. Francis of Assisi is really an old shoe box
with a slit in the top meant for questions people are too shy to ask out loud.
Most days it is empty; some days the questions are about why Catholics have to
go to confession or what purgatory is all about.
One Tuesday evening in March, the Rev. Jerome Spexarth discovered this pair of
handwritten notes: "Why should we give money in tithe if the church is going to
use it to cover priests who abuse children?" one said. Another, affecting for
its politeness, was a Post-It attached to a newspaper photo showing Cardinal Bernard
F. Law of Boston with protesters outside his office: "What do you think about
this?" it asked.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/14/2002
04:32:12 PM
American zero tolerance policy headed for trouble in Rome, sources say
National
Catholic Reporter
Posted Friday, June 14, 2002 Number 2
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
Though no one is quite ready to say so publicly, there is a growing consensus
in Rome that the “zero tolerance” stance on sexual abuse slated for adoption by
the U.S. bishops is likely to run into difficulty in the Vatican.
Many Vatican officials, believing that the U.S. bishops are in effect making policy
decisions with a gun to their head, are quietly warning that Rome is likely take
a more cautious, less stringent approach.
The policies adopted in Dallas will have to come to Rome for approval.
Note to Readers: We welcome your responses to Ten Questions about the Coverage.
Poynter.org
Cardinal says bishops favor zero tolerance
Some say loophole has support; vote is today
Dallas
Morning News
06/14/2002
By JEFFREY WEISS and SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH / The Dallas Morning News
Cardinal Francis George of the Chicago Archdiocese said Thursday night that bishops
meeting behind closed doors have decided that no priest who had ever sexually
abused a minor would stay in the ministry.
The bishops were debating a draft policy on clergy sexual abuse that originally
called for defrocking all priests who are caught abusing minors in the future
but which left a loophole for priests guilty of a single long-ago abuse.
Conference unlikely to create system for disciplining bishops
Experts say structure inhibits self-policing of those who shield priests
Dallas
Morning News
06/14/2002
By JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is unlikely to create a system for bishops
to police other bishops, despite comments by some leaders and demands from some
victims of sexual abuse by priests, experts on Catholic church law and some bishops
said Thursday.
"People who call for that don't know how a bishop operates and don't understand
how the Catholic Church operates," said Bishop Anthony Bosco of Greensburg, Pa.
Additional Coverage of the Bishops Meeting
Dallas Morning
News
06/14/2002
Dallas bishop criticized over gay priest site
A conservative Catholic watchdog group charged Thursday that church leaders, including
Dallas Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Galante, haven't done enough to weed out gay priests,
particularly those who participated in a gay priest Internet support group.
Bishop ouster option sought
Catholic bishops whose dioceses have lost faith in them because of sexual-abuse
cover-ups should resign, the co-director of the nation's largest Catholic Church
reform organization said Thursday.
Foreign-born priests ease shortage but pose accountability challenge
The offenders had more in common than their positions with the Catholic Church.
They are among the thousands of men who have come from foreign countries to serve
the faithful in the United States and make new lives here.
Briefs
Clergy scandal overshadows teacher-sex cases
Associated
Press
SAN BERNARDINO, California (AP) -- A California high school teacher runs off to
Las Vegas with her 15-year-old student. A Louisiana teacher is accused of having
an affair with her 14-year-old student. In the Bronx, a teacher is charged with
statutory rape involving a 16-year-old former student.
Such cases aren't uncommon across the country. But unlike the Roman Catholic Church's
troubles with pedophile priests, teacher-student sex cases have received little
attention beyond a few sensational cases.
THE VICTIMS
A Start at Some Healing, but for One Day, at Least, Wounds Are Still Raw
New York Times
By SAM DILLON
DALLAS, June 13 — Craig Martin, a Minnesota businessman, wept openly throughout
his speech before 300 American bishops here today as he described being abused
by a priest in a motel many years ago.
Paula Gonzales Rohrbacher, a child care specialist, had traveled from Alaska to
tell the bishops with painful precision how a seminarian molested her when she
was 12.
THE POLICY
Extent of Priests' Accountability Debated
New York Times
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
DALLAS, June 13 — As the American bishops struggled to create a national policy
to protect children from sexually abusive priests, New York's influential cardinal,
Edward M. Egan, suggested today that bishops could still follow their own path.
"We're here today to share ideas, to think through, to understand, to help each
other how we should proceed," Cardinal Egan said.
Noting the fundamental independence of dioceses within the structure of the church,
he said, "A national policy is one thing, but a local policy is the determining
policy."
Hubbard won't back strict rule
Albany bishop continues call for flexibility in dealing with pedophile priests
as conference considers zero tolerance
Albany
Times Union
By ANDREW TILGHMAN, Staff writer
First published: Friday, June 14, 2002
DALLAS -- Despite widespread agreement among church leaders on a strict policy
banning pedophile priests from the Catholic ministry, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard
said Thursday he will not support the so-called "zero tolerance'' rule when clergymen
from around the country vote on the critical issue here today.
Forgive us, say bishops
Abuse victims are keeping heat on clerics in Dallas
Evansville
(ind.) Courier & Press
By MAUREEN HAYDEN Courier & Press staff writer
June 14, 2002
DALLAS - The head of the nation's Roman Catholic bishops opened a historic meeting
Thursday by begging for forgiveness from the victims and families of victims of
clergy sex abuse. But those from whom he sought absolution said it will be deeds,
not words, that will earn it.
"These bishops switched the roles on us and turned us into the perpetrators and
their priests into the victims," said Melissa Corts, a former Vincennes, Ind.,
woman who won a landmark legal settlement against the Catholic church after two
of her sons were abused by a parish priest in North Carolina. "I'm waiting to
see what they will really do that is different."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/14/2002
08:24:26 AM
Worcester priest again released
Worcester Telegram
& Gazette
Friday, June 14, 2002
By Richard Nangle
Telegram & Gazette Staff
WORCESTER-- Convicted rapist the Rev. Robert E. Kelley was released on personal
recognizance yesterday for the second time in a month, prompting an angry response
from several of his alleged victims, who attended his Superior Court arraignment
on new rape charges.
The priest has not been defrocked, but performs no religious duties for the Catholic
Diocese of Worcester. He pleaded not guilty to five counts of child rape...
“We are a bit distraught by the district attorney's refusal to hold this man,”
said Mary Jean of Leominster, who has started an organization called Worcester
Voice for victims of sexual abuse by clergy members. “We feel that it is a real
issue of safety for children.”
posted by Kathy Shaw on 6/14/2002
08:11:17 AM
Apologies sent; policy sought
Law described as regretful; bishops debate child prosecution
Boston
Globe
(By Michael Paulson and Sacha Pfeiffer, Globe Staff)
DALLAS - Cardinal Bernard F. Law of Boston yesterday apologized in a closed-door
session to his fellow bishops for his handling of clergy sexual abuse cases, according
to two bishops who were in attendance.
THE VICTIMS
Grim audience hears accounts of abuse, call for reform
Boston
Globe
(By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff)
DALLAS - In an extraordinary display of emotion and anger, four victims of clergy
sexual abuse and two prominent Catholic laypeople told a spellbound group of 300
bishops yesterday that merely passing a new child protection policy is not enough.
NEWS COVERAGE
Meeting draws media, protest
Boston
Globe
(By Sacha Pfeiffer, Globe Staff)
DALLAS - More than a dozen uniformed Dallas police officers stood sentry at the
hotel elevators, blocking visitors without guest passes from reaching the rooms
above. A dozen more officers hovered outside the hotel entrances in the Dallas
heat - which had already reached 90 degrees by sunrise - monitoring the clusters
of news photographers, television trucks, and sign-waving protesters assembled
across the street, including one man dressed as Pope John Paul II and another
shouting, ''Holy Pedophilia!''
DRAFTING NEW POLICY
US leaders expect Vatican approval
Boston
Globe
By Thomas Farragher, Globe Staff, 6/14/2002
DALLAS - Bishops drafting a new national policy on clergy sexual abuse say they
expect the Vatican to approve their proposal so it will become binding on all
US dioceses
SHANLEY CASE
Law apologizes to Calif. bishop
Boston
Globe
By Thomas Farragher, Globe Staff, 6/14/2002
DALLAS - As a new allegation of abuse arose yesterday in California against the
Rev. Paul R. Shanley, Cardinal Bernard F. Law apologized to the bishop of San
Bernardino, saying that if he had been aware of the alleged abusive priest's personnel
file he would have blocked Shanley's move to the West Coast.
As the two prelates met in a conference room, they apparently were unaware of
a fresh accusation that had been lodged in San Bernardino against Shanley, the
former priest from Boston.
RAPE ALLEGED
Former priest denies charges of child rape
Associated
Press
(By Associated Press)
WORCESTER - A former priest who admitted to sexually abusing a child 12 years
ago denied charges that he raped another girl five times during the 1980s.
Globe is denied access as punishment for story
Boston
Globe
(By Thomas Farragher, Globe Staff)
DALLAS - Reporters for The Boston Globe have been prohibited from covering live
sessions of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, a punishment, conference officials
said yesterday, for the newspaper's report last week about the conference's draft
policy on clergy sexual abuse before it was formally issued by the bishops.
Conn. courts helped hide abuse, judge says
Boston
Globe
(By Walter V. Robinson, Globe Staff)
A Connecticut Superior Court judge accused his state's judiciary this week of
longstanding complicity in the Diocese of Bridgeport's efforts to keep hidden
from the public the extent of clergy sexual abuse, including a church ''cover-up,''
which the judge said is ''at the heart of the scandal.''
Reformers have their work cut out
Boston
Globe
Letter to the Editor by Jim Sullivan of Quincy
I SHARE Richard A. Hogarty's skepticism about the results to be achieved by the
laudable efforts of the moderate group Voice of the Faithful (''Church reformers
face uphill battle,'' op ed, June 8).
Globe Editorial
Restoring trust in bishops
Boston
Globe
GROUPS representing survivors of sexual abuse want the Catholic bishops meeting
in Dallas to impose sanctions not only against offending priests, but against
bishops who might shield abusers in the future. It appears unlikely that the survivors
will get their wish.
US leaders expect Vatican approval
Boston
Globe
(By Thomas Farragher, Globe Staff)
DALLAS - Bishops drafting a new national policy on clergy sexual abuse say they
expect the Vatican to approve their proposal so it will become binding on all
US dioceses.
Mea culpa from Law: Offers apology to U.S. bishops
Boston
Herald
by Eric Convey and Robin Washington
DALLAS - In a stunning acceptance of responsibility for the maelstrom that overtook
their annual meeting, Bernard Cardinal Law apologized last night to brother bishops
for his role in sparking the clergy molestation scandal.
Critic says apology must recognize clerics' `sin'
Boston
Herald
by Eric Convey
Friday, June 14, 2002
DALLAS - For all their public apologies over failing to adequately deal with sexual
abuse revelations in recent decades, the words of U.S. bishops yesterday were
timid compared to the scolding delivered by a Notre Dame academic.
Cardinal's $ man: Settlement for victims was never done deal
Boston
Herald
by Tom Mashberg and Robin Washington
Friday, June 14, 2002
Bernard Cardinal Law's top money man said after a daylong deposition yesterday
that the Archdiocese of Boston was ``never committed'' to a $20 million settlement
deal with 86 accusers of John J. Geoghan.
First abuse charge made vs. Shanley in California
Boston
Herald
by Tom Mashberg and Eric Convey
Friday, June 14, 2002
California church officials yesterday received the first allegation of abuse against
the Rev. Paul R. Shanley stemming from the three-and-a-half years that the notorious
former Newton pastor spent as a priest with the Diocese of San Bernardino.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/14/2002
07:15:09 AM
Thursday, June 13, 2002
Margaret Warner interviews Tom Roberts, editor of the National Catholic
Reporter, about the start of the U.S. Catholic bishops meeting in Dallas and
its historic significance
Online
News Hour
MARGARET WARNER: And for more on today's meeting, we turn to Tom Roberts, editor
of the National Catholic Reporter, an independent weekly that covers the Catholic
Church. It was one of the first publications to report on pedophilia in the priesthood,
more than 15 years ago.
And welcome, Tom Roberts.
MARGARET WARNER: How unusual...was this spectacle we saw today and we just saw
a little bit of here, where you had survivors and non-priest church thinkers openly
challenging the bishops in an open way like this, televised?
TOM ROBERTS: I've been covering these meetings since about 1985, and this was
the most unusual meeting I have ever been to. This was a... I think an unprecedented
event. I think Dallas may... this meeting in Dallas may be seen historically as
a marker, as some sort of point at which things began to change a bit.
posted by Tom Fox on 6/13/2002 11:44:20
PM Thursday Evening Update:
Abuse Victims Lay Blame at Feet of Catholic Bishops
New York Times
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
DALLAS, June 13 — After years of suggesting that the priest sexual abuse scandal
was the fault of a few unstable clergymen, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops
sat still as stones in a hotel ballroom today as the blame was laid squarely at
their own feet.
The denunciations came from four traumatized victims, two church members and a
psychologist who likened the abuse to incest, as well as the president of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who met here to hammer out a national
policy on preventing clergy sexual abuse."
Ten Questions
Clergy Abuse Coverage:
What's Next? Why?
Poynter.org
By Bill Mitchell
Poynter.org editor
The coverage of priestly scandals in the American Catholic Church has sensitive
aspects everywhere: How much coverage is too much? How do you respectfully report
on the failings of a religious group without maligning the religion? How do you
approach victims of sexual abuse and tell their stories? How do you provide a
right of reply to priests and bishops who are unaccustomed to being questioned
even about positive matters? What is this scandal doing to the Catholic faith
as distinguished from the Catholic hierarchy?
Journalists assigned to the story also face another set of questions: How do you
report and tell this story accurately and fairly as well as aggressively and independently?
When and why should you report the names of those who are being accused or doing
the accusing? What techniques should you employ in the areas of investigative,
interactive and visual journalism to tell this story more effectively? What impact
might your personal life have on the coverage you produce?
Ten Questions for journalists and readers...
CARDINAL LAW and the Catholic Church Pedophile Cover-up FOLLIES!
Daryl Cagle's
Professional Cartoon Index
Several dozen editorial cartoons on the clergy abuse story from newspapers around
the country.
Bishops toughen stance on one-time abusers in closed-door talks
Associated
Press
RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer Thursday, June 13, 2002
16:59 PDT DALLAS (AP) -- Trying to ease the clerical sex abuse crisis pounding
the church, America's Roman Catholic bishops decided Thursday in a closed- door
meeting to toughen their stance on one-time molesters.
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago emerged from discussions with fellow church
leaders saying the idea of allowing priests who abused one child in the past to
remain in parish work was off the table.
Highlights from abuse victims' statements to US bishops
Associated
Press
By Associated Press, 06/13/02
Excerpts from speeches Thursday by victims of priest abuse to the nation's Roman
Catholic bishops:
"Since the priest who abused me went to treatment and was 'cured' he has taught
at a seminary. He is now a full professor and vice dean at a pontifical university...
Bishops Told They Bear Responsibility for Scandal
Washington
Post
By Edward Walsh
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 14, 2002; Page A1
DALLAS, June 13 – The nation's Roman Catholic bishops were bluntly told today
that they bear primary responsibility for the sex abuse scandal that is gripping
their church and that regaining the trust of Catholics will require fundamental
changes in their methods and style of leadership of the church.
In three extraordinary speeches opening a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops, the conference's president and two prominent Catholic intellectuals described
the 300 assembled bishops as arrogant and aloof and warned that the future of
the church in the United States depended on their willingness to share authority
with Catholic laypeople.
Analysis
Bishops Forced to Weigh Their Own
Washington
Post
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 14, 2002; Page A15
DALLAS, June 13 – America's Catholic bishops came here to decide how to punish
priests who commit child sexual abuse. But, in a sudden turnabout, they were forced
to consider whether they really ought to punish themselves.
A series of emotional addresses by victims of predatory priests left some of the
bishops in tears today, and gave them little choice but to think about their own
degree of culpability for tolerating sex offenders in the Roman Catholic clergy.
Conference head offers strong apology on behalf bishops
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By BRETT HOFFMAN and DARREN BARBEE
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
DALLAS, Texas — The leader of U.S. Catholic bishops offered perhaps the strongest
apology yet for the scandal that has rocked the church when he acknowledged Thursday
"our failures in addressing the crime of sexual abuse."
Bishop Wilton Gregory, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, made his
remarks as bishops from across the country began debating what steps to take in
response to allegations of sexual abuse against priests and bishops.
U.S. Bishops' President's Remarks
Associated
Press
From Associated Press
The opening statement Thursday by Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, at the group's summit in Dallas:
The Catholic Church in the United States is in a very grave crisis, perhaps the
gravest we have faced. This crisis is not about a lack of faith in God. In fact,
those Catholics who live their faith actively day-by-day will tell you that their
faith in God is not in jeopardy. It has, indeed, been tested by this crisis, but
it is very much intact. The crisis, in truth, is about a profound loss of confidence
by the faithful in our leadership as shepherds, because of our failures in addressing
the crime of the sexual abuse of children and young people by priests and church
personnel.
Text of Craig Martin's Statement to Bishop's Conference
New
York Times
Good morning. I believe it is still morning. I'm not sure, it's been a long day
so far. My name is Craig Martin. My presence here today represents [a stop?],
which has been a very difficult and long journey for myself, my family and others
who are close to me.
I speak today for myself and for no one else. Before I begin I'd like speak directly
to the media in attendance. Today is very difficult for me. I ask you to respect
my privacy and my family's privacy and let this statement today speak for itself.
I will need time after this. There may come a time when I will tell more of my
story, but today will not be the day. Thank you for respecting my wishes.
Text of Paula Gonzales Rohrbacher's Statement to Bishop's Conference
New York
Times
I'd like to thank Bishop Gregory for inviting me to share my story here today.
\When I was a little girl, my family, at the request of Mount Angel Seminary in
Oregon, befriended several Mexican seminarians who were students there. The seminary
placed one of these young men with my family, who was also Hispanic, no doubt
to ease his transition to life in the United States.
My mother, who regarded him as a son and encouraged my siblings and me to treat
him as a brother, generously welcomed him into our family. We housed him over
school holidays and summer vacations. The young seminarian that my family sponsored
was named Jose.
Text of Scott Appleby's Statement Statement to Bishop's Conference
New York
Times
University of Notre Dame June 13, 2002, Dallas, Texas
`I thank Archbishop Flynn and Monsignor Maniscalco for inviting me to speak to
you and with you today. For the past five months I , along with other lay Catholics,
have attempted to speak to you, and occasionally with you, through the media.
I far prefer the present forum, where one's words cannot be edited to support
a pre-existing story line with invisible headlines that read: `New Evidence of
Catholic Church Decadence,` `Church Cannot Do Anything Right` or `SeeWe Told You
So.` Certainly in the court of public opinion the Church is now guilty until proven
otherwise. Nor should we be surprised: We live in a culture that permits everything,
and forgives nothing. The painful truth, of course, is that the media did not
create this scandal: We created it. Indeed, the mainstream media has done the
Church a service by exposing that which was shrouded in darkness. Only in the
light can truth prevail and healing and repentance begin. That the media has focused
with such intensity on the scandal is a kind of testimony, odd though it may be,
to the fact that American society rightly expects more of the Churchmore purity,
more fidelity to the gospel, more compassion, more holiness.
The Poll Watchers
Polls Support Zero Tolerance Policy
Catholics Endorse One-Strike Policy Toward Abusive Priests
Washington
Post
Nothing short of zero tolerance of abusive priests likely will satisfy the public
and American Catholics who remain broadly critical of the way the Catholic church
has handled the widening sex scandal within the priesthood, according to recent
national surveys.
Polls done by the Gallup Organization, ABC News and Quinnipiac University uniformly
found that an overwhelming majority of the public and church faithful believe
that the church should remove a priest found to have ever sexually abused a child.
Victims urge bishops to deal forcefully with priests who abuse
Kansas City Star
By JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star
DALLAS - On the eve of Roman Catholic church leaders' annual spring conference,
two dozen victims of priest sexual abuse talked with bishops Wednesday in a meeting
that one cardinal said "touched me deeply."
"This is the first time I've had the chance to hear a whole roomful of very heartbreaking
stories and very difficult experiences," Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington
said at a joint news conference of victims and clergy.
Victims share stories of abuse by priests
Advocacy groups meet with U.S. bishops on eve of conference in Dallas
Baltimore
Sun
By John Rivera
Sun Staff
Originally published June 13, 2002
DALLAS - As the nation's Catholic bishops gather today to decide how tough they
should get with clergy who sexually molest children, a grieving mother hopes they
will consider the pain endured by victims like her son.
When Janet Patterson met with four cardinals yesterday, including Baltimore's
Cardinal William H. Keeler, she showed them two pictures. One was of her son Eric,
a handsome, strapping young man who was fluent in Spanish and played bass in a
rock band. The other was of his tombstone, at the gravesite where they laid him
three years ago after he killed himself, tormented over abuse by his parish priest.
He was 29.
Bishops' meeting puts hierarchy on the spot
Miami Herald
Posted on Wed, Jun. 12, 2002
BY DONNA GEHRKE-WHITE
dgehrke@herald.com
Siobhan McLaughlin, a concerned Roman Catholic, thinks the bishops gathering today
in Dallas should boot out more than just sexually abusive priests. She says they
should start at the top.
First on her list: Boston Cardinal Bernard Law and other church leaders who clandestinely
moved pedophile priests from parish to parish and stonewalled devastated families
who complained about their children's abuse.
U.S. bishops are rebuked over dark secrets of past
Detroit
Free Press
Thursday, June 13, 2002
BY DAVID CRUMM and PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
DALLAS - Beyond forcing bishops to get tough with sex offenders, the American
Catholic church's crisis over abusive priests finally is pushing its leaders toward
allowing their 65 million followers a voice in reform.
``Catholics on the right and the left and in the deep middle all are in basic
agreement as to the causes of this scandal: a betrayal of fidelity enabled by
the arrogance that comes with unchecked power,'' said R. Scott Appleby, a Catholic
historian at the University of Notre Dame.
Bishops to debate their role in scandal
Faithful urge: Call leaders to account
Newark
Star-Ledger
BY DAVID GIBSON
Star-Ledger Staff
DALLAS -- As the nation's Roman Catholic bishops gathered here for a watershed
meeting aimed at cracking down on priests who sexually abuse children, pressure
began intensifying on the hierarchy to go a step further and punish bishops in
their own ranks who fostered the current scandal by covering up for molesters.
The most emotionally charged appeal for disciplining bishops came late yesterday
during a closed-door meeting between two dozen members of victims' advocacy groups
and a dozen bishops and cardinals who are drafting a new sexual abuse policy that
the 300 bishops will begin debating today.
Newsday's Stephanie Saul Reports
Newsday
Listen to Newsday's Stephanie Saul describe ...
The bishops are moving toward a zero-tolerance policy on sexual abuse.
How a zero-tolerance policy is significant change for the bishops.
SF Archbishop sees opportunity in Dallas conference
Bay
City News
Bay City News Thursday, June 13, 2002
SAN FRANCISCO -- William J. Levada, the Archbishop of the San Francisco Diocese,
said today that the gathering of U.S. bishops in Dallas this week is an opportunity
for the Catholic Church to reassert its moral authority.
Archbishop Levada's commentary will appear Friday in Catholic San Francisco, the
San Francisco Diocese's official newspaper, the day the U.S. bishops are scheduled
to vote on a policy regarding their response to sexual abuse of minors by priests.
Father Schroering placed on leave
Accused priest still tabbed as Sommerfest honoree
Princeton (Indiana)
Daily Clarion
By ANDREA HOWE
Editor, the Daily Clarion
HAUBSTADT--Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church senior pastor, Father Francis Schroering
is on administrative leave while two claims of past sexual misconduct are examined
by the Evansville Catholic Diocese.
The Dean of the Princeton deanery for the past five years, who recently announced
intentions to retire next year, has denied the allegations, which are being examined
by the diocese.
'Altar Boys' steers clear of scandal
Chicago
Sun-Times
June 13, 2002
BY DAVID GERMAIN
LOS ANGELES--Its title smacks of a hastily produced, ripped-from-the-headlines
tale of sex abuse by priests.
But the makers of ''The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys'' are quick to emphasize
that theirs is a coming-of-age film that has nothing to do with the current scandal
in the Roman Catholic Church over cases of child molestation.
''We hope the title doesn't turn people off,'' said Jodie Foster, a producer of
the independent film who also plays a supporting role as a nun. ''I would love
to get the message out there that it's not about priests molesting children.''
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/13/2002
05:49:18 PM
Bishops caught in the middle as meeting opens
National
Catholic Reporter
By THOMAS C. FOX
NCR Publisher
Entering the two-day Dallas meeting, pressure is mounting on the bishops to face
an issue they have wanted to avoid at all costs - their own culpability in enabling
the clergy abuse to continue for the past two decades.
The pressure started to build immediately after the release of the conference
draft statement ten days ago by the ad hoc bishops’ committee on sex abuse. Victim
groups along with other Catholic reform groups immediately pounced on the missing
element.
“It is astonishing they could issue the draft and not touch on their own culpability,”
said Frances Kissling, President of Catholics for a Free Choice. “It shows how
isolated they are from public opinion that they thought they could get away from
it.”
posted by Tom Fox on 6/13/2002 02:43:05
PM
Leader of bishops admits mistakes
Catholic prelates' role in sex abuse scandal cited as meeting on reform opens;
Victims describe 'deep scars'
Associated
Press
The Associated Press
Originally published June 13, 2002, 1:33 PM EDT
DALLAS -- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops opened an extraordinary
meeting on clerical sex abuse today with their leader calling the crisis "perhaps
the gravest we have faced" and victims telling of their agonizing pain.
"This crime has left deep scars on my soul," said Paula Gonzales Rohrbacker of
Juneau, Ala., who told the bishops she was molested by a seminarian her family
had befriended. Another victim, Craig Martin of St. Cloud, Minn., cried as he
recounted his story to hundreds of Roman Catholic leaders gathered at a hotel
in Dallas.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/13/2002
01:55:38 PM
Bishops Urged to Punish Those Who Cover Up
Los
Angeles Times
By TERESA WATANABE, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DALLAS -- The nation's Roman Catholic bishops, gathering here to address the national
storm of priestly sex scandals, faced vocal demands Wednesday to go beyond zero
tolerance for abusive priests and discipline the leaders who cover the crimes
up.
Victim advocates held a private meeting and then an extraordinary joint appearance
with bishops. They called on church leaders to strengthen the proposed new national
policy on sexual abuse by removing bishops who ''aided and abetted'' priests in
repeating their abusive behavior by reassigning rather than dismissing them.
For victim leader Clohessy, years of work lead to 15 minutes before the bishops
National
Catholic Reporter
By TOM ROBERTS
NCR Editor
David Clohessy sank into a sofa the night of June 12 in the lobby of the Adams
Mark Hotel in Dallas, just a few blocks from the Fairmont Hotel where the U.S.
Catholic bishops were gathering for this most unusual spring meeting. He had just
received a phone call telling him that he would be given a 15-minute slot the
next day to address the assembled bishops...
He had his own tale of abuse - four years of abuse by a priest when he was a youngster.
As one of the founders and now director of Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests (SNAP), he has also heard countless, heart-wrenching stories of horrendous
abuse.
He’s exhausted, tired of this story, of the pursuit of justice within the church,
of the years of pressing for the rights of victims. Earlier this day he had been
among a group of survivors who met with bishops and cardinals who make up the
reconstituted Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse.
For 3 Who Warned Church, Fears Borne Out
Priest, Journalist and Professor Who Foresaw Sex Abuse Scandal Frustrated by Bishops'
Response
Washington
Post
By Steve Twomey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 13, 2002; Page A01
In an auditorium in the Minnesota countryside one June day, the bishops of the
American Roman Catholic Church were gathered in closed conclave... The bishops
were being briefed about priests who sexually abuse minors. And a new, internal-eyes-only
document was circulating at the highest levels that bore a chilling, simple message:
The abuse problem had catastrophic potential.
It had been written, in part, by a canon lawyer, the Rev. Thomas P. Doyle. As
the bishops met, two other men with a vital interest in the issue sat on a garden
bench nearby. One was Thomas C. Fox, editor of the National Catholic Reporter,
which had published a stunning report on abuse only days before. The other was
Eugene C. Kennedy, a psychology professor whose exploration of the emotional maturity
of priests had suggested the underpinnings of abuse cases.
Md. Priest Suspended After Sex Allegation
Baltimore Case Passed On to Prosecutor
Washington
Post
By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 10, 2002; Page B01
The Archdiocese of Baltimore announced yesterday that the pastor of St. Dominic's
Church has been suspended from serving as a priest "due to a credible allegation
of child sexual abuse." Parishioners were informed of the removal of the Rev.
George B. Loskarn during a special meeting yesterday afternoon.
Archdiocesan officials said the allegation against Loskarn came to the church's
attention Thursday. The day the complaint was received, officials said, they confronted
Loskarn about the allegation, which centered on his relationship about 30 years
ago with a boy then in his early to mid-teens. Loskarn, 67, admitted the abuse
and was immediately suspended, officials said.
Local TV turns in some solid reporting
St.
Petersburg Times
By ERIC DEGGANS, Times TV Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 10, 2002
What with the pink fences and priest scandals, it's been an interesting time for
local TV news these days...
Here's a few of my picks and pans: Bay News 9's stand on naming priests accused
of molestation.
The issue emerged during a report last month on four priests under investigation
by law enforcement following allegations of past sexual abuse.
The St. Petersburg Times printed the names of all four priests, whose names were
released by the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg after it determined the charges
were "credible and substantial."
But officials at Bay News 9, concerned by the growing number of allegations against
local priests, told viewers it wouldn't report the men's names until they had
been arrested by police and charged with a crime -- following crime coverage guidelines
drafted at the news channel's inception.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/13/2002
10:27:04 AM
Conference debating
bishops' accountability
Victims seek sanctions on clerics who didn't oust abusive priests
Boston
Globe
(By Michael Paulson and Thomas Farragher, Globe Staff)
DALLAS - Faced with the biggest scandal to confront the Catholic Church in the
United States, about 300 bishops from throughout the country converged here yesterday
and began an unexpected debate over whether to punish bishops who protect sexually
abusive priests.
THE MONEY
Roman Catholic Church Faces Questions About Finances
New York Times
By SAM DILLON and LESLIE WAYNE
After spending the past six months fending off accusations that it covered up
allegations of sexual abuse by priests, the American Roman Catholic church now
faces a new wave of scrutiny about how its finances are handled, particularly
because of the large and confidential settlements that dioceses have reached with
victims of that abuse.
In fact, some big donors to the church are leveling the same sorts of complaints
that abuse victims and their supporters have made: that a church run in such secrecy
for decades needs to be more open in its decision-making and more accountable
for the consequences of those decisions.
Bishops closer to one-strike rule
How to deal with protectors another likely topic, they say
Dallas Morning News
06/13/2002
By SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH and JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News
U.S. Catholic bishops meeting in Dallas appeared closer Wednesday to creating
a one-strike policy against priests who abuse minors – no matter how old the offense,
according to church leaders.
And under mounting pressure from abuse victims, priests and laity, the president
of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said his colleagues were likely to
discuss unprecedented ways to deal with bishops who shield abusive priests.
The 'zero tolerance' debate: Is there room for discretion?
Clergy debate whether such a stance is badly needed or too rigid
Dallas
Morning News
06/13/2002
By JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News
The phrase "zero tolerance" is not found in the proposal to be considered in Dallas
on Thursday by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Neither is "one strike."
But priests caught sexually abusing minors in the future will probably face a
new and rigid set of rules rather than the traditional discretion of the local
bishop.
If the bishops, with Vatican approval, substitute an explicit set of binding standards
for what has been a judgment call, they will join a long line of American institutions
that have moved in that direction. From the courtroom to the schoolyard, such
rules have been triggered by specific kinds of failures.
Zero tolerance rule for priests has real pitfalls
Chicago
Tribune
Opinion by Dawn Turner Trice
Published June 13, 2002
At first glance, it's nearly impossible to look at the recent sex abuse scandal
and cover-up in the Catholic Church and push for anything less than an all-encompassing
"zero-tolerance" policy.
If a priest abuses a child, then he should be prosecuted and stripped of his collar.
Very little gray area there, right?
...The findings of the Chicago archdiocese's public forums show that the clarion
call from Chicago parishioners has been for a strict one-size-fits-all policy.
Two-thirds of more than 2,000 respondents said they didn't want priests who abused
even once to have any role in ministry.
Yet a handful of Catholics and advocacy groups are loath to call for such a policy
because they worry that it could be used inappropriately. For example, some are
concerned that the hierarchy may try to use it to get rid of dissidents, to make
sacrificial lambs of difficult parishes and priests.
Monsignor calls News' report 'smear campaign'
Paper cites 'meticulous research,' says readers can draw conclusions
Dallas
Morning News
06/13/2002
By SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH / The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning
News' special report on how bishops handled cases of clergy misconduct didn't
present any news, said Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, director of communications
for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"It was a smear campaign," he said of the report, which was published Wednesday.
"I was deeply disappointed that there wasn't the kind of nuanced reporting needed
to explain the ways cases had been handled in each diocese. The explanations were
too simplistic, often unfair and, in some cases, inaccurate."
The bishops conference said it was preparing a list of items it considered to
be inaccuracies in the report. The list might be circulated Thursday.
"The story represents three months of meticulous research," said Stuart Wilk,
vice president and managing editor of The News. "We published that research in
a form that allows readers to evaluate it and draw their own conclusions. It's
difficult to respond to accusations of inaccuracies when no specifics are cited."
Additional Thursday Morning Coverage of the Bishops Meeting
Dallas Morning
News
Bishops seek stricter policy
Sexual abuse victims' pleas sway leaders as vote nears
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By DARREN BARBEE and PATRICK McGEE
Star-Telegram Staff Writers
DALLAS - Hearing painful stories told through the tears of sexual abuse victims
will likely result in a stronger proposal to punish priests who molest children,
a leader in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Wednesday.
The bishops open their three-day meeting today in Dallas, with the key vote scheduled
for Friday on a policy to address sexual abuse of children.
Bishops' abuse talks to focus on leadership
Boston
Herald
by Eric Convey
DALLAS - U.S. bishops, assailed for months over the still-roiling clergy molestation
scandal, will begin a three-day meeting today that will address their own accountability.
Victims' groups turn up heat on bishops
Boston
Herald
by Eric Convey
DALLAS - While bishops try to craft a national policy to combat sexual molestation
by clergy, they'll toil under tough scrutiny from victims' groups and organizations
with competing visions for the future of American Catholicism.
`We have recognized the tragedy of not acting together,' bishop says
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By DARREN BARBEE and PATRICK McGEE
Star-Telegram Staff Writers
DALLAS - Ten years ago, U.S. Catholic bishops promised sweeping reforms but still
not enough has been done, the president of the U.S. Conference of Bishops said
Wednesday.
The president, Bishop Wilton Gregory, will moderate the debate among 300 bishops
who will vote Friday on a zero-tolerance policy that includes a recommendation
to defrock priests who sexually abuse children.
NEW JERSEY
Bishop Says He'll Repay Diocese That Settled Negligence Suit
New York Times
By RICHARD LEZIN JONES
PATERSON, N.J., June 12 — The Roman Catholic bishop of Paterson has said he intends
to repay $250,000 that the diocese spent to settle a negligence suit stemming
from a sexual abuse claim against a fellow priest, a diocesan lawyer said today.
The move by Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, leader of the 377,000-member Paterson Diocese,
is being closely watched by legal scholars and theologians, who said they were
not aware of any similar reimbursement plans by other church leaders.
Hubbard's stance unlikely to prevail
Albany -- Bishops expected to oppose more lenient policy on abuse
Albany
Times Union
By ANDREW TILGHMAN, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Bishop Howard J. Hubbard is expected to be among a minority of U.S. church leaders
urging a more lenient policy for priests with histories of sexually abusing children
when he joins nearly 300 Roman Catholic bishops for a critical meeting in Dallas
this week.
Hubbard has stated his opposition to part of a proposal to be taken up by the
Conference of Catholic Bishops that calls for the removal of any priest with more
than one incident of sexual abuse.
Indiana Priest placed on administrative leave
WTVW Evansville
Reporter: Amy Budnick
June 12 -- Father Francis Schroering will be placed on administrative leave because
of sex abuse allegations against him.
Two women say Schroering sexually abused them during the 1960s. Bishop Gerald
Gettelfinger said he will follow Diocese policy, which places an accused priest
on leave until the investigation is complete.
Why did she come forward after all this time?
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/13/2002
07:23:07 AM
Grand jury indicts priest on 5 child-rape charges
Worcester, Mass.,
Telegram & Gazette
Thursday, June 13, 2002
By Kathleen A. Shaw
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Rev. Robert E. Kelley has been indicted by a Worcester County grand jury on five
charges of child rape and will be arraigned today in Worcester Superior Court...
Rev. Kelley has been free on personal recognizance since his arraignment last
month in Leominster...
Ms. Mackey, who has identified herself as the victim, said she was sexually abused
and raped by Rev. Kelley starting at age 4 and continuing to age 9. The incidents
allegedly occurred when Rev. Kelley was assigned to St. Cecilia parish in Leominster.
He met her when she visited her grandmother, who was a parishioner, she said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 6/13/2002
06:09:40 AM
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Wednesday Evening Update
Galante: Bishops to discuss accountability
Dallas
Morning News
Last modified: 04:05 PM CDT on Wednesday, June 12, 2002
06/12/2002
By SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH / The Dallas Morning News
Dallas Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Galante said midday Wednesday that Catholic bishops
meeting in Dallas will discuss what can be done to hold bishops accountable for
mismanaging cases of clergy sexual misconduct.
He said it wasn't enough for bishops to simply say that they had made mistakes,
because Catholics are demanding greater accountability for those mistakes. But,
he said, only the pope could issue sanctions against such bishops, and most church
officials say that isn't likely.
Grand jury investigating priests suspected of committing sex-related crimes
St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
By Tim Bryant
Of the Post-Dispatch
© 2002 – St. Louis Post-Dispatch
06/12/2002 04:49 PM
A St. Louis grand jury is investigating two dozen Roman Catholic priests suspected
of committing sex-related crimes, Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce told the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch Wednesday.
Prosecutors said they have received allegations involving 10 additional priests.
Those cases are considered harder to pursue, in part because people making the
accusations were unsure of the priests' names. In some instances, incidents allegedly
happened decades ago. In some of the cases, the priests are now dead, Joyce said.
U.S. bishops arrive in Dallas for historic conference
Kansas City
Star
By JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star
DALLAS - The nation's 300 Roman Catholic bishops began arriving Wednesday for
their annual spring conference -- one that will likely be the most scrutinized
gathering in their history.
The 2 1/2-day meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops begins Thursday
at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas. The only item on the bishops' agenda:
To develop a comprehensive national policy for handling sexual abuse by priests.
Southern Baptists call for 'sexual integrity' of church personnel
Associated
Press
06/12/2002
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS – As Roman Catholic bishops gathered Wednesday to take up the issue
of child-molesting priests, the nation's largest Protestant denomination acknowledged
"our own fallenness" and urged churches to discipline sex offenders.
A nonbinding resolution adopted by 9,500 delegates at the Southern Baptist Convention's
annual meeting called on member churches to address sex offenses by ministers,
counselors, chaplains, missionaries and others within their congregations. It
also called on churches to cooperate with civil authorities in prosecutions.
Victims to meet with Roman Catholic bishops on sex abuse panel
Associated
Press
By Rachel Zoll, Associated Press, 6/12/02
DALLAS -- Victims of clerical sex abuse, once shunned for criticizing leaders
of the Roman Catholic Church, were given a rare insider role Wednesday in shaping
how American bishops handle errant priests.
On the eve of a critical U.S. bishops' gathering, members of the Survivors Network
of Those Abused by Priests and other victims met with eight bishops working on
a national policy to rid the priesthood of abusers. Another session between victims
and several cardinals was scheduled later.
The Dallas Outlook
The American bishops need a conversion.
National Review
Online
Column by Rod Dreher
Back in January, when what many Catholics now simply call "the Scandal" broke,
I had a stormy correspondence with a bishop — one of the last bishops I would
have anticipated arguing with. The bishop was angry over the hard-line language
I used in my early commentaries on the scandal. He took particular offense at
my saying, in a letter to him, that it appeared that protecting children and families
was not a priority for the bishops.
Church's credibility on the line in Dallas
Boston
Herald
Opinion by Carmen Durso
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
The American Catholic Bishops meet in Dallas this week to discuss - among themselves
- the national clergy sexual abuse crisis. That is their first collective mistake.
They should, instead, be meeting with groups of victims and their representatives
to listen for the answers to three questions: How did this happen? What we can
we do for the victims? How can we prevent this from happening again?
Divorce troubles among details emerging about abbey shooter
Associated
Press
BY Connie Farrow
Associated Press
06/12/2002 05:15 PM
CONCEPTION, Mo. (AP) -- Lloyd Jeffress' bitterness toward the Roman Catholic Church
after his decades-ago divorce emerged as a potential motive Wednesday as investigators
tried to explain his attack on a northwest Missouri monastery.
It was one of the angles pursued as investigators sought to understand why Jeffress
killed two monks and wounded two others at the Conception Abbey, before committing
suicide.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/12/2002
09:07:13 PM
The Church On Trial
60
Minutes II
Why is it taking the Roman Catholic leadership so long to make the church safe
for its children? Ed Bradley reports at 8 p.m. Eastern/ 7 p.m. Central on 60 Minutes
II. He revisits the case of the notorious pedophile, Father Gilbert Gauthe in
Vermillion Parish, Louisiana.
Cardinal Law Reputation in Jeopardy
Associated
Press
Wed Jun 12, 2:17 PM ET
By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press Writer
BOSTON (AP) - Cardinal Bernard Law arrives at the national bishops' meeting in
Dallas with his archdiocese's new, tougher sex abuse policy in hand and his reputation
dragging behind him.
Once among America's most respected Roman Catholic leaders, Law attends the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops' meeting handicapped by what some say is irreparably
damaged credibility after his bungling of priest sex abuse cases in Boston.
Caution Trumps Competition
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL PUTS COMPETITION IN PERSPECTIVE ON WEAKLAND COVERAGE
Poynter.org
By Bob Steele
Group Leader, Ethics
Bob Steele
The spirit of competition can motivate journalists to do really good work on important
stories. But competitive fervor can blind journalists to their ethical responsibilities
and undermine their news judgment.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel deserves credit for putting competition in perspective
on a very important story. The paper chose the high road when faced with getting
scooped on a blockbuster story involving allegations of sexual assault against
Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland.
U.S. bishops, facing church division, lack authority to set U.S. course
National
Catholic Reporter
By THOMAS C. FOX
NCR Publisher
At first brush the Dallas bishops’ meeting is about establishing guidelines for
dealing with sex offending priests. It is more than that. At another level, it
is a public display of a decades long simmering dispute about the nature of the
Catholic church.
The division is real and can be seen most visibly as the bishops assemble inside
the Dallas Fairmont hotel and Catholic advocates of change gather outside and
in various other Dallas locations.
Accused priest to be placed on leave
Evansville
Courier & Press
By DAVE HOSICK Courier & Press staff writer
June 12, 2002
Evansville Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger on Tuesday said a diocese priest who is
the focus of recent allegations of sexual misconduct will be placed on administrative
leave, but he refused to say when that will take effect.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/12/2002
12:42:20 PM
Unholy Revelation
Catholic Bishops' Conference Mired By New Report of Widespread Sex Abuse
ABC
News
(See link to Dallas Morning News story and online database below.)
By Bill Blakemore
DALLAS, June 12 — U.S. Catholic bishops will receive an unwelcome surprise as
they gather here for a two-day meeting on sex-abuse allegations — a newspaper
study that exposes a deeper problem than expected.
Two-third of bishops who run the 178 mainstream Roman Catholic dioceses in the
United States have engaged in some sort of concealment or transfer of priests
with histories of sexual abuse, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Clouds of Disapproval
ABCNEWS Poll Finds Dropping Opinion of Church as Bishops Gather
ABC
News
Analysis by Gary Langer
June 12 — American bishops gather in Dallas this week under a broad and still-growing
cloud of public disapproval over their handling of child sexual abuse by priests,
including overwhelming rejection of their plan to give some one-time abusers a
second chance.
Overall favorable opinions of the Catholic Church have dropped from 63 percent
in February to 47 percent now, an ABCNEWS poll finds. And 73 percent disapprove
of its handling of the scandal, up 14 points since the U.S. cardinals met in Rome
in late April.
Bishops Confront Demands to Give More Power to Laity
Los Angeles
Times
By LARRY B. STAMMER and TERESA WATANABE, Times Staff Writers
For six months, apologetic Roman Catholic bishops have been describing the church's
sexual abuse crisis in near-apocalyptic terms as "a time of purification."
Now, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops prepares to convene Thursday in
Dallas for the first time since the scandal erupted, the bishops face a day of
judgment.
Bishops' dilemma intensifies as parishioners, abuse victims make pleas to Detroit
Cardinal
Detroit Free
Press
June 12, 2002
BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Teary-eyed parishioners from St. Suzanne parish in Detroit met with Cardinal Adam
Maida to beg for the return of their pastor, ousted in late March amid allegations
of long-ago sexual misconduct.
Five grown men also had a face-to-face meeting with the leader of the Detroit
Catholic archdiocese because their onetime pastor at Our Lady of Loretto in Redford
Township, who they say molested them, had resurfaced as a parish priest.
Group Draws Support Amidst Scandal
Associated
Press
By ROBERT O'NEILL
Associated Press Writer
June 12, 2002, 2:13 AM EDT
NEWTON, Mass. -- In a crowded church basement, founders of a Roman Catholic lay
group discussed the church's future in the wake of a sex scandal, their stated
purpose on a banner above them: "Keep the faith, change the church."
The goal may be monumental but the idea has resonated. The Voice of the Faithful
has grown in just a couple of months from a single parish to an organization with
14,000 members in 240 parishes in at least 40 states and 20 countries.
Retired priest defrocked amid abuse allegations
Episcopal priest Richard Pollard renounces his orders after learning of two men
who say he abused them.
St.
Petersburg Times
By KATHERINE GAZELLA, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 12, 2002
TARPON SPRINGS -- A retired priest who once led All Saints Episcopal Church has
been defrocked because of accusations from two men that he sexually abused them
when they were teenagers in the 1970s.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/12/2002
08:49:46 AM
Past Adviser to Cardinal O'Connor Resigns After Admitting to Affairs
New York Times
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
A bishop who was a confidant of Cardinal John O'Connor has resigned as a pastor
and auxiliary bishop after admitting having had sexual affairs with women over
the course of several years, the Archdiocese of New York said yesterday.
The bishop, James F. McCarthy, 59, told church officials about the affairs after
he was confronted with a letter that the archdiocese received on Saturday, said
Joseph Zwilling, the archdiocese spokesman.
One Priest's Humanity A Clear Signal to Church
Newsday
Column by Ellis Henican
June 12, 2002
When I got the call yesterday about Jim McCarthy, I have to say my first reaction
was relief.
It was grown women this time. Not teenage boys.
I don't want to call that a miracle. But finally, we have a Catholic priest in
trouble, and not just any priest - a popular auxiliary bishop with a big future
ahead of him whose romantic desires turn out to be downright conventional. Grown
women? That doesn't even violate the secular law.
Bishop Quits as Others Prepare to Meet on Abuse Scandal
New York Times
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
A day before the nation's Roman Catholic bishops are to meet in Dallas to debate
how to respond to the clergy sexual abuse scandal that has devastated the church,
another bishop resigned under the shadow of sexual abuse accusations.
The bishop, J. Kendrick Williams of Lexington, Ky., resigned yesterday after three
men came forward to accuse him of abuse from 1969 to 1981. He is the third bishop
to step down this year in face of such accusations in the sexual abuse crisis.
Bishop vows to repay Paterson Diocese for abuse settlement
Newsday
June 12, 2002, 3:08 AM EDT
PEQUANNOCK, N.J. -- Paterson Bishop Frank J. Rodimer has vowed to reimburse the
diocese $250,000 for part of a legal settlement it paid on his behalf to the family
of a young sexual abuse victim.
Rodimer made the pledge Monday night during a meeting with victims of clergy abuse
and parishioners. The session, held at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Pequannock,
was the last in a series of such meetings held in the three-county diocese.
Flocking to Bishops' Meeting
Newsday
By Stephanie Saul
STAFF WRITER
June 12, 2002
As Catholic bishops assemble in Dallas to craft a new policy on the sexual abuse
of children, dozens of church activists are staging a sideshow.
Seizing on a pivotal moment in church history, the activists are going to Dallas
to push their causes, hoping the sex abuse scandal will provide impetus for what
they call renewal in the American Catholic Church, in addition to revised policies
on predatory priests.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/12/2002
08:37:11 AM
Massachusetts priest to battle allegations
Worcester, Mass.,
Telegram & Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw
Telegram & Gazette Staff
The Rev. Raymond P. Messier, who was removed from his parishes in Athol and Petersham
last week after an allegation of sexual misconduct was made to the Catholic Diocese
of Worcester, plans to fight to clear his name...
Family members said at least three petitions are circulating in the Athol and
Petersham area that will go to Bishop Daniel P. Reilly. The signers are attesting
to Rev. Messier's good character and opposing his removal from the parishes.
Rev. Messier, in a telephone interview last night, said he has been told not to
speak publicly on his situation and to refer calls to his lawyer...
He is the first of six priests removed from active priesthood this year to assert
his innocence and try to clear his name.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 6/12/2002
08:21:31 AM Two-thirds of bishops let accused priests work
Dallas
Morning News
By BROOKS EGERTON and REESE DUNKLIN / The Dallas Morning News
Roughly two-thirds of the top U.S. Catholic leaders have allowed priests accused
of sexual abuse to keep working, a practice that spans decades and continues today,
a three-month Dallas Morning News review shows.
Database: Catholic bishops and sex abuse
Dallas Morning
News
In checking whether a bishop had protected priests or other church representatives
accused of sexual abuse, reporters Brooks Egerton and Reese Dunklin relied on
published reports, court records, interviews and church records obtained in civil
litigation. Most protected priests were accused of sexually abusing minors - primarily
adolescent boys, but also younger ones, and a sizable number of girls of various
ages. The newspaper’s study also covered behavior that indicated a sexual attraction
to minors, such as viewing child pornography or, in one case, trading sexually
charged e-mails with someone a priest believed was a minor.
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: Conference schedule
Dallas
Morning News
06/11/2002
The three-day U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ conference at the Fairmont
Hotel will begin on Thursday and be preceded by some related meetings scheduled
for Wednesday.
Here’s a look at the tentative conference schedule (sessions are closed to the
public) and some related activities taking place around town:
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/12/2002
08:15:55 AM Reflections from the eye of the hurricane
National
Catholic Reporter
Opinion By THOMAS P. DOYLE
Jan. 6, the day The Boston Globe published its first major story about the sex
abuse cover-up, was the day the hurricane hit land, but it was not the beginning
of the storm, nor was it the peak moment. The Boston storm has turned out to be
a squall line reaching across the Catholic church. Six months ago few would have
believed the debacle would have lasted this long, but it has. And it shows no
sign of letting up! More and more corruption and dishonesty is being dredged up.
The anger has spread across all stripes of Catholics with the staunch orthodox
as disgusted as the futuristic liberals.
Rest of world skeptical of ‘zero tolerance’ strategy
National
Catholic Reporter
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Reservations about “zero tolerance” for priests who commit sexual abuse are found
across a fairly wide spectrum of international Catholic opinion, according to
sources contacted by NCR.
“A zero tolerance policy is definitely not our way of dealing with human limitations,
fragility and sins,” said Mercedarian Sr. Filo Hirota, a Japanese nun who serves
on her order’s leadership team in Rome.
Central question: Is proposal too tough or too lenient?
National
Catholic Reporter
By MARGOT PATTERSON
Proposals for a national policy on sex abuse are stirring controversy within the
ranks of U.S. Roman Catholic bishops. Some bishops are reportedly finding the
draft document proposed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ ad
hoc committee on sexual abuse too lenient because it does not call for the automatic
laicization of any priest found guilty of sexual abuse...Some call the document
a step in the right direction while others believe the proposals do not go far
enough in addressing bishops’ own complicity in the sex abuse scandal. Still others
say concerns about due process for accused priests have not been adequately addressed.
Cardinal lashes out against U.S. media as it prepares for Dallas
National
Catholic Reporter
By THOMAS C. FOX
NCR Publisher
Just days before hundreds of U.S. reporters and scores of television production
crews descend upon Dallas, an important church cardinal has lashed out against
the U.S. media. Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga bitterly attacked
the press for its coverage of the clergy abuse scandal.
Some church observers have seen this prelate as a potential papal candidate. My
guess is that fewer insiders would share this opinion today.
The secret cause of the sex abuse scandal
National
Catholic Reporter
Opinion By EUGENE KENNEDY
As the America’s Catholic bishops gather in Dallas, this week, they will be under
intense pressure to deal with this modern plague of clerical sex abuse...The secret
cause of this tragedy that has so affected both Catholicism’s individuals and
its institution is the passivity of America’s Catholic bishops.
The Weakland case: An invitation to cast the first stone
National
Catholic Reporter
Opinion by Sandra M. Schneiders
Like many Vatican II Catholics who have looked to Archbishop Rembert Weakland
as a visionary and courageous pastor and leader throughout these difficult years
of postconciliar restorationism, I was saddened and deeply shocked when he was
accused of sexual assault, abuse and fraud. However, as I struggled during these
last few days to think my way through this distressing situation I have remained
somewhat sad but I am no longer shocked. I offer my reflections in the hope that
they might help others in their own struggle and also introduce some nuance and
balance into the understandable disorientation arising from the moral horror and
the sense of betrayal that the magnitude and evil of the clergy sexual abuse scandal
has caused among the faithful.
Lessons unlearned
Church struggle pains La. region stung by abuse in '80s
Boston
Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff, 6/12/2002
ABBEVILLE, La. - Catholicism runs deep here in the land of swamps and bayous...
Nearly two decades ago, the Acadiana region of southwest Louisiana was riven by
a previously unimaginable scandal: a popular priest, the Rev. Gilbert Gauthe,
had molested scores, perhaps hundreds, of children. Church officials had known
about the abuse for years, but had responded to complaining parents by moving
Gauthe from parish to parish.
Today, as the nation's Catholic bishops gather in Dallas, saying this time they
really mean to fix the problem of clergy sexual abuse, the people of Acadiana
are stunned that their Catholic Church seems to have learned so little, so long
after they brought the problem of abuse public, so long after they suffered so
much pain.
Once a Victim, a Priest Wants Zero Tolerance
New York Times
By SARA RIMER
LOUISVILLE, Ky., June 11 — Some boys love baseball. Gary R. Hayes loved church...
The church "was where I felt safe," he said.
He was 15, he said, when two priests began getting him drunk and sexually abusing
him. He had wanted to become a priest since he was a little boy, and so he kept
silent, he said, for fear the priests would get angry and keep him from his goal.
He did become a priest, but eventually he also became the president of a victims'
group.
Teacher pleased with Archbishop's apology
Omaha
World-Herald
BY SUSAN SZALEWSKI
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
The Norfolk Catholic schoolteacher who had been rebuked by Archbishop Elden Curtiss
for reporting a priest to police said Monday that she appreciated the archbishop's
apology...
In the letter, Curtiss apologized to Hammond, whom he had rebuked for telling
police that the Rev. Robert Allgaier, a former teacher at Norfolk Catholic High
School, had viewed child pornography on a church computer.
Curtiss said he was wrong last month in saying that the kindergarten teacher should
resign her teaching job. He also said Hammond was right to report Allgaier to
authorities.
Analysis of Bishops' Draft Statement
Religion
and Ethics NewswWeekly
Comments from by Notre Dame historian of American Catholicism Jay Dolan; Stanford
University chaplain Patrick LaBelle; and Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly correspondent
Judy Valente.
George expecting strict abuse rule
Bishops seen leaning toward zero tolerance
Chicago
Tribune
By Monica Davey and Todd Lighty
Tribune staff reporters
June 11, 2002
Cardinal Francis George and other U.S. Roman Catholic leaders expect the nation's
bishops this week to set stricter policies regarding sex abuse than the ones they
are now considering, which could ultimately mean removal of all priests accused
of even a single, old incident of child molestation.
SPRINGFIELD
Priest, nun back story of abuse
(By
Associated Press)
GREENFIELD - A North Adams man says he told church officials that he was molested
by the Rev. Richard Lavigne years before the priest was charged with sexually
abusing boys and removed from his duties by the Diocese of Springfield.
Justice withdraws from transcript case
Boston
Globe
(By Michael Rezendes, Globe Staff)
An Appeals Court justice yesterday withdrew from a dispute over the immediate
release of transcripts and videotapes of pretrial testimony given by Cardinal
Bernard F. Law and Bishop John B. McCormack, a move that could delay the public
filing of the depositions for at least several more days.
Bishop's joke angers alleged abuse victim
Boston
Herald
by Eric Convey/Boston Herald and Dan Mangann/New York Post
NEW YORK - A former Boston bishop cracked a joke about mentally ill people during
a deposition dealing with the clergy molestation scandal yesterday, infuriating
an alleged victim who sat in on the session.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/12/2002
07:43:02 AM
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
Jurors shown tape of naked altar boy
OMAHA
WORLD-HERALD
June 11, 2002
BY JOSEPH MORTON
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
A videotape of an altar boy displaying his naked body at the direction of an off-camera
priest was shown to jurors Monday in a civil trial against the Omaha Archdiocese.
Daniel Herek, an Omaha priest at the time, can be heard on the tape telling the
boy what to do.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/11/2002
03:29:39 PM
Kentucky bishop accused in three sex abuse cases resigns, Vatican says
Associated Press
Bishop J. Kendrick Williams, accused in three sex abuse cases, resigned today,
the Vatican said.
The bishop, who has denied the charges, has been on administrative leave. The
Vatican said the pope accepted the resignation submitted under church law for
"illness or some other grave reason."
Special Coverage of the Bishops Meeting in Dallas
Dallas Morning
News
Ongoing collection of the paper's coverage of the meeting and related developments.
Security plans all set for conference
Bishops' conference expected to draw hundreds of protesters
Dallas
Morning News
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
Dallas police say they're planning a low-key presence but will have plenty of
resources to manage demonstrators and handle any problems that come up during
the three-day meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops beginning Thursday.
The conference, at the Fairmont Hotel, is expected to attract hundreds of protesters
and more than 800 members of the media.
Bishops may meet with victims group
Abuse survivors have pulled out of suit, could regain invitation
Dallas
Morning News
By SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH / The Dallas Morning News
Talks between Catholic bishops and members of a clergy abuse victims group may
be on, after all.
Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said
Monday that he would contact members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused
by Priests, to "reframe" the planned discussions this week in Dallas.
Many Catholics are hanging on to their faith
Dallas
Morning News
By BILL MARVEL / The Dallas Morning News
It isn't easy being Catholic these days – if it ever was. The wrenching changes
since Vatican II, the erosion of the Catholic school system, shrinking ranks of
nuns and priests. And now the pedophilia crisis.
Still, Sunday after Sunday you see them kneeling in the pews, the steady ones,
the true believers. In the words of Vatican II: The People of God.
4 churches, 1 priest: ministry's new math
Pastor logs miles as he tends to flocks in age of Catholic clergy shortage
Dallas
Morning News
By MARK WROLSTAD / The Dallas Morning News
NEAR STEPHENVILLE, Texas – On a gentle slope between highway and field, a three-towered
house of worship that looks a thousand years old is rising from the dark farmland.
Celtic domes on round stone columns, styled from the Middle Ages, command the
attention of passing drivers and form a new landmark for the Catholic Church in
rural Texas. The building, at once ancient and modern, also symbolizes the contradictory
growth and contraction that have burdened the church for decades.
Catholic membership, fueled by Hispanic immigration, continues to surge in Texas
and nationwide, while the group that leads and serves those parishioners – their
priests – keeps dwindling.
Bishops to decide how to treat abusive priests
Courier
Journal
By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com
America's Roman Catholic bishops will gather this week in Dallas to decide whether
to adopt a one-strike policy that would expel priests who in the future sexually
abuse children.
Down-to-earth state bishop to help broker church crisis
Seattle
Times
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter
After months of revelations and accusations, after sex scandals involving priests
have spread from Boston to Seattle to St. Petersburg, the focus shifts to Dallas
this week, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops begins meeting Thursday
to address the crisis. Standing squarely in the middle of it all will be a former
farmboy from Omak.
As vice president of the bishops conference, the Most Rev. William Skylstad, bishop
of the Diocese of Spokane, holds the second-highest position in the national organization.
He is expected to be elected president once his three-year term expires.
Motive sought in shootings at Missouri abbey
Kansas
City Star
By JUDY L. THOMAS, MATT STEARNS and MIKE RICE
CONCEPTION, Mo. - Authorities were searching for clues why a 71-year-old man walked
into Conception Abbey with an assault-style rifle Monday and methodically murdered
two monks and wounded two others before killing himself.
Man, 71, Kills 2 at Missouri Monastery and Then Himself
New York Times
By SAM DILLON
CONCEPTION, Mo., June 8 — A 71-year-old man wielding an assault rifle opened fire
today in a rural Benedictine monastery in northwest Missouri, killing two people
at the abbey and seriously wounding two others before fatally shooting himself,
law enforcement officials said.
Priest's Defenders See Affection Where an Accuser Sees Abuse
New York Times
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
Danny Donohue was captain of the basketball team, a top student and hard-praying
seminarian on a fast path to the priesthood. Charlie Kavanagh was everybody's
favorite priest, a stand-out athlete himself who inspired dozens of students as
a teacher and later rector at Cathedral Preparatory Seminary.
People in the Pews Speak Out on Web
Newsday
By Carol Eisenberg
STAFF WRITER
June 11, 2002
Every morning around 7 a.m. Paul Baier, 36, of Wellesley, Mass., sits down with
his laptop and a bowl of Cheerios and sifts through a deluge of 500 e-mails from
impassioned Catholics around the world.
There are sad stories of victims of sex abuse, appeals for guidance from people
in the pews who say they feel betrayed by their bishops, and expressions of support
from Catholics from Denmark to the Philippines.
Daily Deposed In Abuse Cases
Effort to uphold Boston deal
Newsday
By Ron Howell
STAFF WRITER
June 11, 2002
Attorneys for scores of alleged sex abuse victims yesterday questioned Brooklyn
Bishop Thomas Daily in an effort to make the Boston archdiocese stand by a multimillion-dollar
settlement.
Credibility at issue as Law heads for Dallas
Boston
Globe
By Thomas Farragher, Globe Staff, 6/11/2002
Cardinal Bernard F. Law, for months at the center of a volcanic sexual abuse scandal,
breaks from his tightly controlled regimen in Boston this week, taking to Dallas
his prescription for easing the pain of a crisis that many critics say he has
come to personify.
A letter to the bishops
Boston
Globe
Column By James Carroll, 6/11/2002
Dear Bishops,
As you begin your meeting in Dallas tomorrow, here are some things that we your
Catholic people hope you bear in mind. First, something about the nature of the
anguish we feel.
What the American bishops can teach Rome
Boston
Globe
Column By E.J. Dionne Jr., 6/11/2002
JUST WHEN AMERICA'S Catholic bishops are sending strong signals that they are
taking the pedophilia crisis seriously, along comes a senior church official to
suggest that the primary problem is not that priests abused children, but that
someone dared to put the story in the media.
Maida searches soul for answers on priests' abuse
Bishops meet Thursday to help guide church
Detroit Free
Press
June 11, 2002
BY DAVID CRUMM
FREE PRESS RELIGION WRITER
On the eve of the U.S. Catholic bishops' summit on sex abuse, Detroit Cardinal
Adam Maida is admitting his own poor judgment and the church's tragic reliance
on flawed advice from insiders and therapists that have contributed to the crisis.
Restoring trust and confidence
San
Francisco Chronicle
Opinion by Archbishop William J. Levada Tuesday, June 11, 2002
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH in America is experiencing a crisis without precedent
in its history -- a crisis that is the result of sexual abuse of minors by priests
and bishops, and also the result of the failure of some bishops and church officials
to deal effectively with these serious matters. These actions have caused tremendous
pain and suffering to victims and their families and brought shame and confusion
to Catholics throughout the nation.
LA's Catholics want tougher sexual abuse policy
Associated
Press
By DAISY NGUYEN, Associated Press Writer
Monday, June 10, 2002
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Los Angeles Roman Catholics hope a meeting of U.S. bishops
this week in Dallas will result in more stringent sexual abuse policies.
Published Earlier:
Un-Orthodox Behavior
Catholicism isn't the only religion with sexual abuse scandals. Three S.F. women
are working to expose cases within the Orthodox Church.
SF
Weekly
BY MARK ATHITAKIS
"These are our files," says Cappy Larson, opening a desk drawer in the attic of
her Haight District home. "Don't look closely."
The drawer is stuffed with folders, neatly arranged. Inside, Larson says, are
letters from the hundreds of people who have contacted her in the past 10 years
claiming they were sexually abused by Orthodox priests.
Monday Evening Update
Pastors urge Southern Baptists to look within before casting stones in sex
scandal
Associated
Press
By Allen G. Breed, Associated Press, 6/10/2002 17:04
ST. LOUIS (AP) With the Roman Catholic Church grappling with how to deal with
child-molesting priests, leaders of the nation's largest Protestant denomination
cautioned their flocks Monday not to be too quick to cast stones.
Historically there has been antagonism between Roman Catholics and the Southern
Baptists. But preachers at this week's gathering in St. Louis of the Southern
Baptist Convention appeared to strike a conciliatory note.
''We shouldn't enjoy this Catholic mess too much,'' the Rev. Bobby Welch, pastor
of First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, Fla., said at a service in St. Louis
on Sunday. ''We're waiting on the other shoe to drop, and when it does, don't
be surprised if there is more and more within our ranks.''
Tracking priests a problem
Maida calls for better oversight
Detroit Free
Press
June 10, 2002
BY JIM SCHAEFER AND DAVID CRUMM
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Msgr. Walter Hurley, Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida's point man in the church's sex-abuse
scandal, picked up the telephone to deliver the latest bad news about an accused
priest to St. Ronald Catholic Church in Clinton Township...Even when bishops invoke
their toughest discipline, some abusive priests keep lurking around the church,
working in parishes and teaching. And, sometimes, they abuse again. The priests
often crisscross the country with little supervision and no national system to
track them.
Survivors of abusive priests struggled for credibility
After years of ostracism, they see fight to reform church as public service
Dallas
Morning News
06/10/2002
By SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH / The Dallas Morning News
In the beginning, few Catholics believed them.Among the doubters: their friends,
their churches and their bishops. Even their own families sometimes distrusted
their stories of clergy sexual abuse.
But somehow they found one another. After nearly two decades, they've become a
strong movement of thousands that would like nothing more than to stop growing.
Many no longer call themselves victims. After years of being ostracized by leaders
in the Catholic Church for exposing priests' sex crimes, they see themselves as
survivors.
To get seat at table, SNAP drops lawsuit
Dallas
Morning News
06/10/2002
By SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH / The Dallas Morning News
A clergy abuse victims' group said Sunday that it's withdrawing from a lawsuit
in hopes that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will reinstate the group's
invitation to meet with bishops this week in Dallas.
Prosecutor won't charge archbishop
Omaha
World-Herald
By Chris Olson
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
NORFOLK, Neb. - The Madison County attorney will not file witness-tampering charges
against Omaha Archbishop Elden Curtiss after a letter of apology from Curtiss
was read during Sunday Masses at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Norfolk.
A rousing send-off for Law before conference
Boston
Globe
(By Michael S. Rosenwald, Globe Staff)
Just days before leaving for a critical meeting of bishops in Dallas, Cardinal
Bernard F. Law celebrated one of his most vigorous and animated Masses in months
yesterday, pounding his fist during his homily and declaring, ''We are one in
the human family.''
Advocates drop suit, seek talks on priests
Associated
Press
(By Rachel Zoll, Associated Press)
An advocacy group for victims of sex abuse by priests said yesterday it will withdraw
from a lawsuit that prompted Roman Catholic bishops to bar them from this week's
meeting about ousting predators from the priesthood.
Little ado over teacher-pupil sex cases
Associated
Press
(By Chelsea J. Carter, Associated Press)
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A California high school teacher runs off to Las Vegas
with her 15-year-old student. A Louisiana teacher is accused of having an affair
with her 14-year-old student. In the Bronx, a teacher is charged with statutory
rape involving a 16-year-old former student.
Miss. conduct: Southern priest-abuse cases haunt Law
Boston
Herald
by Robin Washington
JACKSON, Miss. - A man who says he settled a priest sex abuse suit here two years
ago for $43,000 said yesterday his mother asked Bernard Cardinal Law to intervene
to remove his molester more than three decades ago, but Law did not act on the
request.
Suit pushes for Law transcripts
Boston
Herald
by Tom Mashberg
Monday, June 10, 2002
Attorneys for the church, its accusers and the news media will be in appellate
court today pressing for the release of transcripts of Bernard Cardinal Law's
sworn testimony from last week - material apt to cast a shadow over Law's visit
to Dallas Thursday for a major parley of American bishops.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/10/2002 09:40:04 PM
Monday, June 10, 2002
Monday Evening Update
Bishop Offers 'Sorrowful Apology' for Sex Abuse by Priests
New York Times
By BRUCE LAMBERT
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, June 9 — Roman Catholic worshipers burst into rare applause
at St. Agnes Cathedral today as their bishop finished a sermon calling sexual
abuse "a tragedy of huge proportions that has struck at the heart of the church.
"The soaring Gothic sanctuary here took on the air of a confessional as the bishop,
the Rev. William F. Murphy, condemned the misdeeds of "a few priests" as criminal
and admitted the church mishandled some cases.
Tracking priests a problem
Maida calls for better oversight
Detroit Free
Press
June 10, 2002
BY JIM SCHAEFER AND DAVID CRUMM
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Msgr. Walter Hurley, Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida's point man in the church's sex-abuse
scandal, picked up the telephone to deliver the latest bad news about an accused
priest to St. Ronald Catholic Church in Clinton Township...Even when bishops invoke
their toughest discipline, some abusive priests keep lurking around the church,
working in parishes and teaching. And, sometimes, they abuse again. The priests
often crisscross the country with little supervision and no national system to
track them.
The Bishops and the Vatican
New York Times
OPINION By CARDINAL AVERY DULLES
Although the cardinals and bishops who met in Rome in April acknowledged past
failures in their handling of sexual abuse by priests, they focused attention
chiefly on the future...Will the issue of clerical celibacy arise at Dallas? I
expect that if it is discussed, the point will be to insist on its being more
clearly taught and more faithfully observed. The current rule is firmly in place
and has been reaffirmed throughout the 20th century. Priests who make a firm and
sincere commitment to celibacy pose no danger to society. The problem comes from
the ordination of men who are not convinced of the value of celibacy or are unable
to observe it. In our sex-saturated society it is difficult to transmit the church's
tradition on this point.
Bishops' move: Catholics look to Dallas for answers and actions
Dallas
Morning News
By JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is scheduled to start the most
scrutinized meeting in its history on Thursday in Dallas. More media credentials
have been requested than the number of bishops expected to attend.
One issue has transformed what is usually a relatively obscure annual event: the
Catholic Church's response to sexually predatory priests. Since January, hardly
a day has passed without a new report somewhere in the United States of a priest
accused of molesting young parishioners, often decades ago, or accusations that
the church hierarchy worked to hide the abuse.
Abused as youth, priest speaks out
Asbury Park
Press
By JAMES QUIRK
STAFF WRITER
To the 15-year-old boy, he came as the answer to a prayer. The man was everything
the boy wished to be: dynamic, engaging, intelligent, a powerful speaker. He was
38 at the time and a priest with the Archdiocese of New York, the very place the
young boy dreamed of himself becoming a priest. To the boy, in the spring of 1980,
a door to an exciting new world of possibilities had just opened.
But now, 22 years later, sitting in his office at St. Thomas More Church in Manalapan,
the Rev. John Bambrick, 37, describes the period of time that the Rev. Anthony
Joseph Eremito was in his life as "six months of a living hell." What started
as a friendship, Bambrick says, uncoiled to repeated instances of sexual molestation.
Religion & Ethics: Can forgiveness coexist with justice in abuse cases?
Sacramento
Bee
By Dorothy Korber -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Saturday, June 8, 2002
Crime and punishment, sin and redemption. The concepts are fundamental. When a
Roman Catholic priest molests a child, they also can be contradictory -- creating
a moral morass that might confound a Solomon.
For many Americans, the sex-abuse scandal engulfing the Catholic Church has raised
questions about the role of a local bishop in handling an allegation of sexual
abuse against a priest. Within his domain, the bishop traditionally has served
as prosecutor, judge and jury when a priest is accused of misconduct. But seemingly
just as important has been his role as spiritual shepherd, responsible for ministering
to -- and forgiving -- the accused.
Catholic laity blasts church leaders in report
Chicago Sun-Times
June 9, 2002
BY JULIE PATEL STAFF REPORTER
An overwhelming majority of Chicago area Roman Catholics believe the church has
"completely mishandled cases of clerical sexual misconduct" without showing remorse,
a report released Saturday finds.
"[T]he church has never regarded the crimes seriously enough," concludes "Views
of the Laity," which was prepared by the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago at
Cardinal Francis George's request. It also declared the recent revelations of
sex abuse, cover-ups and legal settlements involving priests nationwide "the greatest
scandal in the history of the Catholic Church."
Ill. Diocese Reinstates Accused Priest
Associated
Press
By Associated Press
June 8, 2002, 8:58 PM CDT
JOLIET, Ill. -- A Roman Catholic priest who was removed from his church because
of a sex abuse allegation has been reinstated after the claim could not be substantiated,
diocese officials said Saturday. The Rev. John F. Barrett, 69, had maintained
his innocence in the alleged incident from 30 years ago. He was placed on leave
last month from the Mary Queen of Heaven parish in Elmhurst.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/11/2002
11:27:27 AM
Sunday, June 09, 2002
Catholics still giving
to charity
Little local, national fallout
Oakland
Tribune
By Michele R. Marcucci
Staff Writer
The Catholic Church's child molestation scandals have made a big splash in the
press. But they seem to be having little effect on Catholic giving.
Catholic Charities of the East Bay is on track to meet its current $1.33 million
fund-raising goal, and the Oakland Diocese has met the $1.8 million goal for
its annual bishop's appeal. And Catholic Charities chapters across the country
are meeting or exceeding fund-raising targets, a spokeswoman with Catholic Charities
USA said.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 6/9/2002
07:37:35 PM