By James E. Connell, JOurnal Sentinel Oct. 24, 2011 An excellent opportunity exists for the Catholic bishops in the United States to begin rebuilding the people's trust in them that has been severely damaged because of the Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis. This opportunity is found in the audit process to verify that each diocese actually is in compliance with the requirements of the charter that was originally established by the bishops in 2002 to enhance the protection of children from sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Remember, whether committed by force or by seduction, every act of sexual abuse of a minor by a priest is a crime, both in civil law and in church law. So in discussing sexual abuse of minors by priests, we are not talking about the actions of schoolyard bullies. We are talking about the actions of criminals. This must be the starting point for addressing this crisis and scandal in the church. Therefore, the audit process is a critical component in the church's effort to protect children and young people. Here are six concrete steps to improve the audit process to verify that each diocese in the United States actually complies with the charter.
The Catholic Church And Child Abuse: Deja Vu All Over Again
Catholic Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City has just been indicted for failure to report suspected child abuse. The offender, one of his priests, apparently was a photographer of some considerable energy. According to the indictment, as reported by the New York Times, the bishop for some six months failed to report evidence found on the priest's laptop, and thus he is charged with ignoring "previous knowledge regarding Father Rattigan and children; the discovery of hundreds of photographs of children on Father Rattigan's laptop, including a child's naked vagina, upskirt images and images focused on the crotch; and violations of restrictions placed on Father Rattigan." Apparently during the six months, the priest went to children's parties, hosted an Easter egg hunt and presided -- with the bishop's permission -- at the first communion of a young girl. The bishop is fighting back. "We will meet these announcements with a steady resolve and a vigorous defense." No one is guilty until judged by their peers, but one gathers that the facts of the matter are not really in dispute. The question is whether the bishop is legally liable. Apparently a police officer was told about one of the pictures and opined that (even though the kid was naked from the waist down) he did not think that it would meet the definition of child pornography and that was that for six months. In a way, this sort of thing has become so common that one is almost inclined to read with a sigh and turn away to other things. Which of course is precisely the action we must not have. Wickedness never ends and we must be ever vigilant. Edmund Burke was right: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Thank goodness the legal authorities in Kansas City are doing their duty and making sure that whatever has happened it is brought into the light and the guilty punished. And even if the guilty are not necessarily found legally culpable, then they are still shown to be morally guilty and deserving of condemnation. And thank goodness the legal authorities are recognizing that those in charge have responsibility, especially if through their actions they allow bad states of fares to persist.
Bishop Indicted; Charge Is Failing to Report Abuse
New York Times, by A.G. Sulzberger and Laurie Goodstein
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A bishop in the Roman Catholic Church has been indicted for failure to report suspected child abuse, the first time in the 25-year history of the church's sex abuse scandals that the leader of an American diocese has been held criminally liable for the behavior of a priest he supervised. The indictment of the bishop, Robert W. Finn, and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph by a county grand jury was announced on Friday. Each was charged with one misdemeanor count involving a priest accused of taking pornographic photographs of girls as recently as this year. They pleaded not guilty.
Sexual Abuse Resource Center for Reardon Cases
Tremont Sheldon Robinson Mahoney Announces Website Resource for Dr. George Reardon of St. Francis Hospital Cases
Tremont Sheldon Robinson Mahoney Announces dedicated website resource for Dr. George Reardon of St. Francis Hospital Cases. This Resource provides not only a summary of the $2.75 million jury award in the Tim Doe case, but also news articles and video related to the case and sexual abuse resources for victims. The webpage will be continually updated with the latest Reardon Case news. The web page can be found at: /Sexual-Abuse/ Tremont Sheldon Robinson Mahoney have been leaders in the advocacy of childhood sexual abuse victims. To date, Tremont Sheldon Robinson Mahoney has represented well over 100 victims of childhood sexual abuse against area dioceses and many more against other institutions including schools. Many of the resolutions to these claims have been confidential. Some of the public resolutions included the following: In March of 2001, Tremont Sheldon Robinson Mahoney reaches a confidential global settlement with the Diocese of Bridgeport and its predecessor bishop, Cardinal Edward Egan. In October of 2003, Tremont Sheldon Robinson Mahoney reaches a 21 million dollar global settlement with the Diocese of Bridgeport on behalf of another group of victims. In October of 2005, Tremont Sheldon Robinson Mahoney reaches its first global settlement with the Archdiocese of Hartford. This is a 22 million dollar settlement where Tremont Sheldon Robinson Mahoney represents 15 of the 43 victims.
Abuse Victims Ask Court to Prosecute the Vatican
New York Times, September 13, 2011 By LAURIE GOODSTEIN Human rights lawyers and victims of clergy sexual abuse filed a complaint on Tuesday urging the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate and prosecute Pope Benedict XVI and three top Vatican officials for crimes against humanity for what they described as abetting and covering up the rape and sexual assault of children by priests. The formal filing of nearly 80 pages by two American advocacy groups, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, was the most substantive effort yet to hold the pope and the Vatican accountable in an international court for sexual abuse by priests. "The high-level officials of the Catholic church who failed to prevent and punish these criminal actions," the complaint says, "have, to date, enjoyed absolute impunity." A spokeswoman at the court said the prosecutor's office would examine the papers, "as we do with all such communications." The first step will be "to analyze whether the alleged crimes fall under the court's jurisdiction," Florence Olara, the prosecutor's spokeswoman said.
The Catholic Church's Secret Sex-Crime Files
How a scandal in Philadelphia exposed documents that reveal a high-level conspiracy to cover up decades of sexual abuse
Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, the former Archbishop of Philadelphia, was involved in the cover-up of multiple incidents of sexual abuse. The five co-defendants sit close enough to shake hands in the Philadelphia courtroom, but they never once acknowledge one another. Father James Brennan, a 47-year-old priest accused of raping a 14-year-old boy, looks sad and stooped in a navy sweater, unshaven and sniffling. Edward Avery, a defrocked priest in his sixties, wears an unsettlingly pleasant expression on his face, as though he's mentally very far away. He and two other defendants - the Rev. Charles Engelhardt, also in his sixties, and Bernard Shero, a former Catholic schoolteacher in his forties - are accused of passing around "Billy," a fifth-grade altar boy. According to the charges, the three men raped and sodomized the 10-year-old, sometimes making him perform stripteases or getting him drunk on sacramental wine after Mass.
