text:
Blog Archives
Father John P. Connor
Father John P. Connor
From the link: http://www.bishopaccountability.org/reports/2005_09_21_Philly_GrandJury/Philly_05_08_Connor.pdf
Vatican: A New Child Protection Strategy Now?
Vatican: A New Child Protection Strategy Now?
by Jerry Slevin, retired Wall Street lawyer
from the link: http://christiancatholicism.com/vatican-a-new-child-protection-strategy-now-by-jerry-slevin-retired-wall-street-lawyer/
Major new political developments worldwide affecting the Vatican may quickly lead to long overdue changes in its flawed child protection strategy. Two important and informed Cardinals, Martini and Pell, one a former, and the other a present, rumored contender to be elected pope, surprisingly and publicly admitted recently, reportedly, that the Catholic Church's decades' old priest child abuse scandal had still not been resolved and would continue to harm the Church, and presumably more innocent children and suffering survivors as well, unless reforms were effected.
Cardinal Martini, who died in September and had been a highly regarded Jesuit scriptural scholar and a very popular head of Italy's largest diocese, Milan, also noted in August as part of his final description of the Vatican's strategic failure to protect children sufficiently, that " … the church bureaucracy rises up …", clearly pointing his finger at the secretive and powerful Vatican administrative clique within Pope Benedict XVI's administration, also called the Curia.
The new shocking announcement that one of Cardinal Law's former Boston canon lawyers is to be the new Vatican prosecutor on priest child abuse cases just reinforces these Cardinals' recent negative assessments of the Vatican's current flawed strategy. Cardinal Law fled to the Vatican in 2004 apparently to escape the fallout from the explosive 2002 Boston Archdiocesan priest child abuse revelations. Cardinal Law's former subordinate replaces the Vatican's chief prosecutor, who was recently "promoted out" to Malta following his "bombshell" public statement confirming the harmful influence of a pervasive Vatican code of silence, or in Mafia terminology, "Omerta", on child abuse matters.
Also surprisingly, in one fateful and unprecedented week last month, Catholic laity concerned about children in different parts of the world directly rejected clear Vatican signals by supporting the re-election of President Barack Obama in the USA, and the establishment of a special national child sexual abuse investigation commission by Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Australia. And now the Philippine legislature has just approved a very popular law to make contraception affordably accessible there, despite strong Vatican opposition.
The Vatican's long time significant worldwide political influence over Catholic voters has already likely ended. External pressures are now mounting for real Vatican reforms. There is set out below a summary of the considerations favoring these major reforms, as I now see them in light on my experience as a Wall Street lawyer over several decades advising up close senior executives in multinational organizations, as well as from my perspective as a grandparent and lifelong Catholic.
If you understand these considerations, you will realize reforms are not only possible, but almost inevitable as more external pressure builds on the Vatican. It seems clear to me as an experienced lawyer observing the Vatican's continuing evasive behavior, often masked by religious rhetoric, that reforms to the flawed child protection strategy will happen mainly and probably soon as a result of subjecting the Vatican to the modern rule of law mandated by constitutional democracies, such as Australia, the USA and Ireland. You can make a difference in influencing how soon the reforms are made by supporting the application of the rule of U.S. law to the Vatican by clicking on and signing the petition to President Obama accessible at
Please avoid being distracted by the seemingly unending "mystical smokescreens" about papal "tweets", papal saint-making, papal books, even about the papal butler and the other obvious papal rhetorical ploys that Pope Benedict XVI's well funded Vatican media team, now headed by an ex-FOX News reporter, spins out on an almost daily basis. Disappointingly, some Vatican based media reporters apparently under deadlines and beholden at times to their onoing sources too often just rehash this typical trivia, instead of either pressing their sources on the really important questions or thinking through the real significance of the dissembling and corruption they see with their own eyes, as the butler has recently confirmed to the world at great personal risk. Apparently, it took a simple, but brave, butler just to get much of the international media to pay close attention, for awhile at least. Now the butler's fate has been decided, while the corruption he sought to expose apparently goes on seemingly unabated and too often unchallenged by the world's media.
PLEASE CLICK on to the above link and read and sign the short online petition. It calls on President Obama to promptly establish a U.S. national investigation commission comparable to Australia's. All of the good reasons for establishing the commission in Australia apply here in the USA as well. There are no good reasons for President Obama not to set up the commission in the USA soon. He has repeatedly acknowledged the need to protect children from violence and abuse. You need to take this unique opportunity to encourage him to act decisively now by your signing this petition promptly; otherwise the petition may be disregarded for insufficient public interest.
PLEASE SIGN the above petition. Please encourage personally and by social media others, including family, friends, neighbors and fellow believers and non-believers, everyone who values children, to sign it also. Anyone 13 years or older can sign it.
PLEASE SHARE and circulate also my broad statement here, POST the full statement or portions thereof on your website and/or INSERT a link to this statement in current and future relevant comments you may make on other websites, as you judge appropriate. This hopeful message of potential reforms needs to get out to make sure the reforms occur.
The major national Catholic social justice movement, Call To Action, has just publicly begun to promote the above petition. Other groups, like the Childrens' Defense Fund, the Voice of the Faithful, the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and the Association of the Rights of Catholics in the Church, are also being encouraged to support the petition publicly in the near future. SNAP reportedly appears to support strongly the establishment of the Australian commission, but seems puzzlingly silent so far on encouraging President Obama to establish a comparable U.S. commission.
President Obama and several key members of his Administration, including his Chief of Staff, his Defense Secretary and his Attorney General, have already indicated recently they are taking some actions to stop the sexual abuse of children, especially in organizational settings. Now President Obama must take the lead on a comprehensive approach. As President, he already has full authority to establish this investigation commission without becoming enmeshed in the inevitable delays of seeking action from a divided Congress.
The rapes of young children secretly in a dark church by a heartless priest they were taught to trust are usually kept hidden for years and understandably get much less media attention than the senseless slaughter of children by a clearly deranged and insanely armed young man openly in a Newtown school he unexpectedly invaded; but they are all horrific and preventable evils for each of the young victims of these unspeakable crimes, for their loved ones and for everyone who cares about children. We must do all we can to curtail all violence against children, sexual as well as gun violence. We clearly have not done enough. You can help by signing the above petition. Please take a minute now and do so.
Will these major political setbacks worldwide for long standing Vatican policies result in changes in the failing papal strategy for protecting children from sexual abuse by priests and other Church agents? What exactly is the current flawed papal strategy? How was the current flawed strategy developed? Will these strategic political failures affect the election of the next pope expected by many to be occurring soon? Will the democratically elected and constitutionally controlled "Throne" now compel the Vatican to clean up the badly soiled and papally controlled "Altar"?
To assess what the possibilities are for real Vatican change in the near term, it is necessary to consider briefly the historical and political contexts in which the Vatican's present internal and external strategies have developed.
The Catholic Church progressed steadily for three centuries after Jesus' death, with considerable theological diversity, independently from the Roman Emperors. Its originally decentralized Church organization generally prospered and expanded under consensually selected local Church leaders, including some women, despite occasional and mostly local Roman persecutions. The Catholic spiritual "Altar" and the Roman imperial "Throne" were originally separate. Individual Catholics had a meaningful say for over three centuries after Jesus on choosing their own Church leaders and on evaluating these leaders' performance in office.
If you were to imagine "playing back the videotape" and interviewing Catholics living in the first three centuries, they would surely have been shocked and confounded to hear how Jesus' simple message of loving God and neighbor that was shared at a common meal with fellow believers had been hijacked by a clique of opportunistic men in Vatican City to serve as the foundation of a too often seemingly profit-driven multinational organization that frequently appears to exist mainly to benefit these men and their obedient, subservient and well rewarded male bishops worldwide.
Following the proclamation of the powerful Roman Emperor Constantine's Edict of Toleration in 313, the consensual Catholic Church the Apostles left behind was rapidly transformed in fundamental ways. Catholics still bear the brunt of some of the adverse aspects of this transformation by force, but that may be about to change. The Roman Emperors and their monarchical successors from Constantine on, in effect, frequently commandeered the Catholic Church, installing a coercive imperial-style hierarchical structure that operated top-down with "good" and "bad" popes for much of the subsequent 1,700 years up until the present, even through the 16th Century Reformation.
A new theological "orthodoxy" was often enforced during this period by imperial force, Church councils were called and influenced by emperors and monarchs and a canonical list of some disparate earlier writings to be included in the New Testament was effectively pressed. The "Altar" and the "Throne" were in a relatively short period generally merged under imperial pressure. Some of these merged elements have remained dominant in the Catholic Church until now in varying degrees continuously, despite the disappearance of all of the Roman Emperors and their monarchical successors by the end of World War I in 1918.
As late as 1903, in the lifetime of a few persons yet still living, the last ruling successor of the Holy Roman Emperor vetoed a leading contender in the then pending papal election. Since 1918, significantly, voting Cardinals have been generally free of outside governmental political pressure in papal elections, further strengthening the residual "de facto" power over popes inherent in the voting bloc held by the large group of Vatican Cardinals. The Vatican administration for the past hundred years has generally operated in Vatican City free of both external political control and internal lay Catholic influence, with accountability to no one as a practical matter.
As an frequently unaccountable hierarchical organization, the Vatican administration during much of this 1,700 year period has spent considerable energy, internally, on struggles for power and control over Vatican wealth and prestige among competing hierarchs and, externally, on interacting politically and sometimes even militarily with competing imperial powers up until the pope's large Italian kingdom, the Papal States, fell militarily in 1870 to Italian nationalists. This resulted, until the late 1920′s papal bargain with Italian fascist dictator, Mussolini, in the so-called self-imposed "papal imprisonment" of the Vatican administration on the 100+ acre "campus" in Rome called Vatican City. Significantly, Pope Benedict XVI was baptized and confirmed during the "reign" of a pope, Pius XI, who had himself been born and confirmed in the Papal States.
From 1870 until the present, the rare efforts to replace this coercive hierarchical heritage and restore the Catholic Church's original internal consensual structure, including at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), for example, by changing from a papal hierarchical vertical model to an episcopal collegial, power-sharing, horizontal model, have generally not succeeded. Consequently, internally the Vatican has continued to be controlled since 1870 mainly by a self-perpetuating Vatican leadership group, mostly Vatican based Cardinals.
Operating as a voting bloc, Vatican Cardinals usually have a decisive "de facto" veto vote on selecting new popes. This clique thereby often gets to select on their terms their "man" as pope and also as a consequence to control tightly worldwide Catholic Bishops and related worldwide Catholic wealth through this clique's designated candidate.
Notwithstanding the papal butler's recent valiant and thankless efforts to expose this Vatican clique, Vatican Cardinals will likely soon get to pick the next pope in the forthcoming papal election. "Vaticanista" reporters will try to earn their expensive Roman keep by writing their usual harmless "horse race" stories for docile Catholics worldwide, as "papabiles" strut their red dresses in parades featured on CNN and similar underinformed media outlets. Astute observers, however, will know that the winner will more than likely be pre-determined before the race even begins.
Several efforts of some "progressive" Catholic leaders and thinkers, like Pope Benedict XVI's oldest living former colleague and a fearless best selling scholar, Fr. Hans Kung, to argue for internal structural reforms, citing as support the clear implications of some of the actual decrees of the Second Vatican Council overwhelmingly approved between 1962 and 1965 by the worldwide Catholic Church's Cardinals and Bishops, have often been strongly resisted and sometimes just ignored by the Vatican dominant clique. The Vatican's worldwide network of ambitious academic apologists, some of whom at times talk and behave as if the Second Vatican Council never occurred, often then just echo the evasions of their Roman masters. The Vatican clique's aggressive and long standing intimidation efforts against alternative internal progressive voices have in the past usually limited the impact of these alternative voices among rank and file Catholics.
At present, these progressive reformers, despite the overwhelming evidence from Church history and the Second Vatican Council proceedings supporting their case for reform, have no effective appeal remedies. Significantly, however, many more Catholics are increasingly boldly rejecting the Vatican's and its apologists' contrived rhetoric, are listening to these stalwart scholars' message and are poised to support long overdue Vatican internal reforms. The recent resistance shown by a majority of local Catholics to strong papal political pressure in the USA, Australia, the Philippines, Ireland and elsewhere demonstrates that these reformers' influence is rapidly spreading.
Even now, the current dominant Vatican clique is purportedly subject only to the absolute rule of the 85 year Pope Benedict XVI, although his butler apparently was sceptical about the extent of the aging pope's actual control, it appears. It is clear, in any event, that the dominant Vatican curial clique internally remains unaccountable either to the Catholic laity, to the various Catholic religious orders, to local Catholic priests or, it appears, even to most non-Roman Cardinals and Bishops, despite some of these Cardinals' and Bishops' being at considerable risk of possible criminal proceedings for implementing elements of the Vatican's flawed child protection policies.
For example, Philadelphia's recently deceased Cardinal Bevilacqua, in my legal judgment after following Philly events closely, likely only avoided prosecution earlier this year on account of his terminal illness. Meanwhile, his subordinate, Monsignor Lynn, who said repeatedly under oath at his criminal trial this year that he only followed his Cardinal's orders, sits in prison for child endangerment. Lynn's subsequent Philly boss, Cardinal Rigali, a long time member of the Vatican upper management team, still appears to be in some legal jeopardy. Cardinal Rigali incidentally had also served as mentor for Kansas City's Bishop Finn, who pleaded guilty several months ago to a child endangerment related crime but still remains an active Bishop, and for New York's Cardinal Dolan, who reportedly continues to be a key focus of ongoing legal proceedings related to alleged priest child abuse cover-up misdeeds in Milwaukee.
The Vatican's recent worldwide political losses suggest it may soon become accountable to the democratically elected and constitutionally controlled "Throne" with its modern rule of law, initially at least with respect to the Vatican's failures to protect sufficiently children from predatory priests and to operate the Vatican Bank transparently. This likely new accountability can be expected, in turn, to lead to changes soon thereafter in the Catholic Church's hierarchical structure as well. Cardinals and Bishops worldwide would then likely resist more strongly having their legal and financial protections dictated and/or undercut by octogenarian Vatican overseers, who may be too old to face prosecution themselves and who too often seem incurably oblivious to everyday Catholics' concerns. This is perhaps to be expected from octogenarians who have apparently spent too many years in the unaccountable and almost surreal Vatican bubble inherited from the Papal States and the Middle Ages before that.
Moreover, the new revelations likely to be forthcoming from the new Australian investigation commission, and the U.S. commission as well if President Obama establishes one as he ought to, can be expected to increase significantly the pressure from lay Catholics for more transparency and accountability from the Vatican administration, and from their local Bishops as well. Few Catholics have accepted the flawed Church funded "expert studies" that painted an overly rosy picture of current Church child protection strategy and relied mainly on uneven data that some suspect bishops may have volunteered to share with the well paid experts. In February last at a Vatican public conference, "Vatican invited experts" gave a conservative estimate of over 100,000 youthful victims to date of priest sexual abuse already in the USA alone and still counting. So much for the rosy "expert" studies!
These impending new revelations in turn will likely hit the Vatican administration hard where it often seems to matter to them most, in their pocketbook. More Catholics, many of whom to date still have difficulty facing up to the upsetting reality of priest sexual abuse of children, would likely decrease even further their financial contributions to the Church and its institutions. Moreover, many more of them would also likely object more strenuously to large governmental subsidies to Vatican dominated institutions, like hospitals and universities, that can be operated in most cases at least as effectively without the Vatican's almost superfluous "product brand" plastered on them.
These Catholic institutions will also likely face additional public objections from their employees and others over the Vatican's continuing cynical U.S. presidential election year ploy to deny these employees contraceptive health insurance to try to undercut President Obama and other Democrats with some Catholic voters. And, surely, even fewer young Catholics born in the U.S. will be interested in becoming priests, compounding the severe and growing shortage of U.S. born candidates that is contributing to many Church closures. Imported foreign seminarians and priests, however well intentioned, have not satisfactorily closed and cannot close this gap. Moreover, several dozen of these foreign priests have reportedly fled the USA after being accused of sexual misdeeds, usually involving minors.
Also, the HBO worldwide cable network's airing in a few weeks of the new award winning documentary, "Mea Maxima Culpa", about the alleged sexual abuse of over 200 deaf boys in Milwaukee by a single priest that was, in effect, covered-up for decades in Milwaukee and Rome, as well as the public release shortly of the Los Angeles Archdiocesan abuse files related to the $660 million Archdiocesan priest child abuse legal settlements, can both be expected to add considerably to the escalating public pressure for more Vatican transparency and accountability to the rule of law.
Moreover, the potential prosecution for child endangerment in the near term of some Cardinals and Bishops worldwide, a not unlikely scenario, would surely sweep away quickly many of the specious "traditional" arguments about the "immutability" of the current hierarchical structure of the "Vicar of Christ" and the "successors to the Apostles" and the related purported historical impossibility of making changes to the Catholic Church's imperially mandated structure. Popes did a U-turn by prohibiting slavery after permitting it for centuries. Restoring the original consensual Church organizational structure in the Internet Age is scriptural, theologically and practically achievable and much more consistent with Jesus' mandate that the "last shall be first" than the current hierarchical structure is.
As my high school chum, Rudy Guiliani, proved in challenging the Mafia as a brave Federal prosecutor, when the prosecutorial heat rises against an entrenched group, as is beginning to happen, prior precedents suggest it rapidly becomes "every man for himself". Philly's Monsignor Lynn recently learned this when reportedly Archbishop Chaput, likely with Cardinal Rigali's concurrence, apparently underfunded the sums needed to pay Monsignor Lynn's lawyers for a credible appeal of his conviction. Let all non-bishop clerics working for bishops note this well. They will likely be on their own if prosecuted!
In the Vatican's external political relations since the late 1920′s, beginning with its relations with its early modern political allies, including "elected" fascist dictators, Mussolini, Hitler and Franco, then continuing through the 20th Century with the Vatican's relations with (1) numerous Latin American, African and Asian leaders, also often "elected" dictators, (2) American presidents, especially right-wing Republican ones, beginning with President Reagan, and (3) these leaders' wealthy plutocratic supporters, the Vatican's policy has been customarily to "exchange" papal electoral support locally for specific national candidates in exchange (A) for governmental financial subsidies and special privileges for the local national Catholic Church and its controlled institutions and for donations from wealthy Catholic plutocrats, and (B) "de facto" legal protection for the Vatican administration from any significant application of the international rule of law to either the Vatican's Roman or worldwide operations.
Shrewdly, this local papal electoral support has usually been "wrapped" in a country-specific wedge issue, as was just done, albeit very unsuccessfully, in the USA elections with the anti-contraception and anti-gay marriage issues. This basic, century-old Vatican external political strategy just failed spectacularly last month in the USA and Australia and this week in the Phillipines, raising now great pressure on the Vatican to changes its external strategy, which may very well trigger changes in internal strategy as well. It is becoming increasingly clearer, to me at least, that a key reason the Vatican clique pushes "sexual" and "gender" legal issues so strongly is that it gives them a "hook" for Catholic voters in national political campaigns, thereby creating electoral "value" for the Vatican to "trade" to political leaders and their wealthy plutocratic supporters in democracies with a significant bloc of Catholic voters.
Will the Vatican change these strategies now? Could these strategies even be changed now as a new pope is apparently to be elected soon, probably pre-selected by the current powerful Vatican Cardinals with their effective veto voting bloc? And what if the Vatican fails to change these strategies? Will governmental investigations in Australia, Ireland, the USA, and likely many more countries soon effectively force the Vatican to change fundamentally under the threat of international law enforcement?
The Catholic Church is at a critical crossroad. Can the spiritual "Altar" and the papal "Throne" again be separated as they were fruitfully under the Apostles and for three centuries following? In theory, there is no valid reason why a decentralized Church free of political alliances could not be effective, indeed more effective, in the Internet Age. Of course, that structure would likely reduce the power, wealth and prestige of the Vatican clique. Will the modern constitutionally controlled secular Throne's application of the international rule of law to the Vatican compel the cleansing of the imperial Altar and also bring about long overdue internal Church reforms?
It is remarkable that the Church began last month a laity-supported and irreversible "great escape" from this imperial medieval capitivity. The laity appear mainly motivated by a desire to benefit existing and future children, millions of whom suffer often as unplanned children of parents who cannot afford to raise them decently. Many children are also too often subjected to sexual abuse by priests whom the innocent children have been told by their parents to trust.
This "great escape" began as mentioned above during the historic week that commenced on November 6, 2012 with U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election with majority Catholic voter support despite papal opposition over contraception, and ended on November 12, 2012 with Australia's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard's call for an Australian royal commission to investigate organizational child sexual abuse, including in the Catholic Church, despite much papal opposition earlier, but with overwhelming Catholic laity support.
The U.S. November 6 "contraception insurance victory" for President Obama and the simultaneous resounding defeat of anti-gay marriage initiatives, followed quickly by the Philippine legislature's approval, again over papal objections but with widespread lay Catholic support, for providing broad access to affordable contraception, will likely reduce the frequency of U.S. and Philippine couples either having children they cannot afford or having to consider whether to seek an abortion. These are just plain facts demonstrated widely. The Vatican may claim otherwise and push some rear-guard action to save face and maintain the illusion of having political clout to "exchange", but it has already lost the contraception and gay marriage legal wars as a practical matter.
The unprecedented and powerful Australian investigation commission will likely, as noted above, lead to the disclosure of many of the Catholic Church's secret files on predatory priests and bishops' mismanagement of them. This, in turn, will likely further alienate the worldwide Catholic laity and raise demands for effective hierarchical accountablity structures, perhaps just as the prospect of electing a new pope soon approaches. Perhaps enough voting Cardinals will wake up and smell the coffee, for their own sake at least.
Moreover, in the U.S., President Obama has also recently as reported above been publicly petitioned to set up a similar investigation commission, while President Obama's Chief of Staff, Jack Lew, an orthodox Jew, just blasted Jewish educational leaders in New York on the need to protect children from sexual predators in religious educational settings.
Reportedly, President Obama's Chief of Staff added, "Across this country in recent years, we have seen too much evidence of inappropriate behavior at too many institutions responsible for nurturing our children, …" adding, "…We can and must take a stand against it, promote awareness, set up preventative measures and openly address concerns as they arise."
This follows President Obama's several reported statements after the Penn State/Sandusky scandal erupted, as recently as last summer, that the protection of children from sexual abuse is more important than institutions.
A few days ago, the President reportedly apparently even bypassed his own Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, and went directly to the Army Secretary, an unusual move, to stress the importance of protecting children from abuse following revelations of numerous persons with police records, including some with sexual assault charges, working at a day care center on a Washington, D.C. area military base. Two of these persons have reportedly already even been charged with abusing children at the center. Clearly, the President is being very proactive here to protect children from organizational abuse. A stark contrast to Pope Benedict XVI's approach.
Secretary Panetta has now ordered a complete review of child care personnel policies on military bases. As a former member of the U.S. Bishops' original 2002 Child Protection Board, Secretary Panetta knows well the need to have tight procedures to curtail abuse. He presumably saw how U.S. Bishops have evaded accountability under their own 2002 Charter.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Holder has recently announced an international coalition against the sexual exploitation of children using the Internet. He has also pushed cases where Federal prosecutors have a present jurisdictional basis, including interstate sexual assaults involving children and child pornography cases. It is a good start, but more is needed, so please sign the above petition.
In late October, only a few weeks before the remarkable week of November 6-12, numerous carefully selected worldwide Cardinals and Bishops had met at the Vatican at a papally orchestrated week-long Vatican Synod on Evangelization that barely mentioned child sexual abuse. Some U.S. hierarchs there appeared to operate on the expectation that President Obama would not be re-elected. What a monumental difference a few weeks makes!
As alluded to above, following the loss of the Papal States in 1870 and several disasterous wars in Europe that by 1945 ended all other absolute monarchies in Europe and the fascist dictatorships in Germany and Italy that popes had initially facilitated, Pope John XXIII in 1961, the year of President Obama's and Prime Minister Gillard's birth, signed the call for the Second Vatican Council. Pope John apparently hoped with the Council to lead the Catholic Church to adjusting internally and externally to a new world of democratic and constitutionally controlled nations.
Following the several decades long withdrawal from most international political matters after the 1870 loss of the Papal States, the Vatican had adopted, as described above, beginning in the late 1920′s a new geo-political stategy of providing Vatican support in fledgling Western democracies to opportunistic leaders, like Mussolini, Hitler and Franco, in exchange for subsidies and privileges for the local national Catholic Church. Pope John XXIII, a seasoned world diplomat, knew the Vatican had to adjust to modern realities, but died in 1963 before he could achieve his goal. The Vatican cliques with their papal election veto then regained their dominant position and have since the 1960′s generally frustrated many of the structural reforms the Second Vatican Council had tried to initiate.
Cardinal George Pell, Australia's prominent Cardinal, has been considered by some informed sources as a top prospect to be elected pope in the next papal election expected to be held soon. After spending considerable time in late October in Rome with the Pope and numerous other top Cardinals and Bishops at the lengthy Evangelization Synod that was mainly silent on the priest child sex abuse scandal, Cardinal Pell indicated unexpectedly in a public speech earlier this month that the criminal moral cancer of sexual abuse of children by priests is the most important and powerful barrier to Catholic evangelization at present. As Cardinal Pell now faces an unprecedented Australian national governmental commission to investigate thoroughly organizational child sexual abuse in Australia, including in the Catholic Church, he surprisingly admitted in his speech that the Catholic Church has failed to deal effectively with some predatory priests and to help enough abuse victims heal. He further acknowledged that much more needs to be done in the child protection area.
Amazingly, as mentioned, the Evangelization Synod orchestrated by the Pope in late October barely mentioned the child abuse scandal. What may have caused Cardinal Pell so suddenly to "get religion" on abuse matters? Evidentally, Cardinal Pell is very concerned about the unprecedented investigation commission, and he should be from all indications. So should Pope Benedict XVI.
A brave New York mother who lost her brother to child abuse has filed recently an online White House petition mentioned above to have President Obama set up a similar US commission. A U.S.commission would likely affect U.S. Cardinals as much as the upcoming Australian commission has affected Cardinal Pell, who now publicly endorses the commission he was unable to stop.
Cardinal Pell's quick "conversion" raises questions of where Pope Benedict VI now stands. The October Synod seemed to indicate that the Pope will continue mainly to avoid the abuse scandal.The continuation of Kansas City's Bishop Finn after his child endangerment conviction suggests continuing Vatican stonewalling. Moreover, the appointment of Cardinal Law's former canon lawyer as chief Vatican abuse case prosecutor suggests more of the same.
Pope Benedict XVI is generally publicly elusive, doesn't give journalists regular access and often clouds his carefully drafted statements, and now "Tweets", with mystical smokescreens. But he has given some clear indications of his ongoing strategy on predatory priests, especially by some of his consistent actions and failures to act, including the recent Synod, Bishop Finn's retention and his new chief prosecutor appointment. What might the Pope's current strategy be?
Pope Benedict XVI, in his occasionally candid "My Vatican" video of a few years ago available readily on YouTube, volunteered the surprising admission that Vatican officials operate not very differently or more mysteriously than executives of major corporations. In a similar corporate vein, the pope's long time doctrinal enforcement official, Cardinal Levada, in attempting to justify his recent carefully planned attack on U.S. Sisters, indicated in a recent interview that the Sisters were not properly presenting the Catholic Church's "product identity", pure corporate jargon.
Picking up on the Pope's and Cardinal Levada's useful admissions, one may justifiably ask what are the Vatican's "corporate" structure, strategy, product identity and market position?
Cardinal Levada, for example, tried cutely to identify the Sisters' "product" with the "Gospel according to Maureen Dowd". She, of course, is the outspoken Catholic columnist at the New York Times whom Levada had earlier referred to as a "silly parrot", perhaps because of her red hair and her propensity to soar verbally to peck holes so effectively in papal hot air balloons. Certainly, neither she nor the Sisters are silly!
For many US Catholics, Maureen Dowd's and American Sisters' "Gospel" is often much closer to Jesus' Gospel than the corporate Gospel too often followed by the Pope and his other Vatican officials, most recently in the US presidential elections. The effective reporter and author, Jason Berry, has just convincingly shown in his "New Inquisition" articles that the three U.S. Bishops investigating the Sisters, as well as Cardinal Levada, are hypocritically carrying some of their own heavy baggage from their own different failures to address the child abuse scandal.
Cardinal Levada's chauvinistic and gratuitous attack on American Sisters, and his premeditated pivot to Maureen Dowd as almost a feminine Martin Luther-type protestor, provide interesting perspectives on Vatican officials' view of competent Catholic women. The Vatican's nearly obsessive fear of Maureen Dowd's pointed and incisive New York Times columns, especially, gives some indication of what "Women Bishops" will inevitably have to face from the Vatican's exclusively male officials, which confrontation will likely occur much sooner than the Vatican may now be expecting.
Given the way the Nuns on the Bus easily outdistanced the Popemobile in the recent US electoral races, the sheltered Vatican administration with their chauvinistic attitudes have some good reason to fear sharing power with competent Catholic women. These brave women clearly seem less likely than many male bishops to be cowered into secrecy by threats of abrupt removal or to serve as papal puppets in exchange apparently mainly for a larger piece of the Catholic Church's financial pie.
Is Pope Benedict XVI fallible here? Certainly. Before considering the papally admitted potential parallels of the Vatican's approach to structure, strategy, product identity and market position to those of multinational corporations, one fundamental and clear difference must be emphasized. The Vatican uniquely operates secretly without accountability either internally to shareholder oversight or externally to regulatory oversight. In some ways, for example in its priest child abuse cover-up and its financial banking scandals, the Vatican seems at times to operate as a "rogue nation" accountable to no one internally or externally.
In my three decades representing many multinational corporations, I observed up close some top executives who would have envied greatly the Vatican's secretive unaccountabilty, but that corporate battle was effectively lost years ago in constitutional democracies by subjecting corporate executives to the rule of law in a global regulatory environment.
The Pope's revealing "corporate admission" that suggests one can view the Vatican similarly to corporate models provides a very useful way of analyzing the current Vatican's approach to the Catholic Church's "corporate" stucture, strategy, product identity and market position, which also sheds much light on the its flawed child protection strategy.
The Church's corporate structure is analytically fairly simple. At the top is a pope who is "chief executive officer", supreme legislator and top judge for life. In practice, papal decisions appear often to be influenced strongly, if not at times controlled by, senior Vatican Cardinals, especially the Secretary of State, currently Cardinal Bertone, who succeeded Cardinal Sodano, who appears still to be influential. Both of these Cardinals have reportedly been linked to several long standing scandals; Bertone to the Vatican Bank and a Milan hospital scandals and Sodano to the Mexican child sex abuser, Fr. Maciel, who eluded Vatican investigators for almost a half century by, among other things, reportedly frequently sprinkling large cash payments to powerful members of the Vatican clique.
The Pope, with his Vatican management team, controls Church canon law and judicial proceedings, and selects and controls worldwide Catholic bishops, who can be removed promptly by the pope. Priests and male and female members of religious orders are controlled directly by local Bishops and/or Vatican managers who direct the orders' superiors. Any who deviate from currently favored Vatican theological or even political positions are generally disciplined promptly, often harshly and unfairly.
Pope Benedict XVI's strategy appears targeted at maintaining maximum obedience to current papal theological, ecclesiastical and political positions. Opposing positions are at best given lip service, with the result that millions of Catholics, including priests, have left the Catholic Church in frustation, if not disgust. Some who stay try almost hopelessly and usually unsuccessfully to effect changes by stressing contrary precedents, especially the positions approved at the Second Vatican Council. In theory, clear positions approved by Church Councils could trump a contrary Vatican position. In practice, especially under Popes Benedict XVI and his immediate predecessor, in several crucial areas the Vatican's interpretations of the Council is what controls Church practice, regardless of the weakness of the arguments supporting them.
The Cathholic Church's key "product identity" appears to be to create a "monopoly" on the Eucharist, a central element of Catholic worship at the Mass, and on the all male celibate priesthood currently needed to offer the Eucharist worldwide, subject to the control of Bishops and ultimately the Vatican. A common meal of fellow believers in Jesus' time, at least occasionally overseen by women, has become the central "unique product" in the Vatican's "marketing" strategy. The pope and his Vatican management team, through numerous "theological" and liturgical statements, seeks to protect and preserve the Vatican's monopoly here, but need a sufficient number of obedient priests to offer the "product".
The Vatican seeks zealously to preserve its worldwide "market position" by protecting its "monopoly" on the Eucharist and on the requisite male priesthood against other Christian religious traditions externally and against alternative viewpoints internally, especially espoused often from women seeking admission to the priesthood.
While millions of Catholics have left the Church in rejection of the Vatican's positions and approach, the Vatican's prohibition on contraception has helped generate millions of "replacement Catholics", born to Catholic couples whether or not the couples wanted or could afford to have additional children. Some of those children who survive, often in miserable circumstances, become future sources of Vatican power and wealth, as well as of new priests to serve to fill numerous priest shortages worldwide.
Against this corporate background, the Vatican has seemed incapable of containing its worldwide crisis of children being sexually assaulted by priests. Priests are needed to offer the main "product", the Eucharist. It take years under current procedures to train young men to serve as obedient and low wage "producer priests". The supply of domestic priests is diminishing in many countries and foreign "imports" have not and realistically in most cases cannot satisfactorily resolve the shortages.
Fearful of permitting priests to marry or to have women as priests, both of which means the Vatican might have to risk being viewed as "fallible" and then have to deal on a equal basis openly with women priests or priests' wives, and even some mothers, on all issues, including child protection matters, and also pay at least married priests higher wages, the Vatican has to date thereby retricted the potential supply of new priests.
Consequently, Bishops are increasingly forced at times to ordain questionable seminarians and still even to retain predatory priests. Philly's Archbishop Chaput is apparently still carrying suspected priests Cardinal Rigali suspended over a year and a half ago. Given this artifical constriction of the already diminishing candidate pool, the prospects are increasingly bleak for solving the predatory priest problem, no matter what the Pope may "tweet" otherwise!
Moreover, the Vatican's "corporate" financial policy seems impervious to the multi-billion dollar continuing cash drain from child abuse claims. A continuing revenue stream from governmental subsidies, docile Catholics' and protected plutocrats' contributions, and Vatican investments and tax free properties, and a willingness to close parishes and schools, makes paying lawyers to protect Bishops an acceptable cost of business, like some financial firms that often treat fraud claims as an acceptable cost of doing business.
Survivors' lawyers seeking usually the most cash for their cients, sooner rather than later, can apparently be depended on to settle claims and keep the bishops' potentially incriminating files sealed if the settlement amounts are high enough. Apparently, bishops will often pay whatever is takes to protect themselves. While this expensive litigation process has benefited a small percentage of abuse survivors, it has not benefited many other survivors nor stimulated the Bishops yet to adopt real accountability measures like thorough independent audits.
In view of the unlikelihood as indicated above that the Vatican will effectively curtail predatory priests on its own initiative, governments need to compel corrective action. Please help this happen by signing the above petition.
Matters described above are readily substantiated on the Internet by entering the relevant key words in Google for links to the underlying news and other reports.
Finally, several excellent and readable books available now or soon in bookstores or online amplify much of the foregoing. Helpful summaries and/or reviews of most of them are presently freely available at Amazon.com/books.
These selective books are:
(1) The Theology of Fear, by Fr. Emmett Coyne;
(2) Can the Catholic Church Be Saved?, by Fr. Hans Kung (forthcoming soon in an English version);
(3) What Happened at Vatican II, by Fr. John O'Malley, S.J.;
(4) Trent: What Happened at the Council, by Fr. John O'Malley, S.J.;
(5) Electing Our Bishops: How the Catholic Church Should Elect Its Leaders, by Joseph O'Callaghan;
(6) Render Unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church, by Jason Berry;
(7) Perversion of Power: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, by Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea;
(8) The Case of the Pope: Vatican Accountability For Human Rights Abuse, by Geoffrey Robertson; and
(9) The Politics of Sex and Religion, by Robert Blair Kaiser, available for FREE as an E-Book at robertblairkaiser.com .
What the Cardinal Knew, Or How to Hoover A Pedophile
from the link: http://www.priestabusetrial.com/2012/04/what-cardinal-knew.html
What the Cardinal Knew, Or How to Hoover A Pedophile By Ralph Cipriano
Monday, April 23, 2012
As the religion reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer in the early 1990s, my assignment was to profile Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua.
At the time, I was negotiating with the cardinal's PR guys for a face-to-face interview with Bevilacqua. The cardinal's men offered some suggestions. If I wanted to do a story about the cardinal, I should see him in action first. They wanted me to accompany the cardinal on one of his famous, carefully choreographed "parish visits."
These were glorified photo ops where Bevilacqua would visit a local parish, say Mass, and then mug for the cameras. It was all part of the cardinal's public image as an energetic, charismatic shepherd out among his adoring flock. The cardinal's PR guys also suggested several priests in the archdiocese who would be good to interview about the cardinal, boosters who would say positive things about what a wonderful job the cardinal was doing to re-energize the archdiocese.
It took months for the cardinal's PR people to settle on just the right parish, and just the right pastor, for the cardinal's parish visit, which would be the subject of photos for a big Sunday spread in the Inquirer profiling the new archbishop.
There were some ground rules for my participation in the parish visit. One, I could not travel with the cardinal; I would have to follow in the car behind the cardinal's chauffeur-driven Ford Crown Victoria. Two, I could not speak to the cardinal unless he addressed me first. And last, if he did deign to speak to me, I had to refer to him as His Eminence. Not Cardinal, not Cardinal Bevilacqua, but His Eminence.
The parish visit went off as scheduled. The parish we visited was Our Mother of Sorrows, an ethnic Slavak church in Bridgeport, Montgomery County. The pastor of the parish was Father Stanley M. Gana.
The photos and story ran in the Feb. 7, 1993 Inquirer, including a photo of the cardinal conferring with Gana. The caption: "The Rev. Stanley Gana outlines the day's visits to Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church. The cardinal has made all-day pastoral visits to 185 parishes. His workaholic schedule has given him a strong presence in the community at large."
Here's what the cardinal's PR people wanted me to see:
At Our Mother of Sorrows, after Saturday night Mass, more than 250 people were waiting to meet him. He stood near the free-throw line on a basketball court in the basement.
Women bowed and kissed his ring; men shook his hand. Whenever a child came to see him, the cardinal got down on one knee.
It went on for an hour, with no break. "I'm not tired, the cardinal said. "This gives you adrenaline."
He held one woman's face in his hands as he talked to her in low, soothing tones. Teresa Bokoski, 61, was all smiles when she left.
"He's wonderful; I loved him," said Bokoski, who told the cardinal how she suffered from a panic disorder. "He just prayed over me. His prayer was just wonderful, and he said he would continue to pray for me. And I was so touched. And he asked me to pray for him."
Imagine my surprise when I read the 2005 grand jury report, and saw Father Gana described as the priest who had "sexually abused countless boys in a succession of Philadelphia Archdiocese parishes. He was known to kiss, fondle, anally sodomize, and impose oral sex on his victims. He took advantage of altar boys, their trusting families, and vulnerable teenagers with emotional problems. He brought groups of adolescent male parishioners on overnights and would rotate them through his bed. He collected nude pornographic photos of his victims. He molested boys on a farm, in vacation houses, in the church rectory. Some minors he abused for years."
Maybe the archdiocese or the new cardinal wasn't aware of Gana's reputation? Nope, here what that same grand jury report had to say about that subject:
The Archdiocese had been hearing allegations about Fr. Gana's sexual misconduct since the early 1970s. A seminarian had described Fr. Gana to Msgrs. Lynn and Molloy as "like a sugar daddy, always supplying money and vacations and use of a beach house." A parish priest in Media had expressed concern to the Archdiocese about Father Gana's inviting other seminarians to his rectory at Our Mother of Sorrows in Bridgeport, where he had become pastor in 1986.
During the archdiocese sex abuse trial, it was revealed that Gana's own brother had approached the late Cardinal John Krol and told him what Gana was doing with those boys that he kept on the farm.
The seminarian referred to in the Grand Jury report was Robert D. Karpinski, who showed up in court last week to testify about Gana's abuse. Here's what the grand jury report had to say about Karpinski, identified in the report as "Tim:"
The Archdiocese responds to a report of abuse by investigating the victim.
Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and other top Archdiocese managers first learned of Fr. Gana's abuse of Tim in November 1991, when the victim was in his eighth and final year of seminary. Tim had not reported Fr. Gana's criminal acts because his spiritual director at the seminary, Fr. Thomas Mullin, had urged him to wait until after his ordination so that he would not jeopardize his chances of being made a priest.
The seminary rector, Msgr. Daniel A. Murrya, however, learned of Tim's victimization and notified Archdiocese managers. He informed them, too, that Tim had told other seminarians about Fr. Gana's abuses, and that gossip about Fr. Gana was spreading among the parishes. Archdiocese managers acted quickly — but not against Father Gana.
In December 1991, the Archdiocese made Tim the target of a full-scale 'investigation' into second-and-third hand rumors of homosexual contacts with another seminarian. The probe, Archdiocese managers said, would decide whether Tim would be allowed to continue at seminary and on to ordination.
Cardinal Bevilacqua himself initiated the inquiry, choosing to ignore the child-molestation charges against one of his priests. Archdiocese managers did not even speak to Fr. Gana for another six months. The investigation of Tim, meanwhile, was conducted by the third highest official of the Archdiocese, Assistant Vicar for Administration James Molloy, and his new aide, Msgr. William Lynn — the same Lynn who had served as Tim's seminary dean.
The true purpose of this investigation, the Grand Jury finds, was not to get at the truth about Tim, but to suppress the truth about Fr. Gana by controlling and silencing the seminarian. Archdiocese managers barred Tim from the seminary and his deaconite assignment. Monsignor Murray, the rector, threatened his friends with dismissal if they associated with him. Those who came to his defense were themselves punished.
According Archdiocese records, Msgr. Murray told Msgrs. Molloy and Lynn that Tim was "damaged goods," that he was "fragile and sensitive." Monsignor Murray warned Archdiocese managers that the seminarian "might sue the diocese for pedophilia.'"
So Archdiocese officials knew all about Father Gana, and they were brazen enough to think that the truth would never come out. They could not foresee the earthquake set off by the Boston sex abuse scandal of 2002, or the grand jury that would be empaneled in Philadelphia shortly thereafter to investigate them. Or the subpoenas that would force open the archdiocese's secret archive files. So they were brazen enough to pose the cardinal with Father Gana at a photo op that they knew would wind up in the Sunday edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
I also mentioned some parish priests that the cardinal's PR men suggested I interview. One of them was Father David Sicoli, who, at the time, was carrying out the cardinal's wishes by consolidating parishes in North Philadelphia. In a story that ran March 25, 1993, I quoted Father Sicoli as one of the pastors on a planning committee in North Philadelphia that was recommending that 15 parishes and four parish schools be closed or merged.
It's a difficult assignment to accept a new job as pastor, and then convince everybody in the parish that it's time to close the doors. But Father Sicoli was up to the task. Here's what the story said:
The Rev. David Sicoli, pastor of Our Lady of the Holy Souls, said that he and his parishioners viewed the merger as necessary so that the church could spend less on insurance, building maintenance and salaries and more on programs.
"Nobody is imposing this on us. We recommended it," said Father Sicoli, who sat on the committee along with six elected representatives from his parish, as well as St. Stephen's and Holy Child.
"We looked at our options and recommended that a single parish be established from the three, with a primary site at Holy and a secondary site here at Our Lady," he said.
He said his parishioners — 340 families in a church built for 2,000 — "are going to be sad. It's similar to a death in the family. But our parishioners here have been so much a part of the process and they're OK with what's going to happen."
Here's what the 2005 grand jury report had to say about Father Sicoli:
Another archdiocesan priest, Fr. David Sicoli, sexually abused a succession of boys, buying them computers, taking them on trips to Africa and Disney World, and giving them high-paying jobs in the church youth group, and inviting them to live with him in the rectory. Victims came forward to tell their stories, preserved in the secret archdiocesan records.
"Other [victims] now grown, told the grand jury that Fr. Sicoli sexually abused them and treated them as if they were his girlfriends," the grand jury report said. "Despite reports in Fr. Sicoli's Secret Archives file of inappropriate relationships with these four victims and five other boys, Cardinal Bevilacqua appointed the priest to four pastorates between 1990 and 1999," the report said.
The results of the cardinal's decisions were predictable. "At each one he [Fr. Sicoli] seized on a favorite boy, or a succession of favorites, on whom he showered attention, money and trips," the report said. "Three of these boys lived with Fr. Scioli in the rectories with the knowledge of Msgr. Lynn," the report said. The priest was finally removed in 2004, after a review board found "multiple substantiated" allegations involving a total of 11 minors between 1977 and 2002.
Why would Cardinal Bevilacqua knowingly consort with two known pedophile priests, and indeed allow his Archdiocese PR machine to parade the two abusers out in public with him? Maybe because the cardinal owned these guys, in the tradition of J. Edgar Hoover. Both Sicoli and Gana knew that their crimes were documented in the archdiocese's secret archives, and that they served at the whim of the archbishop, who, at the scrawl of a pen, could send them packing. So when it came to Sicoli and Gana, the cardinal had them "Hoovered," he had their unquestioned loyalty.
A.W. Richard Sipe is a former Benedictine monk and priest who has researched the sexuality of priests and bishops. On his website, richardsipe.com, he cites two reasons for the blindness of the bishops when it came to the sexual sins of their fellow priests: narcissism, and the skeletons in the bishops' own closets:
More broadly, clerical culture produces in many men an acquired situational narcissism, characterized by a sense of entitlement, superiority, lack of empathy, impaired moral judgment and self-centeredness. Identification with and incorporation into a powerful and godly institution can confer a sense of grandiosity and moral justification for one's personal behavior. These qualities favor a man's promotion within the clerical system.
On his website, Sipe classifies the sexual preferences of American bishops, and he lists Bevilacqua as a heterosexual.
There is evidence to back that up in court records. In 1995, a veteran employee of the Philadelphia archdiocese filed a workers' compensation claim against the church. In the claim, the employee, a devout Catholic who worked in close contact with the cardinal, alleged that he had suffered "serious mental and physical distress" and was no longer able to work as a result of the cardinal's "rude and abusive treatment." In the claim, the employee who was fired after he suffered a heart attack, charged that much of his stress was caused by the presence of women who rode in the cardinal's limo and stayed overnight at the cardinal's mansion. Records showed the archdiocese settled the claim by paying the former employee $87,500.
The employee, the claim said, "was also severely troubled the cardinal's frequent habit of meeting women on airplanes and inviting these women to spend time at the cardinal's mansion … [the employee] was troubled by the fact that Cardinal Bevilacqua would frequently ride with women in the back of the cardinal's vehicle. Cardinal Krol had never allowed women to ride in the back of a vehicle with him."
The employee also "was severely troubled by one woman who would follow Cardinal Bevilacqua to every function no matter if it was a local event or something in Downingtown, or Brooklyn, N.Y. The woman "would have closed-door meetings with Cardinal Bevilacqua after every function. [The employee] was troubled to see Cardinal Bevilacqua meeting with [the woman] on the property at night and also meeting with [the woman] on the St. Joseph's College campus early in the morning."
The employee said he frequently saw the cardinal strolling with "his arm around" the woman, massaging her back and showing her "undue affection." When the employee talked about about the woman to other members of the church hierarchy, the claim said, "various monsignors and bishops would jokingly refer to [the woman] as Fatal Attraction and would jokingly ask [the employee] if Fatal Attraction had shown up at the cardinal's latest destination."
The woman, who drove a car with the license plate "1AB-FAN," showed up for three years at every appearance of the cardinal. The relationship, according to the claim, came to an end when the cardinal told the employee that the phone number of the cardinal's residence had been changed, and he was forbidden to give out the new phone number to anybody.
About This Blog
About the Author
His work has been recognized by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada, which includes The Catholic Standard & Times, the official newspaper of the archdiocese of Philadelphia. In 1999, the Catholic Press Association awarded a First Place for Investigative Reporting for Lavish Spending in Archdiocese Skips Inner City, published June 19, 1998 in National Catholic Reporter. In 2006, the Catholic Press Association awarded a First Place for Best News Writing for a national event for Grand Jury Findings, published on Oct. 7, 2005 under the headline: "Philadelphia cardinals 'excused and enabled abuse, covered up crimes.' "
Cipriano is the author of Courtroom Cowboy, The Life of Legal Trailblazer Jim Beasley, who was Cipriano's lawyer in a historic libel case against The Philadelphia Inquirer over the veracity of his coverage of the archdiocese, a battle recounted in Chapter 21 of the book. His most recent book is The Hit Man, A True Story of Murder, Redemption and the Melrose Diner, about the life and crimes of former Mafia hit man John Veasey, also available on Kindle.
Bishop of W.Va. Catholic diocese accused of abuse
from the link: http://www.dailymail.com/News/201204180090
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A witness in a clergy sex-abuse trial in Philadelphia testified that he was sexually assaulted in a home owned by West Virginia's highest-ranking Catholic official, Bishop Michael Bransfield, and said he was told by his abuser that Bransfield had assaulted another boy.
The 48-year-old witness was on the stand Wednesday when he gave the testimony about Bransfield.
The man was testifying in a criminal trial against Monsignor William Lynn, who is accused of covering up sex abuse allegations for the Philadelphia Archdiocese.
Bransfield has not been charged with a crime.
The testimony came one day after news reports that prosecutors were having trouble getting Monsignor Kevin Quirk, Bransfield's aide, to testify.
Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington said Tuesday that Quirk had agreed to testify in Philadelphia but had to notify Bransfield first. Then the process stalled.
The witness told the jury he saw Bransfield bring several boys to a farm owned by Stanley Gana, a former priest in the diocese, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The witness told the jury the alleged incident occurred at Gana's Scranton, Pa., farm more than 30 years ago. He was building a flagstone wall when then Rev. Bransfield pulled up in a car with several teenage boys.
The man said Gana told him Bransfield was having sex with one of the boys.
The 68-year-old Bransfield, a Philadelphia native, was installed as the head of the West Virginia diocese in 2005, replacing Bishop Bernard Schmitt, who retired in 2003.
Bransfield came to this state from his position as the rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
Bryan Minor, spokesman for the diocese, said that Bransfield was not available Wednesday and that he had yet to speak with him about the allegations.
"The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston is learning of media reports originating from legal proceedings underway in Philadelphia, and Bishop Michael Bransfield's name was brought up in court today," Minor said in a statement.
"Until such time that the facts and issues surrounding this testimony are made fully known to the Diocese, we cannot comment at this time."
The diocese on Tuesday called the trial a "circus" and said Philadelphia prosecutors were trying to smear people who have never been charged with a crime.
Monsignor Edward Sadie, rector of the Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Charleston, had not heard about the testimony concerning Bransfield Wednesday.
"I just find this beyond belief," Sadie said. "I just hope and pray it's not true."
Sadie said Bransfield has been "very diligent" in keeping church officials and parishioners looking out for "deviant behavior" involving children at the church.
He said all church officials and the parishioners who work with children are taught what to look for and are made aware of how and where they should report abuse.
"We have a very strong policy," Sadie said. "He's been very diligent in pushing that policy."
The witness told the jury Gana raped him for years and that Gana and Bransfield were close friends. He said Gana once sexually abused him during a visit to Bransfield's New Jersey beach house.
Another witness testified that Bransfield had a lewd conversation with him.
Bransfield was ordained in 1971 by the late Cardinal John Krol. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Gana was ordained about the same time.
The testimony comes four weeks into the prosecution of Lynn, who is the first U.S. church official ever to be charged over the handling of abuse complaints. Lynn served as the secretary for clergy in Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004 and supervised more than 800 priests.
Prosecutors alleged that Lynn allowed dangerous priests to work with children in the parish to protect the church's reputation.
The church also is accused of keeping secret files dating back to 1948 that allegedly show a long-standing conspiracy to protect priests and cast doubt on sex-abuse victims.
Lynn's attorney maintained that Lynn's job was to oversee the sex abuse complaints but that another man, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who has since died, solely determined priest assignments and transfers.
If convicted, Lynn could serve 28 years in prison.
The other defendant in the trial is the Rev. James Brennan, who is accused of raping a 14-year-old boy in 1996.
Quirk's testimony was sought because he served as a judge for the church's in-house trial of Brennan in 2008. Prosecutors wanted him to testify about the accuracy of statements Brennan made during that trial.
Defrocked priest Edward Avery was the third defendant in the trial but pleaded guilty early on. Lynn and Brennan both pleaded not guilty.
Avery's plea acknowledged that he was kept in the ministry despite an earlier complaint, for which he underwent therapy. He sexually assaulted an altar boy seven years later, he said.
Common Pleas Judge Teresa Sarmina agreed to take up the matter with court officials in Wheeling.
Bransfield has a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's in divinity from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Pennsylvania. He served as assistant pastor at St. Albert the Great Parish in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., from 1971 to 1973. He received a master of philosophy degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1973.
He served as a teacher, chaplain and then chairman of the religion department at a Catholic school in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
He currently serves as president of the Papal Foundation of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., and is the treasurer for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bransfield also is a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
An official with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called on Bransfield to address the allegations Wednesday.
Judy Jones, Midwest director of SNAP, said that in light of the day's testimony, Bransfield, not his lawyer or representative, should address the allegations immediately. She also wants him to agree to be questioned on the allegations.
"This isn't rocket science," Jones wrote. "For starters, there are three simple questions Bransfield should answer: Did or does he own a house with Philly's Father Gana? If so, did he take boys there? And did he molest any of them?
"This notion that Bransfield somehow can't respond to the testimony today in Philly, as his lawyer claims, is bogus."
Jones also took issue with Bransfield's apparent refusal to send Monsignor Quirk to Philadelphia.
"Msgr. Kevin M. Quirk has a sworn obedience to Bransfield," Jones wrote. "Bransfield can order Quirk to appear in court. Bransfield should do that immediately. If he doesn't, that will only add to the doubts about Bransfield."
Founded in 1988, SNAP is the world's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. It has more than 12,000 members.
Gerald T. Slevin, Update–Criminal Charges of Vatican Child Abuse Cover-Up
From the link: http://bilgrimage.blogspot.com/2012/04/gerald-t-slevin-update-criminal-charges.html
Gerald T. Slevin, Update–Criminal Charges of Vatican Child Abuse Cover-Up
Monday, April 16, 2012
Cross-posted on Open Tabernacle, 16 April 2012.


text:
2019 Platform
Redistricting: 13 or More Single Member Districts
The city council we elect this year will redraw the city council districts in 2022. Super districts favor wealthy candidates, and, currently, 25% of our city chooses 50% of the super district representatives.
Call to Action:
- Eliminate super districts and create 13 or more single member districts.
$40,000 Taxpayer Dollars Wasted!
City council voted to and wasted $40,000 of taxpayer funds on a failed misinformation campaign against instant runoff voting.
Call to Action:
- Immediately propose an ordinance requiring any "educational campaigns" on local referendums to be opinion neutral. Any such educational campaigns should require 10 votes from the city council.
- Reduce city council salary by at least $10,000 annually to pay back taxpayers for wasted funds.
Fight Blight!
During my 2015 race, I knocked on all of the doors in Binghampton, and resident after resident told me about blight problems that exist in the neighborhood. Some parents were afraid of their children walking by nearby yards because the grass was so tall that someone could be hiding. We spend so much on development in tourism districts, admittedly much of it with state dollars, but we do not spend enough on our hardest hit communities. That being said, I very much appreciate the Univ. of Memphis law school clinic, for fighting blight through environmental court, and Mid-South Peace and Justice Director, Brad Watkins, for fighting to see revenue collected from banks that foreclose on properties and then avoid paying taxes on them.
Call to Action:
- First and foremost, I believe we should go after the banks and other large companies/conglomerates, who buy up blighted properties but do not fix them or pay the taxes owed on them.
- As councilman, I would propose we offer a tax abatement to property owners who can show they are removing blight from their property. This abatement would likely be limited to 3 years, assuming the property remains up to code, and it would be done using the money collected from the tax collections on bank/business-owned blighted properties.
- The primary target for the above program would be geared towards blighted properties within 300 yards of a Shelby County School, and it would expand out as the program receives more funding.
Support Instant Runoff voting
Memphis voters overwhelmingly voted in support of instant runoff voting in 2008 and 2018, yet, scared incumbents have continually fought against it, including my opponent. Runoffs cost the city roughly $800,000 per every four years, depending on how many runoffs occur in a particular local election year ($1,000,000 every four years according to the 2008 fiscal impact note). The lower turnout in runoffs means we elect our representation in a less democratic manner.
Call to Action:
- City Council and their 14th member, Allan Wade, need to let it go and support the will of the voters by supporting the implementation of IRV. This would eliminate the need for an extra election, and the result would be a more representative city government.
- As your councilman, I would immediately call for the city of Memphis to adopt policy guidance as requested by Shelby County Election Commission Administrator Linda Phillips.
Strengthen the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB)
The current city council has failed to support CLERB. It is not being allowed to function the way it needs to in order to be effective. My opponent was assigned to be the CLERB city council liaison; however he failed to attend most meetings.
Call to Action:
- Subpoena power needs to be exercised by the Memphis City Council when CLERB requests it, and CLERB itself needs to be strengthened since the current administration has failed to allow the system to work under the current ordinance. The May 10th, 2018 letter from CLERB to the mayor and city council lays out options on how to make these improvements, and it should be heeded. In order to bring our community and police closer together, we need a stronger CLERB.
- Stricter body cam policies need to be implemented to prevent the cameras from being left off during incidents between the police and civilians.
- Internal affairs is a conflict of interest within its own inception. Self-regulation does not work. As councilman, I would call for the elimination of internal affairs, and I would call to put the funding towards strengthening CLERB, assuming the votes existed to give CLERB the authority to properly replace internal affairs.
Neighborhood Voice
Too often, neighborhoods and their associations want to be a part of the conversation regarding development projects in their area, but they are out funded and strong-armed into development projects.
I am fortunate to have the advice and guidance of Mary Wilder and other neighborhood leaders on this issue.
Call to Action
- As councilman, I would call for an ordinance that would require developers proposing plans to consult with neighborhood associations. If an agreement cannot be made, my plan would require a super majority vote by the local Land Use Control Board in order to approve the development. This would not prevent most development in the city, but it would allow neighborhoods to have more of a voice.
- Currently, there is no planning commission and the "planned development" route is used to circumvent the meeting requirements. All developments should have to go through public engagement.
- Memphis Office of Planning and Development should provide easy-to-understand information so that all residents can comprehend how proposed developments will affect their community. Not every neighborhood association has the organization and the resources to fight back when they disagree with a proposed project.
Animal Services
My family and I have very different political views, but one issue area we all agree on is animal welfare. I grew up with dogs, Sampson and The Rock, and my father and both sets of grandparents had/have cats (Maxi was the main cat I grew up with). Last year, I rescued and neutered Buddy the cat after he showed up to my house with a massive wound on his chest/neck area. Buddy's surgery cost me around $1,000 I did not have, but when he let out a big meow and fell into my lap post-surgery, I knew it was worth every penny. I have a soft spot for the pets in our community because they give us selfless love, and they are not in control of their situation and lives as most humans are.
One great thing about living in Memphis (TN is falling behind on good animal protection laws; WE lead the state on effective legislation) is that we have some of the most progressive animal protection laws in the state on the books! We have great spay and neuter legislation, a companion animal care law, a ban on the roadside sale of animals, and a law that prevents ex-felons from owning intact (non-neutered) dogs. We now also have a humane nationally recognized animal services that is receiving grants and winning awards.
Call to Action:
- Focus on enforcement of existing laws. Most of the list in my 2015 platform was implemented so now the focus is on making sure those laws are enforced.
- We need to fold our animal control officers into the MPD, and to be responsible for the same response rate as police officers. This could be done with no additional costs to the taxpayer. Our women and men in uniform should not be dealing with animal issues. By making our animal control officers more responsive, we put them at the front of the issues they were hired to deal with, not our 1st responders.
End Predatory Tow Truck Practices
Certain tow truck companies in Memphis have taken advantage of college students and the poor for far too long.
Call to Action:
- Strengthen consumer protections against the towing and booting of vehicles, and require tow truck companies to train their drivers to only tow cars when signs are posted as required by the current ordinance.
2015 Platform (Still Applies!)
Lower Memphians' Property Taxes
We have the highest property tax in the state. In a city, where we are trying to pull people back into the city center, this is unacceptable.
Call to Action
- As your councilman, I will call for a tax on parking garages, and EVERY dollar collected from this tax will go towards lowering your property taxes. Too many people drive on our streets and use our services without paying for them. This will change that.
Choose Memphis
The City of Memphis gives out a lot of contracts. When an outside business bids significantly lower than a local option can meet, we need to take advantage of the savings. However, when there's little to no difference between estimates, we should reinvest our money back into our city by selecting a Memphis based business.
Call to Action
- I will call for a local preference when it comes to city contracts. Let's keep our jobs and our money with our businesses.
City County Consolidation
I know we've had this fight before, but that was when schools were involved. Now that they aren't, we have more reason than ever to end wasteful spending on dual government, which, many times, provides the same services twice.
Call to Action
- I will call for a vote to put consolidation back on the ballot. The last time this was attempted, it was estimated that this would save taxpayers $30 million dollars per year.
Crime and Protecting Our First Responders
In the aftermath of several nationally recognized incidents, our police force is constantly under attack. We need more officers, not less, and we need to make sure they are properly compensated for risking their lives for our safety. That being said, these incidents have caused a breakdown in trust between our first responders and the public, which is why I was the first person in Memphis to call for body cameras on all police officers. They protect the police, they protect the public, and they protect taxpayers' dollars.
Call to Action
- I will call for undoing cuts to police and fire pension and health benefits. They put their lives on the line for us, and, because of this, they deserve a better deal than most of us receive.
- I will call for the proper implementation of body cameras so that they successfully achieve the goal of protecting everyone and rebuilding trust.
- I am already calling for a stronger Citizen Law Enforcement Review Board, which will allow more communication between police leadership and the public. This is another step in rebuilding that trust.
Better use of MPD Spending
MPD takes up 40% of the city budget. Because of this, we need to make sure those resources are properly used. Too often, our well and expensively-trained officers are sent out to check on fender benders, animal control calls, where animal control does not properly respond, and other calls that they are too qualified to deal with.
Call to Action
- I will call for the reinstatement of the police service technician (PST) program, and I will call to greatly expand it. These officers cost less to train, and the program is a great way to attract new talent and give them the experience they need. (Update: This was done after 2015).
- Decriminalize and deprioritize marijuana: Why are we sending our 1st responders out to arrest, jail, and prosecute people over a plant safer than alcohol, medically legal in over half of the country, and recreationally legal in four states and our nation's capital? It costs money to do this, and we should cite and fine people instead of tarnishing their records over a substance less deadly than nutmeg. Let's raise revenue, not lose it. (Update: In 2016, I started a petition, which gathered over 1,100 signatures, and successfully lobbied city council to pass decriminalization. I saved the legislation by informing council staff, when council members attempted to raise the fine above $50, which would have been unconstitutional under the Tennessee Constitution. Unfortunately, state actors, who claim to support small government, voted to take away local governments' ability to decriminalize cannabis. That being said, deprioritization may still be worth exploring, though I would say it is already in practice in Memphis because MPD has bigger problems to deal with.)
While the City of Memphis no longer has a school system, city government can still help keep our streets and students safe.
Call to Action
- I will call for all schools, which currently do not have proper walkways and traffic signs, to install them. Grahamwood, on Summer, is an example of where this needs to be done.
- Proper placement of signs is important too. Right outside of Newberry Elementary, there is an "end school zone" speed reduction sign. This should be moved further since it is encouraging people to speed back up right as they pass the school.
- Another example is the corner of Greer and Carnes, where we need a 4-way stop to protect our residents.
- I will call for speed bumps in front of schools, where they do not currently exist.
- I will call for more crossing guards, and I will call for the additional crossing guards to come from our expanded PST program. An active voter also suggested possibly allowing ROTC college students to participate in this program in order to gain experience. So-called "mob attacks" have made residents scared to even go to their own neighborhood grocery store. A bigger community presence outside of our schools would be a good way to monitor this issue.
- I will advocate for more speed bumps in the University of Memphis area, where speeding and irresponsible driving are a concern, along with drivers and pedestrians who may have had too much to drink.
Memphis Beautiful: Attract new residents and tourists
Perception: My grandfather moved here in 1970 with my grandmother, my father, and my uncle. He likes to reminisce about how beautiful Memphis was then. Unfortunately, flight from the center city left blight in its path, but our city is on the rebound. Perception is reality. If we want this core of the city to rise, we have to take several steps to change our city's infrastructure and appearance. The following are some ideas to implement this change:
- Currently, code enforcement is tasked with tearing down 1,500 abandoned houses each year, yet they are only tearing down 800. Abandoned houses and blight lower the property values of all of the properties around them and they attract nuisances that make our neighborhoods less safe. As your councilman, I will constantly stay on code enforcement to make sure they are meeting their yearly goals. I will work with the district attorney to identify areas that are particularly problematic with respect to illegal activity and make them a priority. (NOTE: This was written in 2015 so these numbers (1,500/800) are no longer accurate).
Code Enforcement
- Memphis has plenty of ordinances on the books to make and keep our city beautiful. Unfortunately, enforcement of these ordinances, which are supposed to make sure people keep their yards cut and their houses in order, have not been properly enforced. We should see this as not only an opportunity to improve the appearance and property values of our city, but also as a way to generate revenue. I will propose an ordinance, which will pay retired police officers and firefighters, among others, a stipend to check on a designated area on a biweekly basis. The first time a violation is noticed, the resident will receive a notice, and she or he will be given a chance to rectify the problem. If the issue is not resolved in a timely manner, then the resident will receive a fine which, when paid, will go to fund more code enforcement efforts.
Activating the TN Clean Neighborhoods Act
- This state legislation, which only applies to certain large cities in TN, can be enacted by our city council on a first reading. If activated, it would allow the city to shift money away from contractors to community and neighborhood organizations, when it comes to mowing the grass and removing trash from blighted properties. These organizations have a vested interest in cleaning up their neighborhoods (not just a profit motive) and the potential to empower their communities by doing so.
Congestion and Parking
- As Memphis expands, parking and congestion will become an increasingly frustrating issue unless we address it now. Our neighbors near Overton Square and Cooper Young have experienced this first hand. As your city councilman, I would facilitate parking by insisting that new developments accurately account for occupant and visitor parking on-site, so we do not use neighborhood streets as de facto parking lots.
Bike Lanes
- In a sprawling city like Memphis, we should encourage, not discourage, alternative methods of transportation such as bikes to cut down on traffic congestion and encourage healthy modes of travel. Where it is not too costly, I would like to see safe lanes throughout the city connecting parks, roads, and destinations. When implemented correctly, bike lanes have the ability to create more parking spaces, protect bicycle commuters, and encourage alternative transportation.
- Memphis' Overton Park is a resource that many residents and tourists enjoy. I'm also proud to say that Memphis has one of the best zoos in the country. Unfortunately, the zoo's popularity outstripped its parking, forcing some to park on Overton Park's historic Greensward. Overton Park is a space for people and nature, so it should not be used for parking. As your councilman, I will encourage the zoo to re-stripe its parking spaces for efficiency and the building of a parking garage that would not disrupt the Greensward or Old Forest.
Removing Homeless Shelter Nightly Fee
- Memphis is the only city that I am aware of without a no-charge shelter for the homeless. I want to remove fees for shelters, which will in turn discourage pan handling. I also want to explore using unused city buildings as potential shelters to the extent that it is needed.
- The Bridge: the Memphis Street Paper is a wonderful organization that discourages panhandling by encouraging homeless people to sell newspapers, which are produced with Rhodes students, for income as opposed to asking for charity. I am proud to serve on its board, and I hope that we can discourage panhandling by empowering our homeless population through the Bridge and other nonprofits that provide them with the means to obtain income on their own without resorting to panhandling.
- We pay taxes to receive a societal benefit. With as high as our property taxes are, the disrepair of our roads is simply unacceptable. As your city councilman, I would fight to repair potholes on major and neighborhood roads, and I would also push for more speed bumps where citizens are concerned about speeding on neighborhood roads.
- While some buses move on major routes/loops, we could set up mini-hubs to support smaller routes, which would make our public transportation system more accessible. If done properly, it would make it possible for us to allow the county school system to drop its bus contracts and give MATA the ability to run the school routes at ⅓ of the current cost or less.
- Memphis weather is unpredictable, yet many bus stops do not have protection from the weather. I would work to remedy that by placing rain shelters along busy stops.
- Pushing MATA later weekend route times could discourage dangerous and reckless driving late at night, especially as other transportation policies emerge making buses more accessed and preferred.
- As your city councilman, I will work to increase and continue MATA ridership however possible. Bus riders are doing our city and our environment a service by promoting and supporting public transportation.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
License # 289922
Your concrete driveway needs to be functional, while also fitting perfectly with the rest of your
outdoor space. From the design to installation, our experienced experts will help you create the
perfect concrete driveway for your home or business.
With an eye on your existing outdoor space and your budget,
the fully authorized and certified, insured and bonded team
at Desert Vista Concrete will give you a durable and
aesthetically appealing driveway.
We can even give your driveway a unique, customized flourish with stamped concrete in a variety of decorative textures
and designs.
Here in the Phoenix and Avondale area, concrete takes a lot of abuse from the elements. As a locally owned company, we understand the unique issues your residential and commercial outdoor space is facing.
From parking lots to sidewalks and walkways, you can rely on our experienced team to provide quality work at affordable prices.
Learn more about
our concrete
driveway services.
Choose from a unique selection of colors and styles. Concrete curbing and concrete patio services are also available.