Failure to report sex abuse in Chicago archdiocese described

[recondelta]

Yet another chapter in the sad – and unending – saga of the Church’s unforgivable mishandling of priest/pedophiles was recently reported, this time in Chicago where a multi-million dollar settlement in several sex abuse cases has been reached.

chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-catholic-sex-abuse-settle-22jul22,0,5067268.story

The deposition given by (retired) Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Goedert, who was Vicar for Priests during the time of the abuses (see below), is lengthy – almost 300 PDF pages – but the conclusions are quite clear and provide yet another example of the callous attitude of our Church toward the victims of priest/pedophiles. The remarks of one of the plaintiff attorneys cut right to the chase: “What emerges here is that the interests of the institution come first, then the man, the perpetrator of crime,” Pearlman said. “And somewhere in the distance [are] the victims of the crime. Their priorities are in the wrong order.” Unfortunately, this attitude has characterized the behavior of the Church is just about every case that has appeared in the press.

archstreaming.us/Deposition072109/BishopGoedertDeposition.pdf

What makes all this so unforgivable is that the Church knew over 50 years ago that its programs for “treating” priest/pedophiles were not working.

ncronline.org/news/accountability/bishops-were-warned-abusive-priests

See also the correspondence of Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, the founder of the Servants of the Paraclete, an order established in 1947 to deal with problem priests. Any vice cop, or morals cop as they sometimes were called in the 1950’s, could have told them the same thing. Pedophiles are not the same as drunks.

The tragedy of all this, in addition to the physical and emotional abuse piled upon the victims, is that a fair number of them have left the Church. I believe that God in His infinite wisdom will welcome all these victims to eternal life with Him after their time on earth is done. I also believe that He will judge harshly those who have inflicted the pain, both the pedophiles and their superiors, no matter how often they confess, because their repentance probably would not real. They are sorry only because they got caught. At this point, it is worth remembering our Lord’s comments about a millstone in Matthew 18.6.

I am aware of the statistical analysis that indicates that the percentage of priest/pedophiles is within the range of those in other occupations that deal with young people. However, when a public school teacher gets nailed as a pedophile, he ends up going to court and typically serves some time. And he does not get to go back to his original job – at a different location – after he completes his sentence. On the other hand, a priest/pedophile treated via a two-step or twelve-step or whatever program ends up at another parish; i.e., he returns to the pedophile pool. Since such reassignments occurred three, four, even five times or more, with each reassignment the Church effectively unleashes a new abuser on its unsuspecting youth. That makes the initial statistic irrelevant.

Finally, there are people who think the abuse problem should be put behind us and we should move on to other, more important things. We must never forget about the priest/pedophile abuse problem and, even more important, we must never forget the reaction of the Church to the reports of abuse. Even our current pope downplayed them; see for example

smh.com.au/news/World/Cardinal-obstructed-inquiry-into-sex-abuse-says-paper/2005/04/24/1114281450945.html

This abuse is not confined to the United States; it extends across the world. The action taken by the Church’s leaders on the priest/pedophile issue should cause us to carefully consider and even question just about any action that they take on any issues. I personally am greatly saddened that the Church of my youth – I was born in 1943 – that I loved so much, and still do, was even then failing the mission that Jesus gave to Peter when he said: “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.”

 

[puppypatrol]

I am getting so tired of the finger pointing and the unrealistic judgments of others.
You cannot apply knowledge gained after 1990 to actions prior to 1990.

Psychologists and Psychiatrists didn’t know the causes nor the fact it was incurible in regards to pedophelia until well into the 1990s. Prior to that many of the “so called” guilty dioceses were advised by the professionals that the violators had been “Cured” so they were reassigned. The Bishops and the Church depended on the “Professionals” for advise and direction. Some Bishops may have felt that the current treatments of the time were good enough or my not have been working as they would have liked but they were assured by the professionals and could only act with the information they had at the time.

Don’t blame the Church or the Bishops!!! If you want to blame someone, blame science for not researching and coming up with findings fast enough. Many of the Diocese are settling these cases so the victims can begin the healing process, not because they committed a crime. These Shephards, who have given their lives to the service of others feel bad enough but they did nothing wrong. They did what was appropriate with the knowledge available at the time.

People should be more concerned with the approx 60% of all reports of Child Sexual Abuse comitted today by immediated family members; fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Where are the reports of the law suits against all the family members who turned a blind eye or didn’t report it to the police this year. Sexual assault of a child committed by an acquaintence (with includes Priests, Pastors, Doctors, etc…) make up ony .3% (yes, that is 3/10th of one percent) of all reported instances a year. Also, don’t forget that many of the accusations that are made in the law suits files against the Church and found to be unsubstanciated and dismissed for lack of evidence but your don’t see that on the front page of the newspaper for at the top of a news cast.

People who don’t bother to find out the WHOLE truth just want to find something wrong with the Roman Catholic Church so they have an excuse for not doing what Jesus wants and for hating the Church started by Christ himself. People also forget that our Priests are human and they make mistakes. Are we supposed to consider ourselves better than they are and not forgive as Christ does. We should be praying for those that make mistakes instead of taking every opportunity to dwell on and point out the mistakes of other.

 

[Guyonthestreet]

I am getting so tired of the finger pointing and the unrealistic judgments of others.
You cannot apply knowledge gained after 1990 to actions prior to 1990.

Psychologists and Psychiatrists didn’t know the causes nor the fact it was incurible in regards to pedophelia until well into the 1990s. .

If you read the reports link, you’d see that in fact members of the church recognised that there were some who were ‘‘the devil themselves’’ and should never ever be allowed to work in ministry. This was in the 1950’s. Vatican documents show clearly bishops were told catagorically to defrock clerics etc etc but to avoid scandal in the church they were moved. The Ryan report showed time and again that when outsiders working for the orders, like gardeners etc were accused they were sacked and reported to the policce immediately. When it was a brother, priest or nun,it was silenced and they were moved outa town to continue as they were. Avoiding scandal was all that mattered.

Read the reports and the archives, rather than just mouthing off. They knew. It is evidenced and statemented and in some cases a matter of legal judgement. And they didnt care one jot for the victims. Just their reputation.

This is a long video lecture, but it helped me understand why the church reacted as it did.

youtube.com/watch?v=9GV0mAD3en8&feature=related

 

[Guyonthestreet]

Don’t blame the Church or the Bishops!!! If you want to blame someone, blame science for not researching and coming up with findings fast enough.

I cannot believe what I’m reading. It’s not the abusers fault. It’s the scientists fault.

Priceless

 

[Corki]

From the first link:

The six cases involve sexual abuse by four priests between 1970 and 1986. Names of the victims were not released to protect their identities.

So, this isn’t a new “chapter”. It is just resolution of older incidents.

Two of the priests involved in the settlements are deceased. The others have been out of the ministry for almost two decades. The cases were settled through mediation, a key element of which includes public disclosure of information.

Two of the priests are dead, unable to speak for themselves. Yet, in order to settle, the Church’s lawyers took the victims at their word. Trying to wrap this up which is laudable but allowing a deceased priest’s name to be drug through the mud is not.

Reecondelta said:

However, when a public school teacher gets nailed as a pedophile, he ends up going to court and typically serves some time. And he does not get to go back to his original job – at a different location – after he completes his sentence.

And do you realize how new of a development that is?!? As late as the 1990s teacher’s union contracts had clauses forbidding a district from giving dergetory information about a former teacher, even in cases of child abuse or sexual misconduct. Only a huge public scandal about some teachers who were known to be abusers but who moved from district to district caused any change.

 

[WillieWonka]

I am getting so tired of the finger pointing and the unrealistic judgments of others.
You cannot apply knowledge gained after 1990 to actions prior to 1990.

Psychologists and Psychiatrists didn’t know the causes nor the fact it was incurible in regards to pedophelia until well into the 1990s. Prior to that many of the “so called” guilty dioceses were advised by the professionals that the violators had been “Cured” so they were reassigned. The Bishops and the Church depended on the “Professionals” for advise and direction. Some Bishops may have felt that the current treatments of the time were good enough or my not have been working as they would have liked but they were assured by the professionals and could only act with the information they had at the time.

Don’t blame the Church or the Bishops!!! If you want to blame someone, blame science for not researching and coming up with findings fast enough. Many of the Diocese are settling these cases so the victims can begin the healing process, not because they committed a crime. These Shephards, who have given their lives to the service of others feel bad enough but they did nothing wrong. They did what was appropriate with the knowledge available at the time.

People should be more concerned with the approx 60% of all reports of Child Sexual Abuse comitted today by immediated family members; fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Where are the reports of the law suits against all the family members who turned a blind eye or didn’t report it to the police this year. Sexual assault of a child committed by an acquaintence (with includes Priests, Pastors, Doctors, etc…) make up ony .3% (yes, that is 3/10th of one percent) of all reported instances a year. Also, don’t forget that many of the accusations that are made in the law suits files against the Church and found to be unsubstanciated and dismissed for lack of evidence but your don’t see that on the front page of the newspaper for at the top of a news cast.

People who don’t bother to find out the WHOLE truth just want to find something wrong with the Roman Catholic Church so they have an excuse for not doing what Jesus wants and for hating the Church started by Christ himself. People also forget that our Priests are human and they make mistakes. Are we supposed to consider ourselves better than they are and not forgive as Christ does. We should be praying for those that make mistakes instead of taking every opportunity to dwell on and point out the mistakes of other.

Priests do make mistakes. But when bishops cover them up, that’s not a mistake. It’s policy.

 

[puppypatrol]

I cannot believe what I’m reading. It’s not the abusers fault. It’s the scientists fault.

Priceless

No, blame the person committing the act. He is the only one responsible for his actions.

 

[miguel]

I am aware of the statistical analysis that indicates that the percentage of priest/pedophiles is within the range of those in other occupations that deal with young people. However, when a public school teacher gets nailed as a pedophile, he ends up going to court and typically serves some time. And he does not get to go back to his original job – at a different location – after he completes his sentence. On the other hand, a priest/pedophile treated via a two-step or twelve-step or whatever program ends up at another parish; i.e., he returns to the pedophile pool. Since such reassignments occurred three, four, even five times or more, with each reassignment the Church effectively unleashes a new abuser on its unsuspecting youth.

I realize that this was happening and it’s disgusting. But if the cops are called, the abusing priest would be no more likely to go back to his job than the abusing public school teacher. Calling the cops is the responsibility of the victim or his parents. I realize not all abuse is reported. Still, this kind of comparison implies that the bishops are the only ones who can act against an abusing priest.

 

[Guyonthestreet]

No, blame the person committing the act. He is the only one responsible for his actions.

And is the Bishop who is clearly aware of an abusive priest, and yet fails to both expose him or her and report him or her to the cops not just as guity.

Yes, the abuser is the one ‘‘doing’’ the abuse, but they were in effect given a licence to do so by several Bishops.

 

[WillieWonka]

I realize that this was happening and it’s disgusting. But if the cops are called, the abusing priest would be no more likely to go back to his job than the abusing public school teacher. Calling the cops is the responsibility of the victim or his parents. I realize not all abuse is reported. Still, this kind of comparison implies that the bishops are the only ones who can act against an abusing priest.

Calling the police is the responsibility of any adult aware of the situation. It is not limited. That includes the bishop.

 

[puppypatrol]

And is the Bishop who is clearly aware of an abusive priest, and yet fails to both expose him or her and report him or her to the cops not just as guity.

Yes, the abuser is the one ‘‘doing’’ the abuse, but they were in effect given a licence to do so by several Bishops.

Calling the police is the responsibility of any adult aware of the situation. It is not limited. That includes the bishop.

Yes, any adult could and can report this abuse and is obligated to…Now. People also need to remember that laws and practices were different when most of these cases were committed. Children were considered property until the 1970-80s. and there was little that law enforcement could do according to the law. Where were the parents while this was happening? Why didn’t they go to the police? For the same reason the Bishops didn’t go to the police, they didn’t want the victims exposed. It’s the same reason families who know this is going on within a family don’t want to go to the police, which happens significantly more often that cases involving a priest. It is just those cases don’t make the front page.

Speaking of media, let’s take a look at the sources of the original poster

archstreaming.us/Depositi…Deposition.pdf

What makes all this so unforgivable is that the Church knew over 50 years ago that its programs for “treating” priest/pedophiles were not working.

I’m not sure how you got this out of the deposition but remember that this elderly man was being asked questions about things that happened more than 20 years before the deposition took place. Memories fade as you get older and what I saw most was an inability to remember specifics and no proof he is lying. He would have had a lot of things on his mind while incharge of all the priests of the diocese. Also, like I said before, even if they felt the current treatment wasn’t working as they would have hoped, what else should they have done when the psychiatrists and psychologist assured them the priests were “cured”. What did you know about pedophilia in the 1950’s, 1960’s?

ncronline.org/news/accountabi…busive-priests

Ah, yes, the infamous National Catholic Register. Don’t let the name deceive you. This is a Call to Action paper which is never in line with the magisterium and would like to see the Catholic church dismantled and washed into the sea. Most of it’s most active members have been excommunicated already for heracy.

smh.com.au/news/World/Car…281450945.html

This artical came from the New York Times, a notorious anti-Catholic publication that doesn’t always give the whole truth on many subjects in addition to those issues involving the Catholic Church. First things first, be careful where you get your facts (and I use the term loosely) Just because it is in print doesn’t make it completely true.

See also the correspondence of Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, the founder of the Servants of the Paraclete, an order established in 1947 to deal with problem priests. Any vice cop, or morals cop as they sometimes were called in the 1950’s, could have told them the same thing. Pedophiles are not the same as drunks.

And it wasn’t known until much later that alchoholism was a disease and was not curible. it was the mid 1990’s that pedophilia was determined to be a disease and was not curible. Also, in the 1950’s if you called the police, they would have done what. There were no courts or agencies to handle this problem so the police did nothing.

You may also want to go to the following site and discover the real reason for the start of the Servants of the Paraclete. It had nothing to do with “problem priests”.

theservants.org/servants.htm

I am not saying that some of the Bishops probably could have handled things differently but they were trying to do what they thought was the right thing. The Pope in no way trivialized the victims nor the actions but many of his statements have been misunderstood and taken out of context.

This is what happens when people start looking through tunnel vision and don’t look at the whole picture, history, trustworthy research and think for themselves instead of simply taking what someone else with an agenda tells them.

 

[Guyonthestreet]

Where were the parents while this was happening? Why didn’t they go to the police? For the same reason the Bishops didn’t go to the police, they didn’t want the victims exposed.

The children in the carehomes, institutions, reform schools and industrial schools were orphans, or taken from their family by the state for whatever reason. They were put in the care of the religious. That’s what makes their abuse all the more hideous. These children were victims twice over.

The Bishops didnt go to the police because they didnt want the scandal. Simple. If they cared about the victims, then why did they leave these abusers in ministry, and let them abuse elsewhere. Why, if they cared about the victims, was there no pastoral support put in place for them, why where they not removed immediately from the danger.
Why have the victims had to rely on the law to get access to records to prove their case that the bishops tried to obstruct time and time again.
They bishops and rome it seems tried to cover this up with all their might. And now they have been exposed, they’re all back-peddling like fury.

Listen to the Dyan Elliott lecture I linked to. It makes perfect sense.

And here’s another from Bishop Robinson. Reading about him, I gather he’s not too popular in the catholic church. I wonder why?? !!! Maybe the truth does hurt.

youtube.com/watch?v=NEOyD4gHJdU

think for themselves instead of simply taking what someone else with an agenda tells them.

That’s at the heart of it - people, families, state officials and everyone else didnt ‘‘think’’ for themselves - they deferred reverentially to the bishops and clerics - and the bishops and clerics knew it, and abused that unquestioning trust. If more people had have thought for themselves, these criminals wouldnt have had such an easy ride.

 

[WillieWonka]

“Yes, any adult could and can report this abuse and is obligated to…Now. People also need to remember that laws and practices were different when most of these cases were committed. Children were considered property until the 1970-80s. and there was little that law enforcement could do according to the law. Where were the parents while this was happening? Why didn’t they go to the police? For the same reason the Bishops didn’t go to the police, they didn’t want the victims exposed. It’s the same reason families who know this is going on within a family don’t want to go to the police, which happens significantly more often that cases involving a priest. It is just those cases don’t make the front page.”

Sorry. Children were not property until 1970. There were extensive child protective agencies in 1970, and there certainly were laws against child molestation. There was a great deal law enforcement could do, perhaps more than today.

The bishops didn’t give a hoot about exposing the victim. The didn’t want to expose the rot in the Church. If they were concerned for the victims, they wouldn’t have put the perps back out to do it again.

The Boston Globe exposed Law in 2002. In 2004 the Dallas Morning news ran an extensive series documenting how the Church was still shuffling abusers around South America and the South Seas.

The bishops werre corrupt. Religion is not a shield here. They deserve no special consideration.

“In light of these developments, a 92-page report on clergy sex abuse, distributed to the U.S. bishops in May 1985, warning them of the trouble ahead, has been repeatedly cited by victims’ attorneys as a hard measure of episcopal negligence. The document, reportedly referred to in more than 100 lawsuits, is well known to the bishops.”

What They Knew In 1985
National Catholic Reporter
natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/051702/051702a.htm

 

[puppypatrol]

What They Knew In 1985
National Catholic Reporter
natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/051702/051702a.htm

Oh, good. Another Anti-Catholic Church article. I don’t think so.

Try these sources for a change.

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cbishops/documents/rc_con_cbishops_doc_20021018_re-usa_en.html

virtus.org/virtus/

usccb.org/comm/archives/2007/07-056.shtml

As far as Bishop Robinson, sorry, another Call to Action Supporter who is not welcome in many diocese in the United States because he seems to have forgotten his vow of obediance and wrote the book for shock value and fame only, not because it is all true.

Try another source, maybe a reliable one for a change. How about one from a source who is in keeping with the Magisterium and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

 

[puppypatrol]

By the way, my statistics came from the FBI and the US Department of Justice.

You have any like that?

 

[WillieWonka]

By the way, my statistics came from the FBI and the US Department of Justice.

You have any like that?

What statistics are you referencing, and how do they relate to abuse by priests and support of abusers by bishops?

 

[Guyonthestreet]

As far as Bishop Robinson, sorry, another Call to Action Supporter who is not welcome in many diocese in the United States because he seems to have forgotten his vow of obediance and wrote the book for shock value and fame only, not because it is all true.

Try another source, maybe a reliable one for a change. How about one from a source who is in keeping with the Magisterium and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

From onof the links you provided:

Sixty percent of those accused in 2006 had been named previously in other abuse cases

Speaks volumns doesn’t it.

Could it be that Bishop Robinson is actually getting at the heart of the issues, and that’s why many catholics dont like him. He said in the video link I provided that loyalty to the pope was above all else. The whole culture of not questioning, blind obedience, keeping up apprearances, seems to me to be one of the things that allowed such abuses to continue.

It does seem to an outsider, that the church only acted when it was forced, by an overwhelming sea of public protest and anger, to address the issue. Im not sure if that hadnt happened, the bishops and pope would not simply have continued with business as usual.

Here’s a key question for me: Why was it the VICTIMS that had to act first, and not the church in which the abusers worked, if the church really cared about the victims.

Why did no Bishop go public and say guys, we have a huge problem here lets sort it.

Why did no Bishop, who is after all the head of the diocese, call a public meeting and expose what they knew to the faithful and then tell them what they were doing about it.

Why have bishops obstructed investigations with all their might if they cared about the victims more than their loyalty to the church.

Im guessing in their bishops only meetings theyd have discussed what they knew - but they decided to keep schtum and let the victims rot, till they were forced to act. That makes me as an outsider question the validity of the church structure.

 

[miguel]

Calling the police is the responsibility of any adult aware of the situation. It is not limited. That includes the bishop.

Yep.

 

[WillieWonka]

From onof the links you provided:

Sixty percent of those accused in 2006 had been named previously in other abuse cases

Speaks volumns doesn’t it.

Could it be that Bishop Robinson is actually getting at the heart of the issues, and that’s why many catholics dont like him. He said in the video link I provided that loyalty to the pope was above all else. The whole culture of not questioning, blind obedience, keeping up apprearances, seems to me to be one of the things that allowed such abuses to continue.

It does seem to an outsider, that the church only acted when it was forced, by an overwhelming sea of public protest and anger, to address the issue. Im not sure if that hadnt happened, the bishops and pope would not simply have continued with business as usual.

Here’s a key question for me: Why was it the VICTIMS that had to act first, and not the church in which the abusers worked, if the church really cared about the victims.

Why did no Bishop go public and say guys, we have a huge problem here lets sort it.

Why did no Bishop, who is after all the head of the diocese, call a public meeting and expose what they knew to the faithful and then tell them what they were doing about it.

Why have bishops obstructed investigations with all their might if they cared about the victims more than their loyalty to the church.

Im guessing in their bishops only meetings theyd have discussed what they knew - but they decided to keep schtum and let the victims rot, till they were forced to act. That makes me as an outsider question the validity of the church structure.

Actually in 1985 or 1986 the US bishops met at St. Johns in Minnesota. Dominican Thomas Doyle presented the report referenced in the post above. It outlined the problem and suggested solutions. The US bishops rejected it. They all knew. They did nothing.

 

[CatholicBoy1957]

Wouldn’t that be kind of two-faced of the bishops to do something about the problem? How mny of them, if they are not out right pedophiles, are at least gay?

richardsipe.com/Comments/mccarrick_syndrome.html