It’s about time to give the old guard the boot.
Click here to read: “Cardinal Rigali Out of Top Vatican Committee,” by Joel Mathis, Philadelphia Magazine, Dec. 17, 2013
It’s about time to give the old guard the boot.
Click here to read: “Cardinal Rigali Out of Top Vatican Committee,” by Joel Mathis, Philadelphia Magazine, Dec. 17, 2013
It’s interesting that Bevilaqua and Chaput seem to draw such anger from people, but Rigali who was the one who made the mess of allowing the priests with allegations to stay in ministry. The mess that Chaput now has to clean up. I guess being a quiet book worm type has its perks because people seem to forget about him in the history of the clergy abuse crisis in the Archdiocese.
Interesting. That’s a start. Let’s hope it doesn’t stop there.
Hope Santa brings me a box of tissues as a result of this sad revelation. Wasn’t going to happen……who would take the appointment of a Rebel to this committee seriously?
While retired, Cardinal Rigali has been active in various Church functions/issues, yet he should be stripped of all duties as Cardinal Mahony was for doing the same thing as Rigali; taking funds from the cemetery office (not authorized to do so) to pay down debt created, in part, by the settlements for sex crimes against our children.
http://catholicphilly.com/2013/07/news/local-news/local-catholic-news/archdiocesan-financial-report-shows-complex-factors-leading-to-huge-deficits/
There are a few other reasons too: >stating there were no priests in ministry with credible allegations of child sex abuse, only to have another source name 24 priests weeks later; >Taking millions of dollars from a Rocco Abessinio, owner of a bank and high risk credit card company who has been singled out for his poor business practices by many states attorneys general; it is said the church built by Rigali, St. Rocco’s, was not named for Rocco
>A review of the child sex abuse in his former archdiocese, St. Louis, reflects failure to report cases to law enforcement and lack of investigations as well
Imagine the new archbishop of Philadelphia stepping into a car at the airport, as he arrived for his new assignment and was greeted by Rigali, who gave him an a “heads up” when he said the CFO (who is now in jail) has been stealing funds from the church; over $900,000 confirmed
http://www.legalinfo360.com/cfo-of-catholic-archdiocese-of-philadelphia-pleads-guilty-to-embezzlement/
J. Heary
I remember it was about a month or so after the 2011GJ report and we went to a First Friday vigil with a large number of victims,families and supporter outside the Archdiocese at 222 . We found out that Rigali was on a trip to the Holy Land..pictures appearing a few days later in the Catholic Standard and Times of his ‘trip’ with faithful followers. Three of his priests had been arrested,another 20 some suspended and he went on a trip.
rigali losses his spot and what is the reason?i dont think there will ever be an accounting.we are supposed to read between the lines and be satisfied with a few bread curmbs??!!
I think Rocco Palmo hit the nail on the head when he referenced that Rigali will be 79 and cut off age for this committee is 80..I don’t think this was anything to do with punishing Rigali..
sw and Be The Change welcome back…Rich you on a roll with the humor 😉
I am sorry I maybe posting this information on the wrong board but I thought it important to share.
Some maybe aware that Archbishop Nienstedt of St. Paul has removed himself from ministry amid accusations of inappropriate touching. That information to me was shocking enough. The information that I see more shocking is the statement the St. Paul Police Department has made regarding the investigations of numerous sexual abuse claims.
A clearly frustrated St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith said Tuesday that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has failed to cooperate with investigations into alleged clerical sex abuse.
“We have through written and verbal requests made clear our desire to speak to individuals connected with the archdiocese, and we’ve been told no,” Smith said at a news conference.
His comments came several hours after the Roman Catholic archdiocese said Archbishop John Nienstedt has been accused of “inappropriate touching” of a boy on the buttocks in 2009.
With this information and the information from Philly that a priest was allowed to work after abuse allegations that was clearly kept secret from the parishioners how can anyone believe the promises we have heard ?
It is surely sad for Catholics who have been willing to give the church time to correct their wrongs see the same old, same old.
Dennis,
When you write how sorry you would be if you found out that a child was abused after you had already been abused by the same priest, I can’t argue with you on that one, because I have felt that shame as well. Fourteen victims came forward after my story became public in the summer of 2009 and all had been abused by McDevitt before 1990-91, when he abused me. I have worried that my silence and inaction may have contributed to my scumbag abuser abusing more children, and I really don’t know how I would feel if I’m ever confronted with information that another child was in fact abused after me. I think your concern is legitimate and understandable, yet the blame you place upon yourself for the criminal and immoral actions perpetrated by a deviant priest on another potential victim is misguided and pointing your finger in the wrong direction.
You have no idea how much I have blamed myself for the “possible, likely, maybe, hopefully not, what if” McDevitt abused a child after he abused me. That’s a really heavy weight to carry around, brotha. I am actually somewhat thankful you posted these concerns here, because it really allows me to put into perspective, from words I didn’t write, just how WRONG and BACKWARDS my thinking was not so long ago. Blaming ourselves is exactly what our abusers want us to do. From the moment they begin to abuse us they want us to feel shame and self-hatred for ourselves, because the shame and self-hating is something that should belong to them, and I believe they know it too. You can’t allow yourself to be sorry for something you had absolutely no control over. You were 13, yes? I was abused by two different men between the ages of 6 – 14-years-old. Sexual abuse by adult men was a gigantic part of my childhood, and to be 100% clear, my abuse may have started before the age of 6, but I have no memory before that age to conclusively determine exactly when the abuse began. At 6-years-old, or 10, or 13, our brains aren’t totally developed and we don’t have the maturity, nor the instinct to understand what is happening to us, why it’s happening, and how to stop it, especially when our abusers are priests or adults we admire and respect.
McDevitt abused children! Hermley abused children! I have never abused a child and I’m sure you haven’t either, Dennis. We cannot blame ourselves for being responsible because we can’t blame ourselves for being innocent, defenseless, immature, undeveloped children. The abusers are responsible, period! So please… get that worthless, crazy shit out of your mind.
I realize as time passes and I read more and talk to more people like you and I, Dennis, just how screwed up and different we victims think. There has been numerous times when my partner or a friend will listen to me talk about something I believe is absolutely, without doubt, 100% accurate and true in my own mind, only for them to tell me “That isn’t right, Rich. That’s not how things are supposed to be. That’s something you learned from abuse.” That happens more than you can imagine. Children are persuasive. They get into cars with total strangers all the time, even after their parents warned them not to accept candy from or talk to people they don’t know. Children trust.
The point is simple, Dennis. Our abusers altered us psychologically and emotionally in the moment they laid their hands on our bodies uninvited and inappropriately. Man, I struggle with the blame game as much as any other victim, but when I’m of sound and sane mind (which is actually more often than I give myself credit for), I have to know that I wouldn’t blame any other 6-year-old or 13-year-old for having been sexually abused and because of that – I can’t blame myself. You are as responsible for other children being sexually abused by Scumbag Hermley as you are for convincing President Truman to drop a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. IT WASN’T MY FAULT and IT WASN’T YOUR FAULT EITHER, Dennis! If someone comes forward tomorrow to report that he/she was abused by Hermley after you, IT IS STILL NOT YOUR FAULT!
Finally, if you’re not going to drag a scumbag child rapist through the mud then I will… Father Robert Hermley OSFS was, is, and should always be known to the world as an evil, demented, cowardly scumbag who sexually abused innocent children! (As was Rev. John M. McDevitt OSFS)
Be easy on yourself, brotha. You deserved better then and you deserve better now.
Peace out!
Rich
Rich,
I don’t wish but rather say I want to thank you and Miss Kane for your kind words and advice that I should follow.
Advice I would give to any survivor who came to me with the same concerns.
However, I, you or anyone else would have the right to call me a hypocrite for not following the advice I would give to anyone who feels the same way I do.
You guys are great.
Sheeeeeet! This was supposed to be a reply to a comment in another post, but I had two windows open and posted it here by mistake.
My bad, people. I usually know how way off topic I am on this blog, but this time I just flat-out screwed up.
Perhaps you were not “off topic” after all. Most likely would have missed your other post. You’ll never know how much I needed to hear your words. Best Christmas present ever. Please accept a tearful Thank You.
Re: Rigalli
Knew God heard our prayers, just wasn’t sure anyone in the church hierarchy was listening to Him. Maybe the situation needed a bar bouncer to be appointed as Pope and ‘God’s enforcer” so Jesus could use Pope Francis as His agent to once again “Cleanse the Temple” of these hypocrites. It’s a start. More, much much much more please. Amen
testing
It worked!
You’re the best, Susan!!
Thank you rich for saying it’s not our fault. I was filled with more self loathing thinking I was somehow responsible for the pain another friend endured after my abuse when he moved on to her. But I was just a child and not equipped to do anything about it. Am still so sad that there were more after me.
Suz