Click here to read: “Chester County priest arrested, charged by FBI for child porn,” by Michael P. Rellahan, Daily Local, February 25, 2015
Click here to read: “Chester County priest arrested, charged by FBI for child porn,” by Michael P. Rellahan, Daily Local, February 25, 2015
Hello my friends,
Addition to this news is jury selection has also begun in the re-trial of Rev. Andrew McCormick.
I will be posting an update regarding myself shortly for all those who were by myside .
Dennis: I have been thinking about you lately. I wondered how you were making out. This winter has been very difficult for me. Depression has made a return appearance. I read recently that some ninety seven percent of people who were abused sexually as a kid suffer from depression. The problem with depression is it never really goes away. It is always lurking somewhere. Anti Depressants help but they have their limitations. Looking forward to reading your posts again.
There are 4 priests in the Archdiocese that have in one way or another had a negative impact on my family over the years by wielding their clerical power . One is now removed for boundary violations, another “retired’ when his parish made enough noise to start getting media attention for his antics, the other still out there and of course a strange story about him relayed to me just a few days ago . The final one of course is Haynes, now in the custody of the FBI. This grown man with Disney figurines on his desk..alternating his time between masquerading being the persona of Christ and “Katie Capponnetti” a young girl exchanging porn on the internet.
In each situation that either myself or a family member encountered these men they were control freaks and unyielding in their power. There is no way that complaints about them have not piled up over the years..not in relation to known abuse, but at least complaints about behavior that is alienating and odd. Those hiding something have to generate a lot of energy appearing to be the one in control..maybe the archdiocese needs to take note of that .
The comments on social media and newspaper articles relating to Haynes are some of the most volatile I have read ..he obviously burned a lot of bridges with people over the years and of course those complaints most likely fell on deaf ears as he was simply given a new assignment..because of course it is the people in the parish who have the problem?
His power now stripped and he is in federal custody.. his mug shot a frightened looking man having nothing to hide behind at this point. He used his power to mistreat a young member of my extended family …barring a child from Conformation a few days before the sacrament..while at the same time leading a double life of depravity. Haynes you are exactly where you belong.
Kathy – you and I have shared many stories – via email and phone over the past two years. Three priests at my High School – four priests that you know – a checklist that is sad indeed. Its scary to me that both of us can be rational, analyze these men and circumstances, and come to reasonable conclusions as to their methods and what SHOULD have been done. Why can the AOP? Pack mentality? Protecting their own? Old boys club?
The AOP is closing churches and schools and blame US – we don’t give money, we don’t attend mass, we don’t send our children to Catholic schools. Is it any wonder? How many of us were scarred so deeply that the thought of walking into a Catholic church or sending our child to Catholic school is physically revolting. It has only been in the last year that I have been able to attend Mass somewhat regularly – and I am still working to get back to where I want to be and making it a priority in my life. Yet, its OUR FAULT when our parish or school closes.
We know the complaints were there – the sheer volume of comments in your case and in mine show they must have been there. I struggle at times on how my church views all of us – “faithful followers who will listen to the BS they spew because that is how we were raised” or “idiots who will listen to the BS they spew.”
owlfan, Yes of course it the the pesky parishioners fault. There are a few names that I see that continue to bounce around the archdiocese from parish to parish..having upset either the parishioners or even the priests at various parishes and they continue to be reassigned. In these cases not in relation to children or abuse, but obvious complaints/concerns that maybe someone would finally realize these priests are not cut out to work with people.
Haynes prior assignment before the most recent parish was a parish whose school was closed in the 2012 grand sweep of schools ..I know the parishioners tried valiantly to save their school. Little did they know they were meeting with a guy who was more interested in his child porn hobby than their legitimate concerns about their parish.
Kathy, Thanks for sharing the impact of Haynes and those other depraved individuals belonging to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia had on your family. And we don’t know the half of it, believe me.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia? Krol, Bevilaequa, Rigali, Chaput? Each in his way knew, they always knew and they were complicit in covering it up. Now, bishops across the country in their individual states do anything they can to keep the laws protecting children from being updated. Chaput misrepresented proposed legislation and was successful in defeating it in Colorado and he is doing the same thing now in Pennsylvania.
Sister Maureen
maturlishmdsnd@yahoo.com
This clergyman appeared to believe the rules apply to everyone else, but do not apply to him. He appears caught in his beliefs and he was convinced his beliefs were better than anyone else. He believed in his power to deceive people and that his act was totally together. This is an ego saint. My impression of the catholic church is the same, as it has made itself into an ego saint also. The ego saint has no authentic spiritual teaching, is confused and contradictory. Even the catholic saints are a joke because it makes the church seem better than it actually is.
I personally feel if the catholic church truly wanted to create saints it would help us all deal with this disillusionment about life. When I am in the grips of disillusionment about life, it is humiliating, disgusting and creates this utter despair. Everything feels lost, spinning and drifting into psychic pain. I, therefore, do not need any more beliefs nor do I need to be convinced catholic beliefs are true. Beliefs do not create relief from the pain of disillusionment. I need real faith within the catholic church and a faith that offers actual support.
When everything goes wrong I/we need supportive solidarity. When people offer support it offers inner strength, thus the church needs leadership that offers this support. This means the church needs to move beyond its beliefs and making saints. The church needs to move into a statements of faith that offers support experienced like the sun. This faith needs to be felt and experienced like the warmth of the sun. Getting into this warmth is the problem because of this painful disillusionment about life. I need realistic faith from the catholic church because it seems to be the only path through disillusionment/despair. This real faith offers this unshakable confidence, which is beyond any beliefs and there is no need for saints and can move beyond the deceit of ego saints.
Dennis hope you are doing well.
Another interesting thing is that Haynes was now living in South Jersey after his initial arrest. It is like these abusive Archdiocesan priests get on the first NJ transit bus out of Philly and head to South Jersey. What is the draw to South Jersey for so many of them ?
Wow Kathy, so sorry to hear that. Hypocrisy at it’s best, right? I am so jaded these days, to say the least, but am glad to see there is some justice coming its way to “men” like him.
Deidre ,it gets even more depraved. In this family the oldest child was baptized by a priest who a short time later was arrested for soliciting male prostitution. An older family member who was very upset by this went to talk about it with her parish priest..she was yelled at by the priest..this priest (the yeller) went on to eventually be removed for boundary violations involving minors . The icing on the cake was the youngest child in the family being bounced from confirmation by the child pornographer.
I would say that there are close to a dozen abusive priests who have cycled through our lives and my story no different from the average Catholic in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.
True Kathy just generally many corrupt priests and if they were not corrupt they had their heads in the sand or they were “silenced’ aka cowards. I knew a visitor that attended a meeting of the AD priests he said it was all about money and trying to get money out of the lay people. He basically said in Africia they don’t have money so they do the best they can and focus on saving souls. He seemed rather disgusted by all the talk of money. There is no doubt in my mind many priests became priests because they wanted a comfortable life and lots of respect. The higher up they got it was even more about money and power. Many don’t even believe in the teachings of the church privately this was truly shocking to me but then in that light everything makes sense.
I live in South Jersey, “let me at him”.! I also know a “former” priest who abused many girls sexually,who lives in an apartment right around the corner from my therapist. He passed me the other day walking down Haddon Avenue and I “almost” tripped him! I am so sick and tired of the AOP protecting these pigs. I have NO faith that this Church will ever “do the right thing”. It enjoys to much power and spending of your money. Life for them is just to comfortable.
Vicky, I appreciate your courage and what I might also call your fearlessness. You appear solid and you appear to live with inner strength. Possibly your courage draws upon the Essential qualities of strength. I not as courageous as you are and I do not have the authority from within you have. And yet I am not tormented by fear either. It is just this place where I am inhibiting myself from having any meaningful desires. The result is this total blockage of feelings, as if life had been drained out of me. I am closer to apathy and sinking into being emotionally paralyzed than finding a quality of life. This is edgy and is like stepping into nothing.
What is this besides feeling defeated by life and no way of coming back to life again? Could this be the darkness of faith and how did you get through it? Faith can emerge in darkness, even as an unshakable confidence, but my emotions are burned, so where is the Divine awareness here?
If this feels too heavy for you do not worry about it. My feeling suicidal or going under emotionally is not a room I live in. It is more I am sick-and-tired of this darkness of faith and I am looking for ways to accept my powerlessness in my darkness. I accept I am powerless in that I will not fight and is like being in neutral gear. And yet there is a part of me that will not surrender or this willingness to live with what is. The trouble I am having with the act of surrender is it feels like dying or like a log floating on water. I will not resist the experience, so my question is how did you find peace in this emptiness?
Thanks for your presence Vicky and thanks for being real and solid.
SYD, You my friend are on a hero’s journey, one I am most familiar with. Joseph Campbell was aware of this and coined it “The spiritual Emergence as a Hero’s Journey. Campbell found that the archetype of the hero’s journey typically has three stages, they are separation, initiation, and return. The hero leaves the familiar ground or is forcefully separated from it by an external force, is transformed through a series of extraordinary ordeals and finally is again incorporated into her original society in a new role. I believe Syd, you are experiencing a transformative crisis. I have been here at this place many times, each time my inner transformation was made stronger. As enlightened as I became, at the same time dealing with pain beyond any accurate explanation of suffering and torment, what never wavered was my belief that the Divine was beside me. I knew that walking through the horrors of my abuse, falling to my knees, crying from the depth of my toes, I would always get back up! I have unbearable darkness not only from the outside what I had to face was the darkness inside myself, this is for me the best explanation of a hero! I knew deep inside why I was here at this time and in this lifetime. I knew I had to seek the truth, I knew the journey would be beyond painful but my soul’s deepest need was to seek the it’s truth. I believe we are called to seek this truth, we will not find it until we walk the hero’s journey for we must be open to looking inside ourselves and witness and embrace our darkness. I am so grateful that I “found” my truth and am coming home. It is a very humbling and spiritual walk. Syd, keep getting back up and be patient, lots of hugs are in order as you journey. In the end, it’s so worth it! My therapist was my spiritual teacher who understood what I was going through, I was very fortunate to have her support, I hope that you have some support as you travel to truth and an intimacy with God, it’s very important, I will be here for you as well. You have been called by God to walk this journey for whatever reason, you are being loved so through it all. Surrender is spirit. Instead of fighting it embrace it, I learned much when I had the strength to surrender. I would journal, paint, pound pillows, call my therapist, take long baths,music, meditate. Surrender is very much apart of transformation. The dying you speak of is the struggle for rebirth it reflects the actual pain of the biological birth process, it’s the ego death, the death of old concepts of who we are. You are purging old programs by letting them emerge into your consciousness, they are becoming irrelevant and are, in a sense, dying. This is a very important juncture, let things happen. You will experience total annihilation on all levels, physical destruction, emotional disaster, intellectual defeat, ultimate moral failure, and spiritual damnation, at this point, you have hit bottom. A bottom I hit so many times I lost count. You are a strong person, I have great respect for you and I honor your journey. You will make it through, I just know. I’m here if you need me. During this process, be especially kind towards yourself, your not alone!
Thank you Vicky and your needing to seek the truth is deeply and completely satisfying. What is satisfying is to experience your strength and your depth. Your act of seeking the truth, even when everything kept falling, is the preciousness of your truth. Your simple truth made me realize that there are many bottoms in freeing our tormented consciousness. It is like from your writing I could see myself trying to escape my crushing negative self-consciousness. It seems I want to rid myself of myself, since I feel defeated by life.
I thought it is unique how you say “Surrender is spirit.” What strikes me about this is correcting this false perception that I am the source of doing and functioning or that my ego needs to accomplish something. Serenity as spirit is more relaxing and seems to allow the energies of life to flow. This serenity there is no feeling of effort or striving. Just a flow that is soothed and soothing. Your words communicate to surrender and be calm to what is and this helps to create the flow from one experience to the next, regardless of my ups and downs of life.
My support from people is extremely limited because my cells do not produce energy and I am house bound. My lack of support is deeply a part of my smoldering resentment. My passion of anger causes this chronic dissatisfaction with life and myself. My situation results in this constant blockage of feelings. My internal home is empty. I just need to reach out to a few people like you and to create an opening. I am falling and naturally my ego wants to sustain a particular identity. So it seems, from you and your writing, it is simply learning to rest and learn to not attach my identity to any of it. It feels like you are saying serenity is the ability to rest in Hope.
This moment is almost a feeling and yet it is not primarily a feeling. It is more like a painting or a dance. So thanks Vicky for being centered and emotionally available. It helps me to sort this out, find some hidden depth and create an opening.
TOPIC = Some hope for survivors – the real “ heroes “ in all this !
It was on the Kathy Shaw blog 02/25/2015 Wed. I had mentioned before about this so excellent blog.
Insurance issues “ very complex “ in so many ways – a great understatement ! – with respect to clergy sexual abuse.
Simply the “ abusers “ – clergy members may be “ left out to dry on his or her own “- abandoned – by all ! So why do it ? Why even be in the clergy ?
But if the abusers have something on the “ higher ups “ who do not want that info made public, then there could be a lot of changes
So many questions, but few if any reliable responses.
Reference to long detailed article –
´Sacrificing Priests on the Altar of Insurance “
02/24/2015
Shaneyfelt and Maher
Homiletic and Pastoral Review
http://WWW.HPRWEB.COM
Lot to think about !
So for those abused – the “ real heroes “ in all this – if you have spoken up or not yet – it may provide some “ better feelings “ that things are working out properly, if ever so slowly and at ever so great costs, not just financially. You are certainly not alone by
far ! You just may not know it yet.
But the “ innocents “ always seem to suffer the most in such situations as society continues to allow. Hopefully that will change soon.
So you must deal with your own very personal issues as best as you can and others just cannot question you in anyway. It is “ your life “ and you and only you determine how it will be – hopefully the “ greatest gift “ you have to benefit society in even some small way to make it a little better for some.
A “ great legacy “ to leave, as opposed to some others – e.g. the confirmed clergy sexual abusers…
But “ sincere and heartfelt thanks “ for just being “ you “ and move on with your life as best you can, like we all have to do, but nothing like you have to deal with.
As you know, my only emphasis is on the “ survivors ! “ How can we “ best assist
them “ in whatever ways we can.
FYI – I was treated in the same way – “ their standard operating methods “ – but in another area. More on that if interested or just do a deep Google search back to the 1980’s even. You may be pleasantly surprised.
I survived, but the defendants did not ! They continue to greatly suffer in so many ways even today. So I think I have some “ cred “ { credentials ! }.
I have nothing to hide, but they sure continue to do !
Yes it involved the Oblates ! We even made “ new law “ to protect a certain
profession !
Hope it is of some interest and use. If not, just toss it – no issue with me ever !
Frank Gadek