Click here to read: “Grand Jury: 2 bishops hid sex abuse of hundreds of children,” by Joe Mandak, Associated Press, March 1, 2016
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160301_ap_538b2019e2f648059e0cebe2fab073d0.html
Click here to read: “Grand Jury: 2 bishops hid sex abuse of hundreds of children,” by Joe Mandak, Associated Press, March 1, 2016
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160301_ap_538b2019e2f648059e0cebe2fab073d0.html
Although I am glad that this atrocity has been exposed, it is very upsetting news. My heart and prayers go out to the hundreds of victims, and their families..
i just finished reading the GJ report. I am a retired police officer. I was always leery of local officers called to investigate the priests. Most of the cops I worked with were catholic. How can they do a thorough investigation with management looking over them.. I am also a sex abuse survivor from Philly…went before the GJ twice…
Jim the influence that the various Diocese had over the civil authorities has been so hard to comprehend on so many levels…thanks for your input
I’m not at all surprised at the influence the various diocesan prelates had over the civil authorities. Both systems or institutions share a common thread. They have long histories of functioning according to a “boys club” mentality. Each “got” the others’ position of power and culture of loyalty and silence. In many ways, they were a perfect, albeit evil, match for collusion.
I am a former DC police officer…I can tell you the “elites” had power with upper management… no matter what they thought of each other personally….they would circle the wagons and protect each other…the 2 police chaplains were sued for allegations of sex abuse of children….so much power they had they were issued their own “take home” police cruisers….
Wow, Jim.
I think another institution that prelates were well connected to and, therefore, well protected by, were “hometown” newspapers. Many of them were family-run. It’s easier to keep agendas and secrets among upper-management employees who are related by family as opposed to employees who are unrelated. Many of the newspaper families ran incredibly savvy shows, wielding an enormous amount of power and influence.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2016/03/01/Staggering-abuse-cover-up-in-Altoona-Johnstown-diocese-grand-jury-says/stories/201603010091
ie, now that Its been found out ..can be taken care of & won’t understand that these horrendous attacks on our children. has been going on for many many decades,possibly ii for. millenium(s)! We have been working hard for almost 20 years….they think its something. that now can be. handled & delt with, within the LAW!…..ha, ha, , ha!
The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown released a statement indicating that they are cooperating with the authorities and will continue to do so.
“This is a painful and difficult time in our Diocesan Church,” Bishop Mark L. Bartchak said in a statement released Tuesday. “I deeply regret any harm that has come to children, and I urge the faithful to join me in praying for the victims of abuse.”
The “RESPONSE” from USA RCC leadership is always the same. The USCCB must provide this template (canned response) when the latest controversy re clergy sexual abuse hits the media. It’s always a “painful and difficult time” FOR THE CHURCH. What about the painful, horrific, tormented, anxiety and depression-filled LIVES OF THE VICTIMS? The USA RCC leadership is always “regretting the harm that has come to children”. Why the hell didn’t the leadership act to protect the children when they had the opportunity and moral responsibility to do so at the time of the sexual assaults? Well, of course EVERYONE needs prayers, including the victims. What the victims and potential, future victims need more than anything is ACTION, HONOR, COMPASSION, and INTEGRITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY on the part of USA RCC leadership when they become aware of credible allegations of clergy sexual abuse.
Bartchak and all of your colleagues, remember this……..NOTHING is more important than the innocence and protection of the mind, body, spirit and soul of the children and young adults in your parishes from sexual abuse and predation.
Michael Skiendzielewski
Captain (retired)
Philadelphia Police Dept
Mike Ski Did you read the report yet? Vianney makes a cameo…more on that later
Here is the text of the grand jury report. Important reading to get the full impact of the investigation.
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/reports/2016_03_01_Pennsylvania_Grand_Jury_Report_on_Diocese_of_Altoona_Johnstown.pdf
Very damning, and rightly so. How Adamec can spout pieties about his record is unimaginable. He should remember what theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said about what it means to tell the truth:
“Communicating truthfully means more than factual accuracy…There is a way of speaking which is…entirely correct and unexceptionable, but which is, nevertheless, a lie…When an apparently correct statement contains some deliberate ambiguity, or deliberately omits the essential part of the truth…it does not express the real as it exists in God.”
So, Adamec refused to testify out of fear of self-incrimination. No wonder.
Sending priests for treatment does not necessarily mean that any bishop forwarded full records of perpetrators to therapists, thereby making correct diagnoses impossible. Nor does it mean that bishops actually followed recommendations of treatment centers. Or that the doctors consulted had training in sexual pathologies.
All these points were true in Boston, for example. Never take bishops’ statements at face value. Years of reading secret archives yield this conclusion.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer……a real and true saint of our times !
Perfectly stated, Captain S! Thank you for spelling it out so well.
“Joseph Gaborek, a priest in Somerset County, fondled boys in 1984. State police reported it to Hogan, but charges were never filed. Hogan told Gaborek to “keep his big mouth shut.”
Gaborek was suspended after Hogan retired in 1987.”
http://bishop-accountability.org/news13/2002_06_23_TheTribuneDemocrat_NewSex_Altoona_Priests_2.htm
“In 1981, Dean Township police Officer David Metzgar found Skupien and a juvenile undressed in a car. Skupien continued to act as a principal and a priest, the attorney said.”
How high is this cover-up? How many beat patrolmen/ detectives went home frustrated that these predators were not arrested. I know the witness to sex abuse had the same problem in the early 80’s and know of cases dropped when a priest was arrested. How many children would have been saved. Central Pa is also where Sandusky’s sexual abuse was reported to authorities.
Hopefully, Kane(AG) will be asked for a window where prior claims can be pursued as it seem our justice system has enabled the RCC the ability to protect these pr3dators and release quite a few back into society.
Ed,
Are you from Glenside? Did your father own a bakery at the corner of Easton Road and Mt. Carmel Avenue?
Ray,
I went to St David”s in Willow Grove late 59 early 60’s and my father was in politics and consulting work. Moved to Philly when Joe Clark asked him to run again for public office when people like Jack McDevitt and others where corrupting Philly’s government again. Later, Jack McDevitt corrupted the religious group I belonged. I was learning about the true nature of politics, religion and the RCC while others where celebrating the JFK presidency.
As my father did work with small businesses, some people associated him with that business if that helps you..
There is a lay person named George Foster in the report, who is as the attorney general described “a hero”. He is a devout Catholic but that did not get in the way of him trying to expose the abuse and protect children. I have met a few devout Catholics over the years who have the same attitude and determination as George Foster…their faith does not get in the way of wrongdoing..as a matter of fact they see exposing the wrong doing as an act of faith. Any thoughts on what separates them from other devout Catholics who will defend the Church at all costs? Really interested in the dynamic at play..would like feedback from others.
Sent from my iPad
George Foster is described in the report as “a hero.” In the eyes of all of us, nothing is finer or more noble than “a hero.” Period. But why is Foster described as “a hero”? Because he was a whistleblower. (Eee gads, not THAT.)
A lot is written about the psychology and personality traits of a whistleblower. For example, they tend to be motivated by ideology (including Catholicism, most likely, in the case of Foster), ideals and truths. They are infused and ingrained in the whistleblower; they are at the core of him or her. When the ideology, ideals and truths are challenged, whistleblowers act! It’s required. It goes with the moral/ethical territory. It goes with the nervous system. We commonly refer to them as courageous and brave, and they are, but many whistleblowers attest to spending little or no time thinking about whether to act. How and when to act are considerations but not whether to act. Nothing deters them from acting. No institution, personal loss or danger stands in the way.
Many whistleblowers will tell you that their main moral/ethical struggle centered on justice vs. loyalty. On the one hand, they perceived an injustice that they felt compelled to divulge. On the other hand, the injustice was commonly embedded in an institution having or at least expecting their loyalty. Whistleblowers always choose justice because their core values, truths and ideals supersede their fears of or concerns about disloyalty-fall out, including personal loss.
Do you perceive devout Catholics who deny, ignore or defend the crimes of clerics against children to possess the ingrained, ineradicable, fixed, unshakable and enduring values, ideals and truths possessed by whistleblowers? I don’t. In their emptiness and intrinsic lack of substance, they are altogether unfit to be moved and motivated by injustices. Instead, they cling to objects of loyalty because allegiance, faithfulness, obedience, adherence, dedication, devotion and conformity are safe, easy, “saved” assured, and only require the ability to say, “Yes, Father,” over and over, and put one “devout” foot in front of the other.
Very well stated-Thank You!