Archbishop Chaput’s response to the PA Grand Jury Report is topped off by a website banner that refuses to acknowledge the truth. It neglects to say the Archdiocese isn’t in the latest Grand Jury Report because its abuse and cover up was revealed in Grand Jury Reports released in 2011 and 2005. Why were two Grand Jury Reports necessary? Because the lie and cover up continued after the first investigation and report. They seem to continue today.
Here is a recap of the last two months on C4C:
· Priests from the Philadelphia Archdiocesan hierarchy preside at the funerals of predator priests.
· A porn-addicted priest investigated for possible child porn is reinstated and stationed at the Cathedral, where he was present at a high school Baccalaureate Mass. A clergy sex abuse survivor happened to be in attendance and was shocked. No response from Leslie Davila, Archdiocesan director of office for child and youth protection (OCYP).
· C4C contacted the Archdiocese twice requesting that an abusive priest’s falsely flattering bio information be removed from a parish website. No response to Kathy’s email sent to Leslie Davila, OCYP director. No archdiocesan outreach to victim.
· Some abusive priests were transferred from the prayer and penance program at Villa St Joseph to St Francis Nursing Home…. where young children visit grandparents. Visitors not informed.
· Although the Archdiocese touts the Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries as protecting children, they never teach kids the specific Standards. How are children supposed to know what and when to report?
· The Archdiocese has never adequately answered this question: Do the “Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries” apply equally for 18-year-old high school students as they do for their minor peers. In other words, is it age-based or student-based?
· After 15 months of Kathy’s advocating, the Archdiocese will still not agree to a written policy that parents must be informed when their child is the victim of a boundary violation. No one from the Archdiocese has helped – including OCYP.
· The just-released Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report details that child predators were sent to St. John Vianney Treatment Center – located directly across the street from Bishop Shanahan high school. CHILD PREDATORS. We have worked on
that issue for 5 long years. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia owns the facility and they also receive payment to accept the priest child predators from out-of-state Dioceses.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Looks like there will be a big, big windfall coming to the trial lawyers in Pennsylvania at the expense of those in the pews.
Let the hierarchy of the Diocese live their vow of poverty and send the savings back to the people in the pews.
From my understanding only Archbishop Chaput took vow of poverty. Regular archdiocian priests did not.
i DON’T THINK THE ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILA PRIESTS TAKE VOW OF POVERTY. SOME OF THESE PRIESTS’ HAVE RESIDENCES AT THE JERSEY SHORE. HOW NICE!!! I CAN’T EVEN AFFORD HOUSING!
You are absolutely correct.the Catholic Church will need to hire thousands of lawyers to defend their actions.It will cost those of you who remain in the pews. Perhaps the Church could have special collections, more Bingo games and sell off more of their real estate.Such a shame. Perhaps you could recommend a lawyer for me, since you know so much about them.I am a victim of clergy abuse who does not have a lawyer.
Good! Excellent! Maybe the people in the pews will rise up and do something about it. If not, a fool and his money are soon parted.
Michael, Are you planning on going to the protest in Nov? If you ever want to meet for lunch you can get my contact information from Susan. I have met a lot of people in person from this site. I am sorry for what you have and are going thru. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
I live in Southern Virginia. But, thanks for the offer.
Yes, but only if those in the pews are stupid enough to continue giving money to an evil and corrupt organization. The catholic church leadership has one and only one rule: keep the money coming in, no matter how. Nothing will ever change as long as the money comes in.
I can’t disagree with what previous commenters have said. When will it stop? Nancy Mortimer O’Brien, public relations director of the Philadelphia Chapter of Voice of the Faithful
Tell me you trust the Catholic Church at Mass, to teach your precious children. Explain.
i DON’T THINK THE ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILA PRIESTS TAKE VOW OF POVERTY. SOME OF THESE PRIESTS’ HAVE RESIDENCES AT THE JERSEY SHORE. HOW NICE!!! I CAN’T EVEN AFFORD HOUSING!
Resident of Phila. You are correct. The diocesan clergy do not take a vow of poverty. That is fact. The vow of poverty is taken by clergy who belong to an order like the Franciscans and Augustinians. The diocesan clergy make a wage and are able to keep whatever they earn or their families pass down to them.
The John Jay Report in 2004 on the clergy abuse in the US claimed the bishops had their heads in the sand. They still have their heads in the sand.. We need bishops who will look up and forward and not be afraid to deal with these crimes against children. We need leaders and Catholics in the pews who will not be afraid to lead in the direction of justice. The Bishops Charter for the Protection of Children is a joke. Bishops have the final say and when its a bishop who is the abuser, no one has authority over him.
Yes, but only if those in the pews are stupid enough to continue giving money to an evil and corrupt organization. The catholic church leadership has one and only one rule: keep the money coming in, no matter how. Nothing will ever change as long as the money comes in.
Just wanted to give a few observations about the recently released Grand Jury report. I have read about 150 pages and plan to read the entire report. The stories told by victims to the Grand jury remind me of earlier Grand jury reports in Philadelphia and Altoona/ Johnstown. Perverted catholic priests raped hundreds of children. The stories are horrific to read but are very similar to earlier stories.When the victims themselves or their parents went to church authorities to report the abuse, they were treated the same way victims have been treated since this issued burst forward in 2002 in Boston and Philadelphia. Perpetrator priests have been comforted,forgiven and shown empathy by their Bishops.Victims have been treated as the enemy.They have been duped,lied to and treated like dirt. It appears to me,that the play book used in these six dioceses was the same play book used by Bishops around the world when dealing with sex abuse involving catholic priests.Is that just a coincidence?
Jim , a priest told me there is definitely an “us against them” mentality between the ordained and the victims even among the younger priests. I will not go into details but its messed up. Til that wall comes down the church will never be a compassionate or healing place for our survivors. From my few emails with Archbishop Chaput, my few interactions with the AD, attending an AD meeting and the being present at Vigils and watching Bishop Senior walk by like the survivors and advocates were invisible as well as talking to a few AD catholic lobbyists in Harrisburg I was shocked by the coldness and callousness of the Philadelphia leadership. Everything our survivors had said was true. If you are a survivor or an advocate especially if you are trying to change the laws to include a window suddenly you become the enemy. They forget the survivors were once catholics and do they even consider that their are catholics that love their faith but hate the corruption and crimes against children? I went to catholic school from 1st grade thru college. I attended St. Andrews where Fr. Smith and Fr, Cannon abused the boys some around the time I attended that school. I went to Archbishop Prendergast where the nuns were some of the kindest teachers I ever knew but then we had the creepy chaplains that turned out to be predators. I attended Saint Francis de Sales for 2 years and then Saint Josephs University. In recent years in Bucks county at a parish level my priests have been very open, approachable and compassionate in stark contrast to the AD. Our pastor set the atmosphere at the parish and the priests he worked with usually came from Saint Charles seminary and he helped mold them into priests that were open, frank and compassionate. He never became a Msgr and never played the politics of the church. My previous parish (I moved 2yrs ago)Our Lady of Grace owns the cemetery off of Rte1 so it has been financially independent from the AD and I think that made a difference. Hopefully the AD doesn’t try and take that over now that our pastor has retired as he has had cancer many years. I am sorry I didn’t know earlier how cruel and business like the hierarchy really is. The suffering you and so many of our survivors have been thru is palpable. Vicky, you, Rich and so many others are the bravest people I know. I have been thinking if and when the lay people make the bishops all resign the survivors would clean up the filth at lightening speed. I hope the word gets out the laity and victims have had enough. The bishops need to resign. They have all been sittiing on secret archives for years and they have done nothing to right the situation. These records should have been published years ago with the lists of predator priests. The bishops need to be thrown out of the house of God just like the money changers in Jesus time. I have faith and hope that will happen in my lifetime.
Beth: The thing that stands out to me when reading this current Grand Jury report, is the way that Bishops cared for the offending priests. Letters written by the Bishops to the perpetrators showed concern, compassion and empathy toward them. Contrast that with the way these same bishops treated the victims.It baffles me. These are qualities we were taught in our early days in Catholic school. Has the Church done anything to contact those victims who have not come forward? They know who the perpetrators were. They know what parishes these priests served in. My conclusion is that they just don’t care.
Jim, I totally agree. I also noted that they documented mothers and fathers were very angry and upset like it was a nuisance or something they didn’t wanna have to deal with. I sat in a room talking to a child molester for 3 hrs once. When I started the conversation the child molester said all the politically correct and religious responses that he was wrong, sinful etc but after he started to let his guard down he told me that there was the man/boy association and other groups that supported his behavior and in the time of the Greeks and Romans soldiers had young apprentices that they had sex with til a certain age. He knew there were laws against what he did and society saw it as wrong but deep down he didn’t think he did anything wrong. What I am saying is besides clericalism many of these men are mentally ill or just plain evil. I felt Satan in the room during this above conversation and he said he wrestled with Satan. I absolutely believe in God and Jesus because I know Satan exists and lives in hearts of men. Thank God he was put in jail and now has life parole but the damage he did is lifelong. As for looking for other survivors. I have brought that up to other people and the response I get is some people have not dealt with the abuse and seeking them out might cause more harm than good and that they should come forward only when they are ready. I am curious what you think about that? Many other say if you find more survivors then there will be more lawsuits as well.
Just clarifying my point many of the bishops in the report are mentaly ill/ evil as well as the abusers. No normal person could see the suffering of these victims and their families and not try to stop it especially when the abusers confess to it. A survivor in Philly told me he told Archbishop Krohl a priest was abusing him and his response was “this is what some men do”. Leadership accepted this as a norm I believe in many cases. That’s the reason they need to resign and in many cases go to jail. The Philly AD found this survivor to be credible so its not hearsay.
I couldn’t agree more Beth!
The abuse to women, young men and children is torture. It is with extreme Christian hate. Then the bishops deviate from the very rules they have taught and they have denied civil rights to those who have been abused. The law-and-order church has become the lawbreaker in the name of Christ. Naturally, we all want some authority to punish them. But if they are punished by an authority this, to me, gives the bishop the reassurance that someone still cares. This creates masochism from an authority through the act of being punished. When they are punished by an authority they still feel loved.
In my opinion the bishops are masochistic, having some reassurance an authority will punish them, which could also be their way of feeling persecuted. There is too much satisfaction for them in this or this belief that God punish or will save them. Both of these are a scapegoat. The church rapes, tortures, and kills their victims. The catholic church is vindictive and they make fools of others just to triumph over people. This is called an ego saint, meaning the rules apply to everyone else but not necessarily apply to the church leaders. The ego saint will go to any length to uphold their beliefs, “traditional values”, yet is very dangerous because punishment will not change this behavior.
Powerlessness appears to be all that can change the ego saint and learning to draw on a Deeper Source. Powerlessness is just a place to begin and is the heart of faith. Christ even taught more by his powerlessness than all the words he spoke. I just wonder if the church or even if I am ready for this Jesus and faith is all we have for actual support —- within powerlessness.
Syd how is an “ego saint” different from a narcissist? I totally agree with you that “Powerlessness is just a place to begin and is the heart of faith”. When I lost everything that was important to me and surrendered everything I was and had to God thats when I truly encountered him and some amazing things happened. Its scary but when you have nothing else to lose and no distractions you can see more clearly. Power, pride and money keep us blind.
Beth, to your question about the difference from an ego saint and narcissist is to say an ego saint believes the rules apply to everyone else but not to them. A narcissist has excessive admiration for themselves, self-centered and concerned with their self-importance. The narcissist could also believe the rules do not apply to them. The narcissist and the ego saint both do not want to expose how undeveloped they are to someone else. The leaders in the church are both, as you know.
I am sorry you lost everything important to you. I too lost my ability to work, social life, church, family as my body is without sufficient energy for my muscles My mitochondria do not produce enough energy for my muscles and I feel like I have the flu. I am also dealing with cancer. The unique thing about this place is this empty stage of consciousness and my own value is gradually becoming without reference to anything or anyone. This is my powerlessness. However, I have not been nice accepting and adjusting to this powerlessness, mainly because I am a workaholic, alcoholic and rageacholic.
Because my body cannot sustain sufficient energy, for long, I have felt nothing to the world. When I lost the church, 2012, I felt nothing true or valuable in which I could believe in. Everything was getting complex and involved, even God was becoming an intolerable idea. By God’s grace I kept my centering prayer going, though I also felt this tendency of not wanting to be involved with God. Finally, this year my faith started moving into serenity within my powerlessness.
This powerlessness now feels this need to direct my will to the One. At moments I can feel self-possession and self-surrender together in the One. I feel effortlessly receptive to this Oneness, where there is no self-consciousness and alienation. There is a certain fulfillment in this One, even in my nothingness, especially when I surrender to my faith within. This being with the One comes usually spontaneously, mysteriously and beyond my conscious control. Primarily, it is not about me, even being “told” who I am not, and learning to be open to this hidden depth.
I share this with you Beth, as this soul language appears within you too. It is filtering lots of raw material and just a meaning beyond. Do you experience a journey with Presence now and a stage of consciousness rather than a state of consciousness for you?
Syd, I am very sorry to hear about your cancer and mitochondria disease. I have had friends and family with both conditions and I know everyday can be a struggle. Acceptance of ones situation can take a long time especially when it involves health issues. My background is nursing and many can attest I am the worst patient. I think the thing that helped me w my rage and anger about situations in my life was learning compassion for myself and others. When you can do that you can be hopeful and peaceful despite your circumstances. This doesn’t mean false hope or that you give up just you do what you can and leave the rest to God. Trying to control everything and fighting your current situation leaves you burnt out. I can relate to a lot of what you have wrote and understand what you are saying. I watched my dad who was a PHD return to a simplfied childhood faith over the 10yrs he had cancer. It wasn’t a naive faith but a pure faith. His illness and dying was a gift because it taught me there is truly a God that loves us and that pain and suffering have meaning and purpose and that heaven is our home not this Earth. I read about pain and suffering and read about Saint Teresa and read that without adoration she could not continue her work. I started going to adoration and I frequently would pray and read stories about the saints. Sometimes something I read hits a accord and I stop reading and just sit and feel the presence of God and stop thinking and just feel connected to him. Some would say this is contemplative prayer. I understand what you are saying about centering prayer. It is in these quiet moments God appears and is present and speaks to our heart, spirit and soul in a language the mind doesn’t always understand but in these moments heaven touchs earth and our hearts. These moments sustain me, give me hope and heal me. Thank you for acknowledging my losses. I don’t think anyone has ever said that to me directly except one other person and I was very touched. My losses have made my faith stronger and changed me in ways that I am now able to do things that I never would have dreamed of doing. My losses in many ways have made me braver and given me courage and hope. Syd you are searching for meaning and God you are very brave. Many people avoid the journey you are on at all costs. The unknown can be scary and things like faith can be so complicated and hard to wrap our head around people my give up which is different from acceptance. I admire you for facing your powerlessness by doing that I believe you show a strength and courage of the human spirit that is truly amazing to see.
Thanks Beth and the miracle of your own existence.
I just read an interesting story from the latest Grand Jury report with a Philadelphia/Camden connection. John P. O’Connor was ordained a priest in Camden in 1962.He was arrested in October 1984 for molesting a fourteen year old boy. At the time, Father O’Connor was a Theology teacher and golf coach at Bishop Eustace in Pennsauken New Jersey. In a plea agreement, O’Connor served no jail time. He spent eight months in treatment at Southdown Institute, located outside of Toronto , Canada.In September of 1985, Bishop Guilfoyle of the Camden diocese asked Anthony Bevilacqua ,who was then Bishop of Pittsburgh if he would take on O’Connor. Knowing of O’Connors” past indiscretions, Bevilacqua agreed. When Bevilacqua left Pittsburgh to become Archbishop of Philadelphia, the new Bishop of Pittsburgh, Bishop Datillo revoked O’Connors’ assignment and suggested O’Connor apply to the Philadelphia diocese since Bevilacqua had been willing to accept O’Connor before.In a memo dated September 7,1988, Bevilacqua appointed O’Connor as Assistant Pastor of St. Matthews’ in Conshocken, a parish with a grade school. Needless to say, O’Connor went on to molest another boy. I have known for some time that priests were moved from parish to parish to avoid prosecution.But the moving of this priest from diocese to diocese shows how far these Bishops were willing to go to protect abusive priests and the reputation of the Church.
Jim, first, thank you for your tremendous courage in speaking up about what you have gone through.
The latest grand jury report cements for me that these crimes are due to both uncaring, remorseless individual church leaders (who have been involved in, or covered up the abuse to “protect the Church”), and just as concerning for the future, a systemic issue within the Catholic Church itself. Based on the hierarchy’s defensiveness in general (like the AOP’s website banner), the “us against them” mentality mentioned in the comments above that many priests have, I’ve lost the little confidence I had that the Church is capable of reforming itself to keep this from happening in the future. The leaders of the Church have been completely oblivious and tone deaf to the damage that has been done to the victims, and to the trust, reverence, and respect millions of Catholics once had for the Church. More and more Catholics are going to look for alternate ways to worship Jesus until a DRAMATIC Reformation happens.