Woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation (Luke 6:24–26) The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, one of the main organizations for whom I volunteer my advocacy efforts (and to whom I donate), has recently been under siege in Missouri. Catholic bishops there (under the direction of…Continue reading Putting the “Bully” in the religious Bully Pulpit
If you care about clergy sex abuse victims, you should read this. If you think that the Catholic Church is doing everything right in the scandal, you must read this. And then you must read it again. Thousands of pages of child sex abuse and cover-up documents are now public in the Wilmington Delaware Diocese…Continue reading Consider this your homework
The Irish Christian Brothers (ICB), a religious order of brothers (monks) headquartered in New York state, filed bankruptcy last year when they were faced with more than 50 victims of abuse, molestation and beatings. The Canadian congregation (affiliated with the ICB in New York) faced national disgrace when more than 300 children came forward to tell…Continue reading August Deadline Set For Irish Christian Brothers Abuse Victims
UPDATED JANUARY 27, 2012 – Today, the Orange County District Attorney’s office charged Richard Aldana with seven felony counts of lewd acts on a child. Good news, indeed. Original post: International human rights groups cry foul when rape victims are stoned, imprisoned or forced to marry their rapists. But in sunny California, the news…Continue reading **UPDATED** It is NEVER Okay To Defame A 14-Year-Old Crime Victim
From the Office of Keep Your Trap Shut, You Pesky Victims’ Activists: Pope Benedict yesterday espoused the virtues of silence: By remaining silent, we allow the other person to speak, to express him or herself, and we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested. Ah, the irony.…Continue reading Well, at least Pope Benedict is sticking to the company line
Joe Paterno’s death last weekend came as a bit of a shock and a huge disappointment. I knew he was sick, but my disappointment did not come from grief. My upset was quite different: The man at the center of the biggest child sex abuse scandal of 2011 is gone, and we will never know…Continue reading Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain: Joe Paterno and the Catholic Sex Abuse Crisis
… or go and see in theaters six months from now if you are terminally unhip like me. I have not one—but TWO—friends with documentaries at Sundance this year. Apparently, I am the perfect random, non-movie-industry person to know if you are a filmmaker. (I like to pretend I actually had something to do with…Continue reading Two Movies You Should See At Sundance
NEWS: Abuse victims to bishop: ‘Stop the lynch mob’ Parishioners are confronting, intimidating family members of potential abuse victim Hurt and confused Catholics are giving predators a “free pass,” SNAP says You must help create a victim-safe environment in your churches, they demand In response to what they are calling a “modern day lynch mob,”…Continue reading NEWS: Abuse victims to bishop: ‘Stop the lynch mob’
The Penn State scandal has really upset me. Actually, it’s upset me far more than I would like to admit. I’ll begin with what upset me the most—besides the obvious horrific and stomach-turning sex abuse and cover-up, and the fact that the man who admitted to abusing me and another girl still has his job…Continue reading Where are the congressional hearings about the Archdiocese of Philadelphia?
About the Penn State abuse crisis and the stunning parallels to the Catholic Church
Penn State does not have a monopoly on sex abuse cover-up. Adrian College officials have known that Thomas Hodgman was an admitted predator since 2003, yet, they support him and have allowed him to keep his job. They have not warned parents, students or the general community of the risk. As a result of my 2005…Continue reading The Thomas Hodgman Abuse and Cover-up Documents
In September, victims of sexual abuse “upped the ante,” making a serious move to expose and prevent clergy sex crimes and cover-ups at the global level. How? SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (of which I am a member), filed a more than 80-page complaint (with 20,000 pages of documentation) with the International…Continue reading Four Myths About SNAP’s ICC Complaint
California is inundated with civil and criminal clergy sex abuse cases. I realized it was time for an update: Inland Empire Last week in Ontario, Fr. Alex Castillo was sentenced to a year in jail for lewd acts on a child. Although he was only prosecuted for his crimes against one victim, the sentencing report outlined…Continue reading The California Clergy Sex Abuse Powder Keg, Part 2
We must demand more from Archbishop Chaput – more transparency, more support for legislative change, and more accountability. While many Philadelphia Catholic pundits are cheering the recent appointment of Denver Archbishop Chaput to replace Cardinal Rigali, victims remain rightfully wary. We’ve seen first hand how easy it is for church officials replace a priest, vicar general,…Continue reading A Rigali in Chaput’s Clothing
Read my latest post on Technorati here. Being a parent can be downright scary. With a 24-hour news cycle and the media’s love of the scare tactic (“To Catch a Predator,” anyone?), we are constantly bombarded with messages of fear and helplessness when it comes to the safety of our kids. When I present to…Continue reading Four Ways To Protect Your Preschooler
Last week in Kansas City-St. Joseph, the diocese lay review board was called to meet by the bishop to “discuss” recent events involving the sexual abuse of children. Too bad the board got wind of things a few years too late. For those of you who don’t know, Fr. Sean Ratigan was arrested in late…Continue reading The Puppet Show: The Utter Failure of Diocese Lay Review Boards
I have built up a pretty thick skin towards institutional misogyny. Growing up Catholic, I was carefully conditioned to accept my lot: I could never be an altar boy; girls were seductive; boys were smarter; positions of power were always held by men; Eve’s sin is my burden; my rolled uniform skirt is the reason…Continue reading Why Do We Hate Our Girls?
I don’t really like talking politics. But today, it’s all about politics. Roll Call reported last week that Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner had agreed upon a new House Chaplain: a Jesuit priest from the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus (Oregon Jesuits), Fr. Patrick Conroy. Victims were outraged. Why? In March, the Oregon…Continue reading The Plague on Both Your Houses, Boehner and Pelosi
And really, that’s why I’m doing this. With anger, we get nowhere. But if we have smiles on our faces, we can change the world (or at least stop crying for a while).
A year of my life was dominated by a perfectionist’s life-and-death struggle with poop, poop prediction, and eventual poop containment. The result? Insanity.