The Worthy Adversary

Tag: diocese of orange

  • Another Lay Review Board Thrown Under The Bus …

    Serve on a Diocese lay review board, and you can go to jail. Or at least that’s what Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn says.

    Bishop Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph are each being charged with one misdemeanor of failure to report suspected child abuse. The charges stem from the case of Fr. Shawn Ratigan, a priest in the diocese who now faces 13 federal counts of child pornography. According to legal accounts, whistleblowers, and media reports, Bishop Finn knew about Ratigan’s suspicious behavior for at least a year, possibly more, and sat on Ratigan’s child pornography collection for six months before turning it over to the police.

    Finn also didn’t inform his own lay review board until six months after Finn learned of the pornography and a month AFTER he finally notified the police. This is a year after the school principal wrote Finn a detailed letter outlining Ratigan’s suspicious behavior, including the facts that parents had found toys in his house and children’s underwear in his bushes.

    The lay review board learned about the principal’s letter in the media. Not from Finn.

    Yesterday, lawyers for Finn stated that charges should be dropped because he is NOT a mandatory reporter. According to the Associated Press:

    Finn claims Vicar General Robert Murphy and a diocese review board — not the bishop — were responsible for reporting suspected images of child pornography to the state.

    Wait. Did I miss something? Now it’s the review board’s fault? Even when Finn keeps them in the dark (on purpose) or gives them incomplete and faulty information?

    I have written about the utter failure of law review boards in the past. These boards were expressly created to have NO power. Don’t believe me? From the 2001 Essential Norms (revised):

    4. To assist diocesan/eparchial bishops, each diocese/eparchy will also have a review board which will function as a confidential consultative body to the bishop/eparch in discharging his responsibilities. The functions of this board may include

    a. advising the diocesan bishop/eparch in his assessment of allegations of sexual abuse of minors and in his determination of suitability for ministry;

    b. reviewing diocesan/eparchial policies for dealing with sexual abuse of minors; and c. offering advice on all aspects of these cases, whether retrospectively or prospectively.

    See that part about “confidential and consultative”?  That means that the bishop can tell them whatever he wants and doesn’t have to take their advice. As a former board member myself, I know.

    How else do bishops keep lay review boards as powerless as possible? In Los Angeles, members of the review board admitted only knowing about “hypothetical” cases (while an admitted perpetrator was a board member). In Philadelphia, review board members had no idea about more than two dozen accused clerics still in ministry, until a grand jury report exposed them.

    The head of the Philadelphia Lay Review Board, Ana Maria Catanzano, went so far as to say that they were chartered to only review cases where civil or criminal litigation were not involved.

    So they weren’t even given cases to review that fell under the reporting statute.

    Who is supposed to report? The bishop. In fact, if you carefully review the norms, under #11, you will see this:

    11. The diocese/eparchy will comply with all applicable civil laws with respect to the reporting of allegations of sexual abuse of minors to civil authorities and will cooperate in their investigation. In every instance, the diocese/eparchy will advise and support a person’s right to make a report to public authorities. (from the footnotes: The necessary observance of the canonical norms internal to the Church is not intended in any way to hinder the course of any civil action that may be operative)

    That means that a criminal report must be made before ANYTHING else is done.

    But Norm #9 is my favorite:

    9. At all times, the diocesan bishop/eparch has the executive power of governance, within the parameters of the universal law of the Church, through an administrative act, to remove an offending cleric from office, to remove or restrict his faculties, and to limit his exercise of priestly ministry.

    Because sexual abuse of a minor by a cleric is a crime in the universal law of the Church (CIC, c. 1395 §2; CCEO, c. 1453 §1) and is a crime in all civil jurisdictions in the United States, for the sake of the common good and observing the provisions of canon law, the diocesan bishop/eparch shall exercise this power of governance to ensure that any priest or deacon who has committed even one act of sexual abuse of a minor as described above shall not continue in active ministry

    So, Bishop Finn, the buck stops with you. You have the “executive power of governance” over an institution required under law and moral obligation to report child sexual abuse. And you blew it.

  • Putting the “Bully” in the religious Bully Pulpit

     

    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 the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue and a coalition of high-ranking U.S. Bishops, we have learned), have drawn SNAP into two lawsuits, asking for 20+ years of confidential correspondence with survivors and the press, and deposing executive director David Clohessy.

    From the New York Times:

    Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group: “The bishops have come together collectively. I can’t give you the names, but there’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.”

    SNAP is NOT a plaintiff in either lawsuit, and has had no contact whatsoever with the alleged victim in the case where Clohessy was deposed. (Note, this is the same Diocese under indictment for child endangerment)

    You can read the whole story about the cases in the New York Times here, and read their editorial here.

    The goal of the bishops? Bankrupt SNAP.

    I have not commented on the events for a number of reasons. I didn’t want to be distracted from my primary work. I didn’t also didn’t want to draw the ire and wrath of the people driving the bus over my colleagues. But mostly, I didn’t comment because it made me sad. Very, very sad.

    I suppose I really wished that the Catholic Church would live up to the New Testament values that they taught me as a child. Things like, “love your enemy,” and verse 10 of the Beatitudes, “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

    When push comes to shove, that’s all that victims have ever wanted: justice. The only reason now that victims are using the court system is because Catholic officials did not do the right thing in the first place. They didn’t call the cops. They didn’t protect kids. And when victims (like me) came forward to our bishops, church officials lied to us. The only way to get truth was through civil justice.

    But like many people, I still hold a particular naiveté. A part of me thought that while the Bishops may not agree with SNAP and certainly do not like SNAP, they believe that the group has the right to exist. It makes me sad when people like Bill Donohue and others resort to name calling and “sneaking into” the SNAP convention (which is open to the public).

    And I can’t help but make a biblical comparison to David and Goliath. SNAP’s operating budget last year was in the $300-400,000 range. That’s less than the operating budget of a FAILING parish.

    But with that shoestring, they were able to talk to hundreds of survivors who called the help line or reached out to the dozens of local leaders, refer many of those people to therapists, launch a complaint with the ICC (which sent 5 SNAP leaders to Europe in the hopes of raising awareness to crimes committed by the Vatican), and help people who are hurting.

    The vast majority of that work is done by volunteers, like me. Many volunteers are still practicing Catholics (far from the “menace” we are made out to be).

    Time will tell, but I believe that these efforts by the Bishops will backfire horribly. The first reason is clear: volunteers like myself and the local leaders in almost every state will keep plugging along. We’ll keep answering our phone and email, paying for the helpline, holding meetings, helping survivors through the healing process, and raising awareness. We don’t collect paychecks from SNAP. If the budget of the organization is gone, we’ll just go back to the “old days” when SNAP was truly a network. It will be tough, but we will muddle through. Why? Because the call for justice and healing is too strong to ignore.

    The second reason is something that the bishops haven’t bargained on: the majority of the calls I get now are from the Faithful. When they can’t get answers from their dioceses, they call me. When they see something that is wrong, they call me. When they want to know if their parish school is safe, they call me.

    The Bishops and their team are slowly alienating almost every member of their base. First, by not following their own biblical teachings, and second, by shutting down any kind of dialogue with the Faithful, victims, and the community.

    They are bullies. And I pity them.


     

     

     

  • **UPDATED** It is NEVER Okay To Defame A 14-Year-Old Crime Victim

    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 is almost as disturbing.

    Last week, Richard Aldana, a popular teacher at JSerra High School (an independent Catholic high school that is endorsed, but not owned, by the Diocese of Orange) was arrested for raping a 14-year-old student. The school immediately fired the teacher when they learned of the circumstances around his arrest, according to school spokesman Bill Rams.

    So far, so good. But story goes downhill … and fast.

    It took less than 24 hours before students at the school (Catholic school students, mind you) went on expletive-laden rants in the comments of local news websites. They blamed the victim, called her names, said that her parents are only after money, and asserted Aldana’s innocence, although they, like the rest of the public, know nothing of the circumstances of the allegations and arrest.

    Within a couple of days, students formed a Facebook group in support of Aldana, wore “Free Aldana” t-shirts, and some pretty awful musicians wrote a song about the arrested teacher.

    But what was missing? No one publicly reached out in support of the girl—someone who may have been a friend, confidant and a part of their support system. Not a single student at the Catholic school has done anything so small as publicly offer a prayer for a child crime victim. The students don’t know who she is, yet they blame her without question.

    That’s the good news.

    Enter Aldana’s criminal lawyer. His strategy: slaughter the child. In an article in the local newspaper about how the victim’s mother attained a restraining order against Aldana, attorney Michael Molfetta called the girl a liar (remember Jim Boeheim, anyone?), stated that his client might get his own restraining order against the girl (who can’t drive – she’s 14, remember?), and that her parents “shouldn’t go out and buy a yacht right away,”

    Note: while there was enough evidence to arrest Aldana, NO civil suit has been filed. The victim’s parents have hired an attorney, but looking at the treatment that their daughter has received, who can blame them?

    So here is my question: On what planet is it EVER okay to defame a sex crime victim? Especially one who is FOURTEEN YEARS OLD?!!

    I am not saying the Aldana is definitely guilty. That’s for the police and the prosecutors to determine. But what I am saying is that the behavior of JSerra’s students, Aldana’s lawyer and school administrators (who refuse to apologize for baseless attacks on the victim) is reprehensible and should be stopped. I don’t know what the school is advocating, but it certainly has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

    By allowing these attacks to continue, JSerra is fostering a dangerous, pro-crime atmosphere where any victim of violence is scared and shamed into silence. Think about other young crime victims at the school. Students who are victims of rape (no matter the perpetrator), incest, abuse, and domestic violence are NEVER going to come forward if they see that other victims are run over by the bus as school administrators watch and smile.

    I have yet to see any kind of apology from school officials for the actions of these students, although the CEO did publish a letter in the local paper about the arrest and allegations.

    What should these students be doing? They can support Aldana all they want. But they should do it quietly and privately. They should understand that posting Facebook pages and printing T-shirts do NOT work in the teacher’s favor in the eyes of investigators. In fact, these actions, as well as posting comments on news articles that say “he is my good friend,” “he is always there for me – day and night,” and “everyone liked to hang out with him,” are examples of grooming behaviors and mirror exactly what happened with admitted and/or jailed perpetrators Michael Harris, John Lenihan and Alex Castillo.

    What should Aldana’s attorney Michael Molfetta be doing? He should defend his client in the criminal courtroom and NOT attack a CHILD crime victim. What judge will look kindly on any defendant whose attorney is violating ethics and lacking common decency? What jury would ever side with a man who beats up on kids in the press?

    What should the school be doing? They MUST immediately apologize to the alleged victim and her family for the student attacks (that’s cyber-bullying). They MUST tell their students how to support Aldana quietly. They MUST show the Christian values that they charge $10,000+ a year to “impart” upon the student body. If they don’t, there are possibly dozens of other crime victims at that school who will never get help, never report, and never heal.

    Whether or not Aldana is guilty, there are many people in south Orange County with blood on their hands.