Catholic official faces sex-abuse accusation

MSNBC ^ | 8 March 2006 | AP

[jecIIny]

Catholic official faces sex-abuse accusation Woman alleges sexual abuse by head of U.S. bishops conference in the ’60s The Associated Press Updated: 6:59 p.m. ET March 8, 2006

SPOKANE, Wash. - A woman has filed a claim that she was sexually abused more than 40 years ago by Bishop William Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and leader of the Spokane Diocese.

Skylstad issued a statement Wednesday categorically denying the accusation, saying he has not violated the vow of celibacy he took 47 years ago.

The claim was filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane on Dec. 27 by a woman who said she was under the age of 18 when Skylstad sexually abused her at St. Patrick’s Parish and at Gonzaga University from December 1961 to December 1964.

[jecIIny]

WOW! A woman!

[Notwithstanding]

Perhaps its not true. It is also a very old allegation.

Nevertheless, it certainly affirms my lack of trust in the USCCB.

I would not trust USCCB with my laundry, let alone with anything affecting my soul.

[jecIIny]

I don't want to bad mouth the church I am leaving. There is a lot I admire in the Catholic Church. And all the scandals and rampant heresy in the pews (and in some cases the clergy) was not what motivated me to swim the Bosphorous. That said, all of this did not exactly make my decision to leave any harder. I have a lot of hope for the reign of +Benedict XVI. Already I see him doing things that could make his reign one of the most important in many years despite the fact that his age will probably limit the length of his pontificate. He could do in five years more to repair the Latin Church then +John Paul Magnus (Memory Eternal!)did in 26+ years. John Paul's legacy will be reaching out to the world with the message of Christ's love, and making the church more human and acceptable to many who had previously been much at odds with it. He was an evangelist. +Benedict's legacy might well be saving Western Christianity. He is a Bishop and I think maybe one day (going out on a limb here), a Doctor of the Church. He may be the Pius V of the present age. God Grant Him Many Years!

[Notwithstanding]

ping

[ardara]

What happened to statutes of limitations and innocent till proven guilty.What they do to the other guy today,they can do to you and your family tomorrow.

[Tax-chick]

she was sexually abused more than 40 years ago by Bishop William Skylstad,

May we assume that he was not a Bishop 40 years ago?

saying he has not violated the vow of celibacy he took 47 years ago

Perhaps he wasn't even a priest at the time the alleged event took place.

I'm underwhelmed by this accusation - if anything happened, the guy was a student in his 20's at the time, and presumably the woman was as well. I'm not real impressed by current "abuse" accusations of the "Now I wish I hadn't had sex with him!" type, and certainly not by something 40 years old.

Now if she was a child at the time, and there's some proof, that would be different.

[Tax-chick]

Oh, I see it says she was "under 18" at the time she claims they got it on. I presume that means she was 17, so there's no question of pedophilia. A college student who had a fling with a girl a bit underage, if anything happened at all. Sinful, of course, for both parties, as well as tacky, but but hardly an earth-shattering scandal either at the time or today.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Skylstad was ordained on 21 May 1960.

[Tax-chick]

Okay ... then either he was messing around while a priest, or she's lying/deluded.

[jecIIny]

That is a sad commentary on the times.

[Antoninus]

was not what motivated me to swim the Bosphorous.

You've become a Turk?

[Antoninus]

That is a sad commentary on the times.

Don't think for even half a second that this kind of thing doesn't happen among the Orthodox. Pederasty is called the "Greek vice" for a reason. I had an archaeology professor who visited Mount Athos of all places and experienced sexual harassment there. Fortunately, he was strong enough to fight off his attacker--an elderly monk.

[spotbust1]

There is much to be said about the fact that this type of thing happens among other denominations, but the real problem with sexual abuse and the Catholic church is that it has been largely protected and swept under the rug until recently. There were too many priests and bishops moved to other locations in other diocese in order to cover up the problem. This only made it worse as they were allowed to prey on a whole new set of unsuspecting victims.

[jecIIny]

It certainly occurs in all denominations. But I do think there has been a somewhat higher incidence among Latin Rite Catholic clergy due to the attraction that some homosexuals must have had to a profession in which they could hide without people asking "How come junior never got married?" etc...
In this respect +Benedict XVI deserves much credit for trying to put the breaks on the acceptance of homosexuals into the clergy.

[jecIIny]

LOL. Constantinople is still (for now) the seat of the first see of the Orthodox Christian Church.