Posted on 04/25/2002 4:43:48 PM PDT by history_matters
On February 26, 2001 RCF sent the following to Cardinal George of Chicago.
On March 1, 2001 the Cardinal answered RCF’s letter.Your Eminence,
I recently received a letter from a Mr. Matt Abbott regarding his Feb. 24, 2001 conversation with you at St. Rita High School during Parish Leadership Day. According to Mr. Abbott:
‘..he [Cardinal George] doesn’t like the fact that you make accusations with no evidence to back them up. He used the [Bishop] Ryan case as an example: He claims that there as no evidence of wrongdoing, other than Ryan’s “imprudent” association with certain individuals’Surely Mr. Abbott misunderstood your comments, to assume otherwise would suggest you are a liar who has some reason to protect a pervert bishop.The lawsuit filed against Bishop Ryan one week after his resignation mentions Ryan’s homosexual activity with clergy and male prostitutes. Are you suggesting the attorneys who filed the lawsuit had no affidavits to back up their statements? Are you calling them liars as well? How about the statement from the ex-wife of Ryan’s former lover? What about the statements from 3 priests and 2 former male prostitutes?
It seems everybody is lying except you and bishop Ryan – and General Absolution doesn’t happen in Chicago and there has never been a child sexually abused by a Catholic priest.
Maybe RCF’s work in Springfield is not complete. In an effort to defend RCF’s reputation and my good name, we might need to present to the public all the evidence including the size and shape of Bishop Ryan’s penis along with statements and copies of cancelled checks. One wonders what bishop Ryan must know that would cause other bishops to lie for him. Maybe we should take a closer look at others who protect the wolf. RCF has credibility and speaks the truth Cardinal – you do not.
Sincerely,
Stephen Brady, President
Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc.
Dear Mr. Brady:On March 6, 2001 Roman Catholic Faithful responded to the Cardinal’s letterThis is in response to your faxed letter of February 26. I’ll attempt to clarify the report which Matt Abbott gave you of our short conversation in the corridor of St. Rita High School. I had not realized that, in speaking with him, I was speaking with you; but it is good to take the occasion to raise with you the distinction between an accusation and an accusation accompanied by proof.
Let me use a fictitious example. Suppose that, last week, a woman who has been in prison for drug dealing off and on over the years came to me and told me you had committed adultery with her four times last year. She gave me the times and places, describing your physical characteristics in some detail. She also showed me copies of checks you had written to her. Is any of this evidence that you are an adulterer? Since I have no knowledge of your physical characteristics and the checks didn’t say “payment in service for sexual favors”, am I free to assume she has verified her story? Am I morally justified in concluding that her story is true? Am I then free to write and tell anyone willing to listen that Stephen Brady is an adulterer?
The answer, of course, is no. You have a right to your good public reputation which, like anyone’s, can be easily destroyed. In talking to Matt, I did not say that you or anyone else is lying. I said there has been no conclusive evidence given to prove the accusations you’ve made against Bishop Ryan, who also has a right to his good reputation without conclusive proof against him. I had assumed that the lawsuit filed against the diocese might clarify some of the accusations, but I have not heard anything about the case since it was filed. Filling a suit isn’t proof of anything, except of the intent of the one who files. Filling an affidavit isn’t proof of anything until it is contested and adjudicated. I have not seen any the “evidence” you have accumulated. Interviews by Mr. Lago with some of the parties concerned left the accusations unresolved. Bishop Ryan befriended some individuals whom, he explains, he was trying to help. At this point, I am in no position to say anything more: nor have you given me any proof which would justify saying anything more.
You know that your remark about a child never having been sexually abused by a Catholic priest is merely sarcasm, the kind of sarcasm often used by enemies of the Catholic faith who hate bishops and priests.
What does it say when you and Call to Action adopt the same tone? In the Archdiocese of Chicago, at least, every accusation by someone who claims to be a victim of sexual abuse by a priest is carefully investigated. Not every accusation is true, but some are. If there is something I need to know about sexual abuse of a child by one of the priests of the Archdiocese, I ask you to have the victim contact me. You know, as well, that priests have been permanently removed from ministry and their victims helped, to the extent possible, to overcome the effects of such terrible sin committed against them. Also, you may or may not know that the practice of giving general absolution, an abuse which began years ago in the Archdiocese of Chicago, has begun to be addressed.
Finally, I am sorry that you believe you have to make personal innuendoes and threats to get attention, even for causes you believe in sincerely. This is Lent, a time when Christ, through the Church, calls us all to conversion. You are in my prayers; please keep me in yours.
Yours in Christ,
Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago
Francis Cardinal George
Archdiocese of Chicago
Office of the Archbishop
Post Office Box 1979
Chicago, Illinois 60690Your Eminence,
Let me begin my response to your March 1 letter by first commenting upon your remark that the practice of your diocesan priests giving general absolution has begun to be addressed. In this remark, your cowardice and insincerity are laid bare. You have been bishop of Chicago since May 7, 1997, a total of more than three years. At any time you could have ordered this practice stopped by simply commanding your priests to obey, under penalty of discipline. The expression “has begun to be addressed,” is more appropriate for problems like termite control or poor grades in children’s math scores. Such subtle problems are often not subject to readily recognizable remedies. You like to give examples. Let me give you an example. Suppose these priests practicing general absolution were instead handing out pamphlets stating black people do not have souls and cannot go to heaven. Do you have any doubt that you would instantly order this practice ceased? Do you think you would wait four years before “beginning to ad- dress” the problem? Of course not. General absolution places the eternal souls of your flock in eternal jeopardy. Your failure to come to their rescue is a disgrace and a betrayal of your office.
With regard to Bishop Ryan, you know fully well that Fr. Hardon flew to Rome with statements from priests and personally vouched for the accuracy of the charges. This is in addition to the sworn statements that I referred to previously. To respond to your analogy, if in addition to the sworn statements from these drug addicts, Fr. Hardon flew to Rome with two women who claimed to have committed adultery with me, and he vouched for their accuracy, I would consider this a sufficient basis in which to conclude that the adultery had occurred. When combining this information with the affidavits filed with a civil lawsuit, for which attorneys can be disbarred for unfounded allegations, any possible doubt would be removed from my mind. It therefore appears that the only way you would acknowledge that a priest or bishop was engaged in sexual misconduct is if we sent you photos of the priest performing these acts. However, when we attempted to provide you with photos of clergy misconduct last year in connection with the St. Sebastian Website, you faxed me a letter in which you said that you would not look at these homosexual photos because they could be a near occasion of sin for you. You have thus built a wall around yourself which guarantees plausible deniability on your part for any sexual misconduct on the part of your clergy. Although this is shameful and cowardly, we must at least congratulate you on the genius of this scheme.
Yes, Cardinal George, we will continue to pray for you. It is clear we have not been praying hard enough.
In Jesus’ Name, The Way, The Truth, and the Life,
Stephen Brady
I think our model in seeking cleansing of the Church should be St. Catherine of Siena IMO because she was a lay woman, a 3rd order Dominican, and did not flinch when God called on her to speak the truth to Pope, cardinals, clergy, politicians, laity. She also never lost sight of the dignity that attends the office of Pope, bishop, priest, deacon, religious. She raised high the standard and called to individuals in those offices to live up to the high calling of Christ Crucified and Risen.A timely suggestion: St. Catherine of Siena's feastday is this coming Monday, April 29. She was a "holy anorectic" who rarely slept, virtually lived on the Eucharist, and was highly instrumental in convincing the Pope to return to Rome from Avignon.
No, St. Catherine did not flinch from the Truth, which she properly understood to have a force of its own. Mr. Brady, would be well advised to emulate St. Catherine's faith in the intrinsic force of Truth to make his point and less on histrionics.
patent
If this is true, then it is best for the flock. This is unfortunate, but the Church should learn a valuable lesson from all this.
PS: I asked to mention Deacons because they also are not immune to falls. We had a deacon arrested in our diocese for sexual abuse. All good deacons, priests and bishops, to include all the honorary titles as well, need mucho prayers!
The first statement above that Mr. Brady attributes to Cardinal George, taken out of context, does seem to cast aspersions on the Cardinal's character. Having followed a link to the RCF website the other evening, however, the vile graphics that Mr. Brady has posted there say more to me about Mr. Brady's character than the Cardinal's. IMO, the Cardinal showed charitable restraint.However, when we attempted to provide you with photos of clergy misconduct last year in connection with the St. Sebastian Website, you faxed me a letter in which you said that you would not look at these homosexual photos because they could be a near occasion of sin for you.What are we, the faithful, to make of such a statement from a Prince of the Church?
We need to fight right now, and it needs to be a fight for the Church, not for us.Bump.
This is very sage advice. Thank you.
Bet he amused himself with that one.
Some will listen, patent. The question as always is the fruit that comes from such a thing.
Because of RCF and the late Fr. Hardon, of blessed memory, the Vatican already had an enormous amount of information before this scandal broke. I know that the Church's thinking is glacial and its movements usually slow. But the festering scab has been ripped off the wound, and now is the time for a vigorous Vatican-directed disinfecting and cleansing.
[I understand from a SSPX friend that their chapels were overflowing this last Sunday. I am not surprised to hear that, nor am I surprised when I hear many Episcopalian churches in the northeast have had a sudden influx of refugee Catholics. I pray for them all in their confusion and despair.]
Since many feel that Cardinal George has been moving steadily in the proper direction -- if too slow for some -- then I hope this current moment opens the door for him to move with all do haste to cut out the cancer and cleanse the archdiocese from top to bottom.
I appreciate your position and your defenses re: same.
Still, the banning of General Absolution overnight should be a no-brainer.
And there will be proof in the pudding. Hopeful the beleaguered traditional will take the bit in their teeth now that the homosexuals and pervs have dropped the reins for a moment.
Your comment was really unnecessary.
What are you trying to say?
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