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| By SUSAN EVANS, THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT | June 19, 2002 |
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Posted on 06/19/2002 7:27:34 AM PDT by Polycarp
| Catholic leader: Adamec failed to act |
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 [Michael Rose speaking at Altoona appearance] |
| A conservative Catholic leader contends Bishop Joseph Adamec of the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese has known the identities of priests who molest children, but has failed to act. George Foster, president of the Lay Stewardship Foundation, said Adamec has allowed the statute of limitations to run out so that priests could not be prosecuted, and he has failed to remove abusive priests from contact with children. Foster made the accusation yesterday in response to Adamec’s criticism of Foster’s group for scheduling a conservative Catholic author’s visit to Altoona on the eve of the bishop’s fund-raising dinner tonight. Foster’s charges came a day after the bishop pledged to purge the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese of sexual abuse by priests, although Adamec maintained he was unaware of molestation. It also came on the same day that the diocese agreed to turn over all records of sexual abuse by priests, no matter how old the cases are, to prosecutors in the diocese’s eight counties. Foster said that Adamec’s criticism of him “makes me think that this bishop’s heart is far from his people.” “Our concern is that there are active homosexual priests who are out there molesting children,” Foster said. “His focus is on fund-raising. We have two very different focuses in the diocese going on.” Foster was speaking at a news conference his group sponsored for Michael Rose, author of “Goodbye, Good Men,” a controversial book that names the Altoona-Johnstown diocese as being too liberal and helping to foster a “gay subculture” in the priesthood. “The bishop keeps maintaining that he had, and has, no idea what’s going on, but we know that he does,” Foster said. “There’s molestation that I know of, and the bishop is well are of it too. Sadly, we in this diocese hide behind the statute of limitations when we should be using a higher moral law.” Foster bristled at the bishop’s criticism of his scheduling, saying his group invited Rose at least two months ago and was unaware of the bishop’s dinner tonight. His lay stewardship group is a non-profit organization that was formed a few years ago to spread Catholic and Christian principles, he said. Rose, in Altoona for a book-signing reception at the Ramada Inn, confirmed that Foster’s group invited him two months ago. He said a “gay subculture “ flourishes in some seminaries, discouraging traditional candidates from continuing toward ordination. “Sexual deviants advance, while orthodox men are pruned from the vine,” Rose said. “The root problem is not celibacy, but the encouragement of sexual self-gratification that has become prevalent in the priesthood.” The church is now undergoing “purification,” he said. Rose said he was most upset about the church network that shuffled priests around after they abused children, instead of removing them from the priesthood. “If the scandals are to end, the individuals responsible for this moral meltdown must be removed,” he said. Rose told reporters that he was baffled by the bishop’s harsh criticism of him. “Many of his fellow bishops have supported my book,” he said, adding that he’s even been a guest on a radio show hosted by Adamec’s guest of honor tonight, former Boston mayor Raymond Flynn. Foster said that he and fellow conservatives have brought their concerns to the bishop several times, but changes have not been made. Adamec consistently has maintained that he has acted swiftly on abuse cases since he was installed as bishop in 1987. |
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©Tribune Democrat 2002
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“There’s molestation that I know of, and the bishop is well are of it too. Sadly, we in this diocese hide behind the statute of limitations when we should be using a higher moral law.”Well, wait a second. If he knows of it, why is he waiting for the Bishop to do something about it? Why doesn't he report it to the cops?
patent
This is what passes for a defense these days.
“The bishop keeps maintaining that he had, and has, no idea what’s going on,..."
We ought to give him the benefit of the doubt that, indeed, for 15 years he has been utterly clueless and incompetent. This bishop and many others.
sitetest
Are these sins of OMISSION or COMMISSION??
As I have said before (and will probably say again), isn't it INTERESTING that the laity knows right where to look for the source of these problems, but the blind bishops can't figure it out? Either they are complicit right up to their pectoral crosses, or they are too stupid to stay in office. Either way, it's time to NEUTRALIZE them. If we can't get them removed, we can at least ignore them.
Also stated before:
SHUN THEM
TURN YOUR BACKS ON THEM IN PUBLIC
WITHOLD ALL FUNDS TO DIOCESAN APPEALS
FREEP THE STUFFING OUT OF THEM!!
We make it very clear to our pastor that the money we give HIM for the operation of the parish is for parish use. He must pay his assessment to the diocese out of parish funds, of course, so this is a quandary. One way to keep money in the parish is to donate actual items needed, like music books, incense, altar breads, etc. K.C.'s and Altar Societies (Women's Guilds, etc.) can purchase these items and present them.
That comment says a lot. Very Weaklandian.
Here's yet another example - Parish Shaken by Reports of Sexual and Financial Misdeeds
Local bishop outlines sexual-abuse policy
By Mike Joseph
mjoseph@centredaily.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG - Although some Roman Catholic dioceses screen out would-be priests because of gay sexual orientations, the eight-county Altoona-Johnstown Diocese does not, Bishop Joseph Adamec said Monday.
But Adamec said the diocese does take into account the prospect that a seminarian will keep his vow of celibacy after he is ordained.
Adamec also acknowledged that State College area Catholics are engaged in a debate about the diocese's screening policy, saying a psychologist who screens priesthood applicants faces criticism.
The diocese is currently reviewing about a half dozen allegations of sexual abuse of minors, all of which are alleged to have occurred more than 15 years ago, Adamec said.
The bishop's comments came at a news conference Monday, his first since U.S. cardinals met with Pope John Paul II last month and perhaps his last before U.S. bishops convene in Dallas next month to try to come to terms with the widespread crisis of sexual abuse cases.
At Monday's news conference, Adamec detailed the establishment of an "allegation review committee" made up of four professional, nonclergy Catholics from Blair and Cambria counties -- a social worker, a physician, a psychologist and a mother.
The committee will review any sexual abuse allegations that arise among the 112,000 Catholics and 104 active priests in the diocese. The bishop said the committee is currently reviewing about a half dozen allegations of clergy sexual abuse that have come to light recently but that date back more than 15 years, before he became bishop.
"We have no new cases in terms of current incidents," Adamec said. "We do get new allegations in regard to things that may have occurred prior to that. ... The mass media in its reporting has probably empowered alleged victims who felt like they didn't want to come forward before and now feel free to do so, and that's certainly a good thing. And of course by now, they're adults."
He said some of the priests named in the allegations are out of the diocese, dead or no longer active, while others remain active.
"Those investigations are at various stages, and some could be considered as allegations, some could not," he said.
Adamec said he will refer allegations to the committee members, who are then free to obtain more information by, for example, interviewing the alleged victim and the accused priest.
"And then, when they come to a conclusion, they advise me, whether I need to proceed further along the lines of our diocesan policy. What that does then is that it takes out of my hands that initial decision: Is this credible or is this not."
He said allegations that are credible will be reported to the district attorney. "If we receive an allegation from a victim, the understanding needs to be that that goes public -- reporting it to the DA," he said.
Adamec said that in the last several years, the diocese has used State College psychologist David Brown of Psychological Associates of Central Pennsylvania for about half of its psychological evaluations of prospective candidates for the priesthood.
Brown testified at the State College Area School District's hearings in support of the district's anti-discrimination, anti-harassment policy three years ago and has since debated sexual orientation issues on the CDT's opinion pages with the Rev. James M. Foster of St. John's Catholic Church in Bellefonte and Gary L. Morella, an associate with the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars in Lemont.
Adamec said Monday that some Centre County lay Catholics have criticized Brown for being too "liberal" in his comments. But the bishop added that the church catechism, while holding that it's wrong for gays to act out their sexual orientation, also says that they "must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity."
"Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided," Adamec said. "They're all God's children. And that's what he (Brown) claims he was talking about. I have no reason to think otherwise. There are other people, however, in the State College area, who absolutely don't want to hear that."
Adamec said that in the screening process for would-be priests "we've done as good of a job as one can," adding that there is no method that's going to be foolproof in such areas. He said the issue of importance is celibacy, regardless of sexual orientation.
"What needs to happen, according to me, is that we need to talk with that individual and determine whether that person is celibate or not. In other words, we either have heterosexual tendencies or homosexual tendencies. If the person is able to live a celibate life, in other words the orientation is one thing but acting it out and living it is another, then I think that we would need to take that into consideration."
When the bishops meet in Dallas next month, he said, that may be one of the issues that they seek a wide-ranging policy on. "What we're going to do as a result of all this and what we're going to decide in Dallas in June, I do not know," he said.
"Goodbye, Good Men," a book written by Michael S. Rose and recently published by Regnery Publishing Co., carries the subtitle "How Liberals Brought Corruption into the Catholic Church."
The book argues, according to its promotional material, that "radical liberalism, like that found on many college campuses, has infiltrated the Catholic Church and tried to overthrow her traditional beliefs, standards, and disciplines -- especially church teachings on sexuality."
Brown, who is referred to in a half-page section of the 288-page book, said in an interview that "ultra" right-wing Catholics are trying to scapegoat homosexuals in a McCarthyite way and "they're furious" that he spoke in favor of the anti-harassment policy, using a theological argument, and that the policy was approved.
"They are purposely trying to use this book," Brown said. "They see an opportunity here."
"Nobody in the official church," Adamec's assistant, Sister Mary Parks, said Monday, "really thinks the book is worthwhile."
That is up to the victims, not George. In some cases, the cops are already very much involved, to the point of staking out one rectory, looking for evidence of current abuse where past cases are beyond statutes of limitations, which are unusually short here in PA.
That's the question I consistently ask. Why don't the families call the cops. Why do they run to the Chancery with their hands out? If something like that ever happened to one of my kids or grandkids you can be damned sure I'd go to the cops. the bishop would find out when he read it in the paper or when he got called for bail. Sexual abuse of children is a crime and should be handled as a crime.
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Now that's a choice comment. Notice, she has no substantive criticism, reply, or counter-argument, just a veiled appeal to elitism. Rose's book is dismissed because, well, he's not one of us in the [sniff] official church. (Ever notice how liberals are uniformly egalitarian until they attain power, and then they are aggressively and obviously elitist? It's not only in the Church, either.)
The AmChurch CTA crowd is beginning to realize that their little power trip is over, the emperor's nakedness has been duly and correctly identified, and boy are they bummed.
That is up to the victims, not George.First, than it is also up to the victims, not the Bishop, and Mr. Foster has no place criticizing the Bishop for this aspect of his inaction. He didn’t act either. Frankly, I entirely disagree with the idea that its up to the victims. IMHO, if I learn of molestation I feel a moral obligation to address it, if not a legal one. I don't care whether I am a Bishop, neighbor, random bystander, whatever. You have no moral authority if you know of abuse and don't approach the authorities to discuss it.
Second, according to most laws you do have an obligation to report it. I don’t know about your jurisdiction.
Finally, your Bishop stinks, he should go. However, it doesn’t do his critics any good to try to bolster their cases with bravado about what they know and didn’t know, when they didn’t use that knowledge either.
From RobbyS:
Report what?Ask Mr. Foster. He is criticizing the Bishop for not reporting molestation and allowing the statute of limitations to run, isn’t he? And then he states he knows the same things the Bishop knows (“There’s molestation that I know of, and the bishop is well are of it too.”). So, why doesn’t he report it? Why did he allow the statute to run? He can’t have it both ways, which is what he is trying to do. He claims he has knowledge of abuse to bolster his claim that the Bishop has knowledge, but if that is true, both of them have some obligations. The Bishop has more obligations, but Mr. Foster has at least one, talking to the authorities to make sure they know what he knows.
If the Bishop is at fault for (1) having the knowledge, and (2) not reporting it, and Mr. Foster (1) has the knowledge and (2) hasn’t reported it, he has no place casting stones.
patent +AMDG
And nothing would be a better epitaph than:
Nobody in the official Church really thinks the book is worthwhile
SD
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