[american colleen]

I got much the same reply to the e-mail I sent to Brother Van Houten.

ARCHBISHOP MOLLOY HIGH SCHOOL 83-53 Manton Street Briarwood NY 11435-1697 (718) 441-2100
President@molloyhs.org

Dear Ms. XXXXXX,

First, I want to clarify that I am not a priest, but a religious Brother - a detail that the newspaper got wrong. The article also didn't mention that I am a graduate of St. Elizabeth school, and very grateful for the fine education I received there forty years ago. The Dominican Sisters who staffed the school at that time had a one word motto: Veritas. -- Truth. The abuse of children, sexual improprieties, financial mismanagement, and unvarnished theft will only stop when every Catholic refuses to permit it or to overlook it, and insists on truthful and accountable leadership. Sadly, we have a long way to go before this ideal is realized.

Nonetheless, I am convinced that when enough Catholics - lay, religious, or clergy - refuse to accept "No Comment" as an answer, and refuse to cooperate with evil by ignoring it, that our Church can begin to be redeemed.

Thanks again for writing,

Br. Richard Van Houten
President

Outstanding American High School - U.S. News & World Report Exemplary School - Federal Department of Education Accredited by the Middle States Association Chartered by the Regents of the State University of New York

[ventana]

Oh, oops! Didn't see your e-mail, which is much the same!

V's wife.

[GOPJ]

I am convinced that when enough Catholics - lay, religious, or clergy - refuse to accept "No Comment" as an answer, and refuse to cooperate with evil by ignoring it, that our Church can begin to be redeemed.

This Brother "gets it"...