Most Rev. William Skylstad, Vice President, U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Most Rev. William Skylstad
Vice President, U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Catholic Pastoral Center
W. 1023 Riverside Ave., PO Box 1453
Spokane, WA 99210-1453

I am writing to you on behalf of Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc., a lay organization dedicated to fighting heterodoxy and corruption in the hierarchy. We demand that you resign your position as Vice President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, a position which normally leads to the presidency of that organization. Our reasons are as follows:

1. When you were bishop of Yakima, you knew that Fr. Dale Calhoun was a child molester. Instead of removing him from the priesthood, you made a deal with Archbishop Hunthausen of Seattle to take Calhoun off your hands and place him in the Seattle Archdiocese. Hunthausen gave Calhoun an administrative position and allowed him to reside at St. Anne's parish - a parish with a grade school. In fact, Calhoun's residence looked out on a school yard. Further details on Fr. Calhoun are detailed in the Supreme Court case C.J.C. v. Catholic Bishop of Yakima, 985 P.2d 262 (Wash. 1999), although I suspect you have read that case by now.

2. Your negligence in failing to protect children was further brought to light by comments from Bellevue attorney Tim Kosnoff in the September 21, 2002 issue of The Olympian, wherein Kosnoff was quoted as stating "He knew children were being abused and he said nothing." Your quoted reply also included these remarks:

"We judge things 20 years ago by what we know now. The presumption is we knew a lot more than we actually did."

3. In your present diocese of Spokane, you have placed Fr. Adrian Parcher in a position of trust and responsibility as Pastor of St. Thomas More parish. Fr. Parcher was formerly Abbot of St. Martin's monastery in Lacey, Washington. There, he abused his position of authority by entering into homosexual liaisons with other monks and with novices. After someone attempted to blackmail Parcher, he paid that person off using monastery funds. He was removed after his unauthorized use of monastery funds was discovered. Fr. Parcher's reputation was notorious at the monastery. He had his abbot's crosier custom-made with diamonds; his nickname at the monastery was 'Fr. Nancy.'

4. On February 27,2003 your diocesan column The Bishop Writes contains statements that further disqualify you from leading the nation's bishops.

You stated, "research does not indicate whether or not pedophilia has anything to do with whether one is heterosexual or homosexual. Some of the priests who abused teen boys were, however, likely to have been homosexual in orientation, which contributed to the confusion." This is the usual purposeful misdirection that we have come to expect it from our bishops. In point of fact, pedophilia technically refers only to sexual abuse directed at those age 12 and under. Most of the children abused by priests have been between the ages of 13 and 17. The vast majority of children molested were boys who were molested by homosexual priests. As reported in The Washington Times (6/12/02):

The Family Research Council has now connected the dots to show the evidence of a direct correlation between homosexuality and child sexual abuse - one that existed long before the priest scandals. In a paper titled "Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse," author Dr. Timothy J. Dailey has documented three key facts:

. The vast majority of child molesters are male (the Journal of Sex Research says that "pedophilia does not exist, or is extremely rare, in women ").

. The percentage of the male population that is homosexual is quite small (only 2.5 percent of males, according to one estimate in the journal Demography).

. Since almost all molesters are men and the vast majority of men are heterosexual, one would expect that nearly all of the children molested would be girls. However, this is not the case. In fact, a significant percentage of the victims of child sexual abuse are boys (a study in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy found that 36 per cent of male sex offenders had victimized male children).

Thus, it appears that less than 3 percent of the total male population (namely, men who are homosexual) are committing more than 30 percent of the total child sexual abuse (namely, that which is committed by men against boys). Logic thus suggests that in proportion to their numbers, homosexual men are far more likely to be child molesters than are heterosexual men.

The three legs of this argument (most molesters are men; very few men are homosexual; but a third of sex abuse cases involve men molesting boys) are essentially uncontested. So how do homosexual activists avoid the logical conclusion? Only by asserting that men who molest boys are not "homosexuals."

They support this claim with two arguments. One is that "pedophilia" is somehow a separate sexual orientation unto itself, unrelated to a "homosexual" identity. Yet a study of convicted child molesters, published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, found that "86 percent of offenders against males described themselves as homosexual or bisexual."

The second argument is that any offender who has ever engaged in heterosexual activity cannot be classified as "homosexual." But this overlooks the wide range of sexual behavior in which many homosexuals have engaged. Ironically, when they find it in their interest, homosexual activists will use a much broader definition of "gay" - for example, counting as "gay parents" even some people who are still in heterosexual marriages.

Other defensive statements, like "most child molesters are not homosexual" or "most homosexuals are not child molesters, " may be true, but are irrelevant. The shocking figure is the relative rate of molestation by homosexuals, not the absolute numbers.

In addition to behavioral studies like those above, the writings of homosexual authors demonstrate a strong undercurrent of fascination with what is euphemistically called "intergenerational love." Gay activist David Thorstad says, "Boy-lovers were involved in the gay movement from the beginning." Leading anthologies of "gay literature" prominently feature stories about "the love of older men for young boys." Paula Martinac, a lesbian writer for the Washington Blade, recently acknowledged that among some gay men, "adult-youth sex is viewed as an important aspect of gay culture."

Saddest of all is the evidence that homosexual child abuse is a vicious circle, increasing the chances that its victims will become homosexual themselves and that they will victimize others. One expert reports that "boys victimized by older men were over four times more likely to be currently engaged in homosexual activity. " Another study found that 59 percent of male sex offenders against children reported being, "victim of contact sexual abuse as a child."

The evidence is in - homosexuality is a clear risk factor for child sexual abuse. This fact should impact our decisions not only on qualifications for the priesthood, but also on homosexual adoption, "gay friendly" policies in schools, and "gay rights" laws that force schools, day care centers and youth camps to hire homosexuals.

In your column you also wrote: "Also surprising were the strong feelings expressed by a very small minority who seemed to believe that anyone even inclined toward a homosexual orientation could not possibly be a good priest, forgetting that all priests make a promise of celibacy, regardless of orientation. Those who speak with such certitude on this issue should review the Gospels, where our Lord speaks of the importance of loving one's neighbors and not being judgmental. No one was excluded from his exhortation."

Sorry, bishop, your beef should not be with those persons who wrote to you, but with the Vatican. The Vatican's 1961 Document, "Careful Selection and Training of Candidates for the States of Perfection and Sacred Orders" states:

Advancement to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers.

More recently, a May 16, 2002 letter from Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, former prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship stated:

Ordination to the deaconate or priesthood of persons with homosexual tendencies is absolutely unadvisable and imprudent, and from a pastoral point of view, extremely risky.

In conclusion, by your actions you have demonstrated that you are unfit for a leadership position among bishops.

Sincerely, Stephen G. Brady, President Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc.
cc: His Eminence, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Thankyou for posting that letter. At first read it is exactly the type of letter that I believe will permit the laity to clean up the Church.

I do not have unlimited money but my plan is to make about 15 to 20 copies and send it to B/bishops around the country randomly.

I will preface it with a cover letter saying:

"Whether you voted for Skylstad or not,you need to know how the ordinary Catholic views the decisions that the USCCB makes based on information we do have. The information (facts) contained in this letter are public knowledge. If you knew it and voted for him,shame on you and may you repent,confess and resign. If you did not know and voted for him you should be embarrassed and ask forgiveness from your flock."

"If you did know or had knowledge of other misdeeds or problemati activities and did not vote for him. Thankyou!! The Church Christ established cannot survive in the West if men of his ilk continue ot be elevated to influentiial positions."

"My own opinion is the USCCB should be dismantled and reformed and relocated in some unused seminary or monastery far away from the big city. The monies realized from selling your major property in D.C.,could be put in trust and used to fund the new and reformed,relocated USCCB."

"The monies sent to you from dioceses across the country would b better directed to feed the poor,shelter the homeless,minister to the sick,reinstruct your catechists in basic Catholic Truth and familliarize them with Catholic teaching. Other local monies could be used to reintroduce beauty to the structures and design of churches and make them places that honor God first and provide respite for the weary of soul."

"You could also save immeasurable amounts of money by returning to the Tridentine Mass which would free up a heck of a lot of money now spent in dreaming up new liturgical abuses."

"Thankyou for taking the time to read my letter and if you want more help,I am availabl3.Sincerely and God Bless you."

Anyway thanks for the letter,it is a good one and very useful as a springboard to action.

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