Posted on 10/18/2006 7:49:29 AM PDT by NYer
SEATTLE, Wash. (CNS) – Jesuit Father Anton T. Harris resigned Oct. 12 as Seattle University's vice president for mission and ministry after local news media reported that he was accused of sexually harassing a 25-year-old Jesuit seminarian in the mid-1990s.
Both Jesuit universities in Washington state – Seattle University in Seattle and Gonzaga University in Spokane – have recently been in the news because of claims of sexual abuse of minors that occurred in those institutions decades ago.
Father Harris has not been accused of any misconduct with a minor, but he resigned after the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran a front-page report that the former Jesuit seminarian, John Bollard, had reached a settlement with the order in 2000 over his complaints about homosexual overtures from Father Harris and two other Jesuits during his time in the seminary.
Bollard said that several years earlier Father Harris had sent him several greeting cards that featured suggestive pictures of naked men.
In an e-mail to Seattle University faculty and students, Father Harris said, "I do not want to be a distraction from the important work at hand." He said he believed his resignation would be "in the best interests of both me and the university."
Jesuit Father Stephen Sundborg, president of the university, said Father Harris' decision to resign was the right thing "for him and for the university."
Barbara Nombalais, a university spokeswoman, said the university did not force the priest's decision and Father Harris, who was the second-highest Jesuit official at the university, is to stay on the staff for the remainder of the academic year working on special projects.
In September Father John D. Whitney, head of the Oregon province of Jesuits, disclosed that Jesuit Father John Leary, who died in 1993, had been accused of abusing minors and young men while he was president of Gonzaga University from 1961 to 1969.
A lawsuit currently pending in Seattle claims that Jesuit Father Michael Toulouse, who died in 1976, sexually abused at least one minor in Spokane in 1950, when he was teaching at Gonzaga High School and living at Gonzaga University, and subsequently abused others after he was transferred to Seattle University.
Seattle University officials also said they recently learned that another dead Jesuit who once taught there has also been accused of abuse of minors. Father Sundborg said that priest's name would be released once affected parties have been notified.
In a statement Oct. 5 Father Whitney said he has "sought to acknowledge the failures of the past and to bring forward all that can be healing for the future."
His statement followed an Oct. 3 press conference held outside the entrance to Seattle University by victims' advocates who urged the release of the names of any other Oregon province Jesuits credibly accused of abuse.
Jesuits of the Oregon province engage in ministry in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
"I have tried to make public information on those who have abused as situations arose," Father Whitney said. "It was for this reason that, over a year ago, I released information regarding Michael Toulouse and, more recently, released information on John Leary.
"We take seriously every allegation of sexual abuse of minors and have removed any Jesuit from active ministry who has been accused of such abuse," he said.
According to Father Whitney, the province has spent about $8.5 million in recent years to settle sex abuse claims, some going back more than 50 years, and still has dozens of claims pending.
A couple of points here. If they would have nipped it in the bud and prosecuted those sickos rather than sending them on to new unsuspecting parishes it wouldn't be costing $8.5 million now. Also, I'm sure the statute of limitations ran out long before 50 years.
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It would be nice if one of these priests simply said "I'm guilty and I'm sorry. What I did was wrong".
Wouldn't that be refreshing. Someone being forthright for a change.
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I guess that's a likely explanation. I would hope that another might be that they are ashamed, but I've yet to see much evidence of that.
This is getting crazy ... he "abused" a man in his 20's by sending him dirty pictures? It's like the feminist claim that any sexual overture a woman doesn't accept is "sexual harassment."
It seems nobody wants to say that all homosexual overtures and acts are sinful, regardless of the ages and/or professional position of the persons involved. So I'll say it! Stop mumbling about details and "boundaries," guys, and acknowledge that all "gay" behavior is a sin!
Can Georgetown and Loyola be far behind?
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Agreed. I'm not sure why the Church has been so reluctant to state the obvious.
I don't understand it, either. They seem paralyzed.
They get bogged down in details, rather than taking a clear stand, I think because they are blinded by the culture, in which "anything goes" unless it's illegal.
It just occurred to me that the behavior of this man would still be sinful ... even if he weren't a priest ... even if the recipient of the smut were not his student ... even if they were the same age ... even if one were a man and the other a woman! In fact, I can't think of any situation in which one person's mailing nude pictures to another wouldn't be sinful; it seems morally parlous even in marriage.
We've become so focussed on the homosexual transgressions that we need to bring back to the forefront, the truth that the only morally-acceptable venue for sexual activity is in a Christian marriage.
I'm sure you can imagine the outraged shrieks of "Taliban!" that would arise if I mentioned this on a more general FR thread ... so maybe it's understandable that the Church spokesmen don't go back to the foundation and say, "This behavior is sinful: no matter who, no matter when, no matter how old, no matter what sex ... this is wrong."
Oh, you have hit the nail SQUARELY on the head! I just thought of the same thing myself, and thought also of the number of nominal Catholics (as well as others) who will be aghast at such a concept. We have sunk so low in regard to sexual morality that I wonder if we will ever again be able to express the truth that any sexual activity outside of marriage is sinful. To our shame (sin and shame...hmmm...), and in our rush to be "accepted," we have allowed the opposition to steal not just the game, but its terminology.
Great summary.
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Agreed. There are those who will not accept any limits at all, particularly those that are prescribed by religion/God. Just try introducing the subject of sin in one of those conversations. It will be met with either laughter, bewilderment, or outrage.
Exactly. They won't even allow for the theoretical possibility of objective morality. None of us is proposing making laws based on Catholic teaching ... but listen to the howls of "Theocracy!" if you even say, "That's immoral."
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It's true. I don't think many of us even realize how much we censor our speech today. There are certain subjects that are simply verboten. Even here.
Yes, it's hard to imagine feeling comfortable about stating the truth of Catholic teaching in public! Amazing.
At least Pope Benedict has more nerve than I do!
I think the use of "behind" is insensitive
"I'm sure you can imagine the outraged shrieks of "Taliban!" that would arise if I mentioned this on a more general FR thread ... so maybe it's understandable that the Church spokesmen don't go back to the foundation and say, "This behavior is sinful: no matter who, no matter when, no matter how old, no matter what sex ... this is wrong."
So let them shriek.
Being something of an expert on incoming shrieks on this website, I can tell you that it isn't that big of a deal. So what does it matter if someone doesn't like an opinion that I post? Or that I happen to be one of those ______ (insert the expletive of your choice) Democrats?
Lord knows I've had more barbs sent my direction than I can remember. But I'm still here. I'm still posting. And you know, I've found that if you're willing to stand and take the slings and arrows, you'll often be able to shift the thinking a bit.
Your post is an excellent one, BTW.
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