Interesting. Boston has sent it's "Boston Trained" Bishops all over the United States. Wouldn't it open a can of worms if those diocese's sued Boston too?
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Calif. diocese sues Boston Archdiocese
Alleges officials hid Shanley's past
By Larry B. Stammer, Los Angeles Times, 4/2/2003
The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino, Calif., sued the Archdiocese of Boston yesterday, alleging that Boston officials hid the history of sexual molestation by former priest Paul Shanley when he moved to California.
The lawsuit, filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court, is believed to mark the first time that one US Catholic diocese has sued another in civil court, according to both dioceses. As such it is a further indication of how the sex-abuse scandal has moved through the Catholic Church, overturning long-established customs.
A spokesman for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington called the lawsuit, at the least, a historic ''rarity.''
The lawsuit accuses Catholic officials in Boston of engaging in ''misrepresentations and suppression of information'' as well as ''active misconduct and negligence'' in hiding the background of Shanley, who has been accused of molesting boys since 1967. He moved to San Bernardino in 1990 and has been accused in a civil lawsuit of assaulting at least one teenager while there.
In that lawsuit, Kevin English has sought damages from both dioceses, contending he was abused starting when he was 17. San Bernardino officials say that they have not turned up evidence to corroborate English's claims so far, but that a settlement could nonetheless cost upward of $12 million. That would be enough to push the diocese ''to the brink of bankruptcy,'' said the Rev. Howard Lincoln, spokesman for the diocese.
The lawsuit aims to ensure that whatever amount English is paid comes from Boston, not San Bernardino.
''We should not have to pay for Boston's mistake,'' Lincoln said.
Although the Roman Catholic Church is a worldwide organization with an international hierarchy, each diocese is treated as a separate entity with its own assets and income.
In Boston, Donna M. Morrissey, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said officials had not seen the lawsuit and would not comment.
Others said the case shows that internal fractures among the nation's bishops, which have until now been confined to closed-door meetings, increasingly are becoming public.
The lawsuit ''shows how deeply the church has been affected'' by the sex-abuse scandal, said the Rev. Thomas Rausch, chairman of the theology department at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
The scandal is eroding ''the communion that unites the dioceses together as one church in the United States,'' he said.
Under the church's internal rules, known as canon law, a diocese has recourse to church courts to resolve disputes with other dioceses. Those proceedings would be private. The decision to file a lawsuit in civil court makes a public statement, said lawyer William Light, who represents English.
''I tend to think . . . the reason they chose this one [was] to put them in a better light publicly,'' Light said. The abuse English suffered was ''extremely reprehensible,'' he said.
If the case goes to trial, ''we think a jury would agree with us and award substantial sums to compensate Kevin for the things he had to endure, literally, at the hands of Father Shanley and those Father Shanley put in the way to harm Kevin,'' Light said.
Lincoln said the lawsuit was ''intended to be a serious message'' by San Bernardino Bishop Gerald R. Barnes to the Boston Archdiocese.
''We feel our position is very strong, and we hope that Boston resolves this matter and indemnifies us,'' he said.
''The church teaches us to treat each other with love, dignity, and respect,'' Lincoln said. ''That means allowing members of the church to take responsibility for their actions.''
Documents that have been released in other lawsuits against the Boston Archdiocese show that church officials there knew that Shanley had a history of sexual abuse and, at one point, he had advocated sex between men and boys. The revelation that the archdiocese withheld information about Shanley's sexual history was a key factor that led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law as archbishop of Boston in December. Before he resigned, Law personally apologized to the San Bernardino bishop.
The San Bernardino Diocese would not have permitted Shanley to serve had it known the truth about him, officials of the diocese said.
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 4/2/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Lenten Weekday |
First Reading:
Responsorial Psalm:
Gospel: |
Isaiah 49:8-15
Psalm 145:8-9, 13-14, 17-18
John 5:17-30And I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and I will cleanse you from all your idols. And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. -- Ezechiel xxxvi. 25,26 |
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The following is, as usual, from The Word Among Us:
Try to imagine that you are in the crowd who has just witnessed Jesus healing the paralyzed man by the pool of Bethesda. Such a miracle grabs your attention. But now, you hear Jesus refer to God as the Father who "raises the dead and gives them life," and to himself as the Son who also "gives life" and who will carry out "all judgment" on the Father's behalf (John 5:21-22). Your Jewish tradition teaches that only God raises the dead, gives life, and judges. So you wonder, who is this Jesus? Is he really claiming to be God? Could he be the promised Messiah? Or is he just a fake or a lunatic?
Two thousand years later, the question remains: Who is Jesus? The revelation by the power of the Holy Spirit, the witness of the Church's beliefs and traditions, the historical evidence--everything points us in the right direction, but it doesn't exempt us from answering the question for ourselves. Each of us must ask: Do I believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the promised one, the Son of God, "one in being with the Father"? Do I believe that he "died and rose again in accordance with the Scriptures" and that now he is seated at God's right hand? Do I believe that Jesus wants to share his very life with me and have a personal relationship with me through the power of his Spirit?
Lent is a time to focus anew on the death and resurrection of Jesus. It's the season for a fresh look at Jesus' unswerving obedience to the Father's plan to rescue and redeem us. Only by believing with all our hearts that Jesus is who he says he is will we even begin to understand this great plan of salvation.
This Lent, make Jesus the Lord of your life in a deeper way. Take the next step in expressing your faith that he is truly your Savior and that his promises are true. Depend on him, hope in him, and see for yourself what he can do.
"Jesus, you are the Son of God sent by the Father to raise the dead and give life. I believe that you are living and active in my life now, and that one day I will see you face to face."
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God bless.
AC
