http://sg.news.yahoo.com/reuters/asia-136421.html Files on Boston priests yield sordid sex tales By Greg Frost BOSTON (Reuters) - One priest had a history of molesting boys, another maintained a "double life" with his girlfriend and a third supplied cocaine to a teen-ager with whom he was having sex -- but the Archdiocese of Boston gave all three men new jobs even though it knew of their records. The disclosures surfaced in thousands of pages from the personnel files of eight priests that were made public on Tuesday. A Massachusetts judge ordered the files released last month as part of civil lawsuits over the archdiocese's handling of the Reverend Paul Shanley, who is accused of raping boys. The release of the documents marked the latest chapter in a sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the U.S. Roman Catholic Church since January. It came amid reports the Boston archdiocese may declare bankruptcy as a way of dealing with the estimated 450 lawsuits it faces from people who charge they were sexually abused by clergymen. Lawyers for Shanley's alleged victims said the personnel files prove a central claim in their lawsuits: that the archdiocese routinely protected and reassigned priests accused of sexual misconduct. "These people knew that paedophiles were coming to town. They had advance warning. We didn't," said Robert Costello, who said he was abused by a Boston-area priest from 1968 to 1975. A spokeswoman for the archdiocese did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Lawyers for the archdiocese were not immediately available for comment. MEMO TO VATICAN The file of the Reverend Paul Burns contains a letter Boston Cardinal Bernard Law wrote to the Vatican in 1999 in which he admitted his archdiocese had assigned the priest to two parishes even though it knew he had been accused of molesting boys and had been warned to keep him away from minors. Burns had spent time at a centre for troubled priests in 1981 and 1982 to "treat incidents of and a proclivity toward sexual activity with boys", according to a memo that accompanied Law's letter. "This propensity was known to officials within the Archdiocese of Boston, but overlooked in favour of Father Burns' solemn assurance of his ability to control his impulses," according to the document sent to the Vatican. At the time the memo was written, the archdiocese said it was aware of at least six young men whom Burns allegedly molested while he worked in Boston between 1982 and 1991. In 1996, after he left the Boston church, Burns pleaded guilty to criminal charges that he had sexually assaulted boys in New Hampshire. He was sentenced to two consecutive four- to eight-year prison terms. COCAINE, p*rn AND SEX The church's file on the Reverend Richard Buntel show that as early as 1983 his fellow priests expressed concern to the archdiocese about his alcoholism, drug use and reports he was distributing cocaine to young people while working in Malden, Massachusetts. In 1994, the archdiocese received a complaint from a young man who said Buntel had performed oral sex on him in exchange for cocaine while the priest was in Malden between 1978 and 1983. The man also said the priest kept gay p*rnography in his closet in Malden. Buntel, in an interview with the archdiocese, acknowledged he had a drug problem and admitted he had engaged in sex with the man, who he said was a teen-ager at the time. The archdiocese placed Buntel on administrative leave and paid $55,000 to Buntel's former sex partner, thereby avoiding a lawsuit. But in 1999, after Buntel had received treatment, the church gave the priest an administrative job at a parish in Wilmington, Massachusetts -- although it warned his boss that Buntel should not engage in any activity that put him in contact with minors. Buntel did not return a telephone call seeking comment. DOUBLE LIFE The documents also showed that the church knew in 1979 that a rectory housekeeper had accused the Rev. Thomas Forry of trying to throw her down a set of stairs in a fit of rage while he worked as associate pastor in North Scituate, Massachusetts. In 1984, a woman came forward to the church and claimed she had maintained an 11-year affair with Forry, and that the priest had even built her a house on Cape Cod where she lived until he threw her out. Forry later admitted to the affair with the woman, who was married to another man. Despite the knowledge of Forry's "double life," the archdiocese approved his request to work as a military chaplain. He was later assigned to work as a prison chaplain and to fill in for priests while they went on vacation. The church abuse scandal exploded this year when files in the case of another accused paedophile priest showed that Law and other church leaders knew about the man's behaviour but instead chose to shuttle him from parish to parish. Law has apologized repeatedly for his handling of alleged sexually abusive priests, but has rejected parishioners' calls that he step down from his post.
I didn't read all of this because it was making me sick. God, how can people who allow such horrible things still be in charge of my church? I think we all owe Sinead O'conor an apology because she knew exactly what she was doing and what she was protesting(child abuse by the church) when she ripped that picture of the Pope. He has sat on his butt and let this get out of hand. I know his Holiness isn't exactly in the best condition and pretty much near death as a man can be without being on the deathbed, but his mind is still there and there's no reason why can't call the shots to bring this all to end right now. Whoever the new Pope is, and there will be one quite soon I imagine, he needs to take care of this problem right away. I don't always come off as somebody who sticks to traditions, but being Catholic is something that I won't change, it's been in my family for hundreds maybe a thousand or more so years, I can't turn my back on that and won't let some sick bastards and cowardly officials mess things up for me. I'm gonna search the web now and see if there are any groups of Catholics out there who are banding together to try and purge our Church of these sickos who commit these crimes and the idiots who do nothing to stop them.
Allow me to start off by saying that as a lifelong Catholic I have known many priests and have never had any engage in inappropriate conduct with me or anybody I know. The overwhelming majority of priests are Godly men who have taken on life's most difficult vocation. That being said, it infuriates me to know of what happened in Boston and its surrounding communities. It is a disgrace to the church I love so dearly. This, in no uncertain terms, must not be tolerated. My family has given of its time and resources whenever called upon by the church. None of us has ever had a lot of money to throw around, but we have given whatever we could afford at the time and did so with nothing but love in our hearts. We have given of our most precious resource...time. Whenever the church saught young people to answer phones at the Labor Day Telethon...we were there. Whenever the church needed volunteers to minister to the poor...we were there. Whenever they needed religious ed teachers...we were there. When they needed actors for the stations of the cross...we were there. The list goes on and on. Due to this very personal commitment to Catholicism my family has...this saddens me DEEPLY. This has been difficult to explain to my wife and her parents (they are Jewish). After learning more about the Catholic faith, my wife agreed to raise our children Catholic. Now she is very scared about our children being alone with a priest. I have had to assure her that her children's daddy (me) would be with them as much as possible to protect them from a rogue priest. This saddens me to an extent that most people who haven't had this type of connection and identity with a faith cannot fathom. My wife has come to love the traditions and the rituals of Catholic practice largely because she sees the way that I love and embrace it. Now she is petrified of what a priest MAY do to our future children. I am sad...I am embarrassed. I am angry because I have been made to feel both of these emotions. Over the last 5 years or so, my church attendance has not been what you would call exlempary, but whenever needed I have answered the call. Whenever the church needed money I sent what little I could afford to send. No more. I decided that I would give NO more time and NO more money to the church until Cardinal Law was removed from his position and/or removed from the clerical state. This was a few weeks prior to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) calling on Catholics to do that during an appearance on the Fox News Channel. I have held steadfast to my position, as has Sen. Kerry (whom I like very much). I ask all other Catholics to do the same. I even sent a letter to the Bishop stating my reasons for this decision. I encourage all Catholics to do the same. Most importantly I ask for the non-Catholics out there for a few favors: 1) Please do not knock the Catholic faith for this. Many have done so and currently it is an easy target. All you accomplish is hurting the feelings of the millions of honest rank and file Catholics such as myself. 2) Please do not hate priests. Hate the abusers, but don't lump the innocent in with the guilty. It is easy to do. Just keep in mind that 99.99999% of priests have done nothing wrong and do not deserve the scorn nor the suspicion. 3) Petition the church and the District Attorney in your area to deal with offenders in a timely and severe fashion. Cardinal Law must go. Then the church will have me at its service once agin. Thank you Batman for the forum. Thanks to all for allowing me to ramble and get this off my chest. God bless all of you. With love, Ref
Oski-- Email me. We can draft a joint letter to Bishop Fiorenza here in Houston. EDIT: You are a Catholic and an Aggie....we have a lot in common, bud.
Good post, Ref. I've said many times, I only hate a hypocrite. I don't hate any religion. I'm not Christian or religious in any way (raised Jewish), but I'm all for Jesus and what I know of his teachings. And the fact that Law's still around, in power, is outrageous. Forgive him. Yes. As good Christians, forgive him. But remove him from his position. In the name of Jesus, remove him from his position. And, if you're Catholic and you agree he should be removed, in the name of Jesus, have the strength of conviction that Refman has here and let the authorities know that you love the sinner but you can't be a party to the sins and you can't be a party to them being a party to them. Your wife, Ref, is understandably concerned, but she's wrong to suspect a cleric of any faith, simply because they belong to a certain faith. That is, unless the authorities presiding over that cleric do nothing to stop bad behavior and are not punished when they don't. And they aren't and they're not. And as long as they don't punish offenders (and Law's the worst of them -- the others are arguably sick -- he's just a bad Christian) she should suspect not your faith or your religion or your tradition, but she should suspect the ones in charge of it. And they should be ashamed. In the name of Jesus. For their sake I hope they're wrong about the afterlife.
I had a feeling you'd enjoy my post. Although you are not religious, I appreciate very much your ability to discuss religion in a very serious and respectful manner. Many cannot. My wife's fears are very reasonable given what is said on the news. Even though we currently have no children, we plan to in a few years. She is frightened at the prospect of having somebody like Law in power here...somebody who would send a predator to our parish. I can understand her feelings and I have no quarrel with her on that. It saddens me deeply that certain members of the church hierarchy have put us in that position.
Small world, right? As different as we view the world, it's amazing how similar we are. My family didn't and still doesn't have too much cash either, but my dad is quick to give money to the church and to the less fortunate whenever possible. Anyways, I'll see if I can come up with something and send you a draft to look over. Maybe somebody else shoud write it, I haven't exactly been on my game lately. I'm in the midst of over hauling a first draft Poli Sci paper on Clinton that earned me a lovely C-. Who ever writes it, we should get other BBS Catholics to sign it. Tomorrow, when I'm not running on empty, I'll see if there are any large movements getting started that are worthwhile to mention to others here.
