I recently wrote a letter to our local newspaper which was published last Monday, June 7th. I wrote to The Messenger because I was disgusted with the hypocricy the Catholic Church used in their decision to fire a teacher over allegedly being an atheist- not true- when they continue to support priests and at least one bishop who went against all the teachings of Jesus and sexually assaulted kids and young people in their parishes.
Since then, I've spoken with the teacher's mother, Karen Nurre. She has shared with me how harshly her family is being judged over this situation and the struggles they have had. But she also said, "We will weather this storm." I applaud her courage and the way her family is coming together to support each other. If only the "family" of the church would respond that way when the most vulnerable members are being hurt.
Here is my letter:
The Des Moines Register reported how a Fort Dodge math teacher was fired from her job at St. Edmond Catholic School for “making atheist statements in a public forum,” which referred to information posted on her Facebook page. The teacher, Abby Nurre, was called into the office of Monsignor Kevin McCoy, where he handed her a letter informing her that she was being fired and barred her from the school grounds. The school board and the Iowa Catholic Conference tried unsuccessfully to deny her unemployment benefits “for being a member of an atheist website,” according to testimony by St. Edmond business manager Tim Hancock. He also said she had violated the principles of the Catholic church.
I find it interesting how swiftly and harshly this teacher was punished for beliefs which she stated she no longer holds. I am wondering where is the punishment for retired Bishop Laurence Soens, who was found credibly accused of sexually assaulting more than 20 boys. Does he not live out his retirement years through the support of the Catholic church? One might think that sexually assaulting teens was also a violation of the principles of the Catholic church. The diocese also continues to list Father Gerald Hartz, former St. Edmond superintendent, who was arrested in Carroll for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and sued for assaulting an adult woman. The lawsuit was dropped on a technicality, but in it, the diocese admitted Father Hartz had had this problem before. Yet it seems mercy is being extended in this instance, as he is still a priest in good standing.
Certainly a private school has the right to insist on specific standards for their employees. But obviously some employees merit more grace than others, regardless of the charge against them.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Here is a link to my guest editorial, published in the Des Moines Register on April 29th, reprinted below: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100429/OPINION01/4290331/1166/OPINION01/Guest-column-Church-hierarchy-should-come-clean/
Guest column: Church hierarchy should come clean
JANET CLARK of Fort Dodge is western Iowa SNAP leader and author of "Blind Faith." Contact: j_e_m_clark@hotmail.com. • April 29, 2010
At the heart of the Roman Catholic sexual abuse crisis, the real issue is the cover-up. It's not unreasonable to hold religious leaders to a higher standard than people in other professions, but we all know there are people from every walk of life who do really bad things. Sex crimes in the Catholic Church are big news not so much because of the clergy who abused parishioners, but because of the organized, systematic nature of the cover-up.
When I began to deal with the fact that I had been sexually assaulted by a priest, I was able through my attorney to speak with several of his other victims. Through our conversations, it became clear this priest was a serial offender, well known to hierarchy and law enforcement alike. It became apparent to me that the church in which I grew up had placed me in the hands of a known predator.
That realization brought an overwhelming sense of betrayal, almost worse than the initial attack. I was baptized and raised in the Catholic Church, attended Catholic schools, joined the Legion of Mary. Coming to terms with the fact that this church failed to protect me and so many others from priests who were known to be sexually abusive was excruciating.
Until recently, sexual abuse was shrouded in secrecy throughout all of society. With the abuse in the Catholic Church, however, that secrecy was clothed in sacred garments; "telling" was not only unacceptable, but a sin. Theologians argue about whether or not that secrecy was encoded in a Vatican edict entitled "Crimen Sollicitationis," a document then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict) reissued in 2001 instructing bishops to follow certain protocol for dealing with sexual assaults by clergy. According to a BBC documentary, "Sex Crimes and the Vatican," this missive ordered victims, witnesses and perpetrators to keep quiet about the abuse under the penalty of excommunication. For a Catholic, excommunication means not only the loss of church membership, but the loss of salvation. The family of one of the other victims I spoke with was threatened by the bishop's office with excommunication if they told anybody else about the attack, and the resultant secrecy contributed to more people being victimized. Including me.
Victim advocate and canon lawyer the Rev. Thomas Doyle stated that, while he was a consultant for the documentary, he did not believe "Crimen Sollicitationis" is "proof of an executive conspiracy."
"I do not believe that the Vatican or any group of bishops needed a conspiracy," Doyle stated in an article in the National Catholic Reporter. "The secrecy and cover-up was very much a part of the Catholic institutional culture and was, in fact, a policy. I have studied the files of hundreds of clergy sex abuse cases throughout the U.S., in Canada, Ireland and the British Isles ... files produced by dioceses and religious orders ... and I can assure you that the common thread was an intentional cover-up enshrouded in secrecy. That is the way it was."
Regardless of which interpretation of the document is correct, the fact is that the cover-up was well-orchestrated and involved the upper echelon of the hierarchy. Pope Benedict is known as an intelligent micromanager. It stretches the imagination to think that the man who led the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith from 1981-2005 did not know a great deal about the sexual assaults occurring in his church. It is time for him to come clean, along with the rest of the hierarchy
To insist on accountability from this institution is not Catholic bashing. Those who use that term would be well-advised to remember that the victims were themselves faithful Catholics. I am thankful to the media for shining a light into this dark corner. There is a saying in 12-step circles: You are only as sick as your secrets. Or, in the words of Jesus, the founder of Christianity, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."
Guest column: Church hierarchy should come clean
JANET CLARK of Fort Dodge is western Iowa SNAP leader and author of "Blind Faith." Contact: j_e_m_clark@hotmail.com. • April 29, 2010
At the heart of the Roman Catholic sexual abuse crisis, the real issue is the cover-up. It's not unreasonable to hold religious leaders to a higher standard than people in other professions, but we all know there are people from every walk of life who do really bad things. Sex crimes in the Catholic Church are big news not so much because of the clergy who abused parishioners, but because of the organized, systematic nature of the cover-up.
When I began to deal with the fact that I had been sexually assaulted by a priest, I was able through my attorney to speak with several of his other victims. Through our conversations, it became clear this priest was a serial offender, well known to hierarchy and law enforcement alike. It became apparent to me that the church in which I grew up had placed me in the hands of a known predator.
That realization brought an overwhelming sense of betrayal, almost worse than the initial attack. I was baptized and raised in the Catholic Church, attended Catholic schools, joined the Legion of Mary. Coming to terms with the fact that this church failed to protect me and so many others from priests who were known to be sexually abusive was excruciating.
Until recently, sexual abuse was shrouded in secrecy throughout all of society. With the abuse in the Catholic Church, however, that secrecy was clothed in sacred garments; "telling" was not only unacceptable, but a sin. Theologians argue about whether or not that secrecy was encoded in a Vatican edict entitled "Crimen Sollicitationis," a document then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict) reissued in 2001 instructing bishops to follow certain protocol for dealing with sexual assaults by clergy. According to a BBC documentary, "Sex Crimes and the Vatican," this missive ordered victims, witnesses and perpetrators to keep quiet about the abuse under the penalty of excommunication. For a Catholic, excommunication means not only the loss of church membership, but the loss of salvation. The family of one of the other victims I spoke with was threatened by the bishop's office with excommunication if they told anybody else about the attack, and the resultant secrecy contributed to more people being victimized. Including me.
Victim advocate and canon lawyer the Rev. Thomas Doyle stated that, while he was a consultant for the documentary, he did not believe "Crimen Sollicitationis" is "proof of an executive conspiracy."
"I do not believe that the Vatican or any group of bishops needed a conspiracy," Doyle stated in an article in the National Catholic Reporter. "The secrecy and cover-up was very much a part of the Catholic institutional culture and was, in fact, a policy. I have studied the files of hundreds of clergy sex abuse cases throughout the U.S., in Canada, Ireland and the British Isles ... files produced by dioceses and religious orders ... and I can assure you that the common thread was an intentional cover-up enshrouded in secrecy. That is the way it was."
Regardless of which interpretation of the document is correct, the fact is that the cover-up was well-orchestrated and involved the upper echelon of the hierarchy. Pope Benedict is known as an intelligent micromanager. It stretches the imagination to think that the man who led the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith from 1981-2005 did not know a great deal about the sexual assaults occurring in his church. It is time for him to come clean, along with the rest of the hierarchy
To insist on accountability from this institution is not Catholic bashing. Those who use that term would be well-advised to remember that the victims were themselves faithful Catholics. I am thankful to the media for shining a light into this dark corner. There is a saying in 12-step circles: You are only as sick as your secrets. Or, in the words of Jesus, the founder of Christianity, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The Vatican hates women
The following is a section from this article: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0502/Catholic-sexual-abuse-scandal-sharpens-church-rift-over-what-a-priest-should-be/
At the largest Benedictine school in the US, the education of new priests – which started 10 years ago under the influence of then-Cardinal Ratzinger – moved sharply toward the model of the priest educated in isolation, when Vatican directives began to forbid men and women educated together.
One member of the Benedictine order who is close to the university but was not authorized to speak to the media described the directives, which came out of Cardinal Ratzinger’s office, as part of a “purification of the church concept in which women should not be in the classes. A lot of us feel this creates instead a fortress church, a reclusive model…priests leave school and immediately go into communities and work with married people, and women, but have had little contact with either group in their priestly formation. This all originated in the Vatican.”
My friend and fellow activist Dee Miller has stated the split in the Baptist Church boils down to the "woman problem." (I hope I'm quoting you right, Dee!) The fundamentalist Baptists couldn't bear the thought of women in leadership positions, preferring them to "submit graciously" to their husbands, and presumably other male authority.
Will the Catholic church go the same route? Most educated women and their families are not going to tolerate being locked out of leadership roles indefinitely, and that is the direction this church is headed. We'll have to wait and see what will be the outcome of this Neanderthal-type of thinking. It doesn't bode will for the church's ability to deal with the abuse crisis, that's for sure.
At the largest Benedictine school in the US, the education of new priests – which started 10 years ago under the influence of then-Cardinal Ratzinger – moved sharply toward the model of the priest educated in isolation, when Vatican directives began to forbid men and women educated together.
One member of the Benedictine order who is close to the university but was not authorized to speak to the media described the directives, which came out of Cardinal Ratzinger’s office, as part of a “purification of the church concept in which women should not be in the classes. A lot of us feel this creates instead a fortress church, a reclusive model…priests leave school and immediately go into communities and work with married people, and women, but have had little contact with either group in their priestly formation. This all originated in the Vatican.”
My friend and fellow activist Dee Miller has stated the split in the Baptist Church boils down to the "woman problem." (I hope I'm quoting you right, Dee!) The fundamentalist Baptists couldn't bear the thought of women in leadership positions, preferring them to "submit graciously" to their husbands, and presumably other male authority.
Will the Catholic church go the same route? Most educated women and their families are not going to tolerate being locked out of leadership roles indefinitely, and that is the direction this church is headed. We'll have to wait and see what will be the outcome of this Neanderthal-type of thinking. It doesn't bode will for the church's ability to deal with the abuse crisis, that's for sure.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
God's Labrador
He was known in Vatican circles as “God’s Rottweiler,” for the sure and swift punishments he handed canonical lawbreakers. But when dealing with priests who were child molesters, he became “God’s Labrador.”
Quote from Donald Kaul, East Texas Review
Quote from Donald Kaul, East Texas Review
Friday, April 9, 2010
Next LA Archbiship Lied about Criminal Priest
From the San Antonio Express, MY SA, April 9, 2010, by Abe Levy.
A Catholic priest from a rural parish west of San Antonio is accused in a lawsuit filed Thursday of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy at gunpoint and during private catechism sessions two years ago.
The suit, which names outgoing Archbishop José Gomez as a defendant and claims he sought to conceal the matter, comes three days after the Vatican named Gomez as the next archbishop in Los Angeles.
He is transferring to California next month. Gomez said recently through a spokesman that his five-year tenure involved no new sex-abuse allegations.
A Catholic priest from a rural parish west of San Antonio is accused in a lawsuit filed Thursday of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy at gunpoint and during private catechism sessions two years ago.
The suit, which names outgoing Archbishop José Gomez as a defendant and claims he sought to conceal the matter, comes three days after the Vatican named Gomez as the next archbishop in Los Angeles.
He is transferring to California next month. Gomez said recently through a spokesman that his five-year tenure involved no new sex-abuse allegations.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Italy in denial while Africa 'fesses up
From the April 9 Irish Times: According to Cardinal Severino Poletto of Turin, “It’s time to put a stop to this whole business . .
If you thought he meant, time to put a stop to the business of priests raping, sodomizing and sexually assaulting children and young people, think again. No, he meant it's time for people to quit picking on the pope. The cardinal, like most prelates, saves his vehemence for protecting the Pope against all that nasty "gossip", as the Vatican calls the claims that the Pope didn't act to end child sexual assaults under his watch.
Less sympathetic to the problems of the hierarchy is Archbishop of Johannesburg Buti Tlhagale, who said Africa also is effected by the abuse crisis. Honesty in the hierarchy is so rare that his statement made me do a double-take.
"The image of the Catholic church is virtually in ruins because of the bad behaviour of its priests, wolves wearing sheep's skin, preying on unsuspecting victims, inflicting irreparable harm, and continuing to do so with impunity," said Tlhalgale. Now there's the guy that ought to be the next pope.
If you thought he meant, time to put a stop to the business of priests raping, sodomizing and sexually assaulting children and young people, think again. No, he meant it's time for people to quit picking on the pope. The cardinal, like most prelates, saves his vehemence for protecting the Pope against all that nasty "gossip", as the Vatican calls the claims that the Pope didn't act to end child sexual assaults under his watch.
Less sympathetic to the problems of the hierarchy is Archbishop of Johannesburg Buti Tlhagale, who said Africa also is effected by the abuse crisis. Honesty in the hierarchy is so rare that his statement made me do a double-take.
"The image of the Catholic church is virtually in ruins because of the bad behaviour of its priests, wolves wearing sheep's skin, preying on unsuspecting victims, inflicting irreparable harm, and continuing to do so with impunity," said Tlhalgale. Now there's the guy that ought to be the next pope.
Monday, April 5, 2010
My Wish List
A friend asked me what I wanted to see happen regarding the Catholic abuse crisis, what I thought it would take to resolve this complicated issue, and this is what I came up with:
I want the Pope to publicly repudiate two doctrines: crimen solicitations and mental reservation. Crimen solicitations has been referred to a lot in the news lately; at its core, it proscribes secrecy in dealing with SA. Mental reservation means, essentially, a cleric can hide part of the truth if he thinks it serves a greater good. This has been used to justify lying to civil authorities, victims, advocates. I'm sorry, but I know for a fact two bishops in Iowa lied under oath about abuse cases. I want the Pope to repudiate these doctrines and ask forgiveness for all the damange they have caused.
I want the leadership system to change. An all-male hierarchy is at the heart of the problem. I'm certainly not anti-men: I love my husband very much, he is my best friend. I love my son and am proud of how he treats women. I love my male friends. But an all-male system is intrinsically unbalanced. Don't you think if there had been a few mothers running the show this would have unfolded quite differently??? And yes, I know women can abuse and women can enable, but the balance is what's lacking.
I want an end to celibacy rules. Richard Sipe, a former priest, researched the issue and found, through self-reporting, at any one time only 50% of priests are celibate. Their relationships by necessity are furtive and deceitful. If priests were allowed to marry, as they were in the earlier days of the church, and women shared leadership as also was a part of the early church, it would be healthier.
I want the laity to share leadership in a real and meaningful way. As it is, they have to accept whatever comes their way, or leave. I want them, also, to step up to the plate. Too many are not willing to challenge the church authority.
I would like laity to consider witholding funds until the churh is more proactive on the abuse issue. There is a movement to do so, which you can find on the Web if you're interested.
I want people who leave not to be disrespected. I am, according to the church's teaching, an apostate or heretic, I'm not sure which, but both are viewed as people who are going to hell. I am viewed as having an invalid marriage, because I was baptized as a Catholic when I was a baby but married in a different church. What does that make my children, in their eyes? There was a move during the time of Vatican II to be more accepting of other faiths, but that has ended under this pope, who proclaims that Protestant churches are not churches in the true sense of the word. What does this have to do with the abuse situation? When you believe you are the only holders of sacred truth, it's a lot easier to do whatever it takes to prevent people from seeing the problems in your system.
I want the bishops who covered up for abusers to stand trial in criminal court, where that's appropriate. And, of course, I want the abusers to be held accountable.
That's my wish list.
I want the Pope to publicly repudiate two doctrines: crimen solicitations and mental reservation. Crimen solicitations has been referred to a lot in the news lately; at its core, it proscribes secrecy in dealing with SA. Mental reservation means, essentially, a cleric can hide part of the truth if he thinks it serves a greater good. This has been used to justify lying to civil authorities, victims, advocates. I'm sorry, but I know for a fact two bishops in Iowa lied under oath about abuse cases. I want the Pope to repudiate these doctrines and ask forgiveness for all the damange they have caused.
I want the leadership system to change. An all-male hierarchy is at the heart of the problem. I'm certainly not anti-men: I love my husband very much, he is my best friend. I love my son and am proud of how he treats women. I love my male friends. But an all-male system is intrinsically unbalanced. Don't you think if there had been a few mothers running the show this would have unfolded quite differently??? And yes, I know women can abuse and women can enable, but the balance is what's lacking.
I want an end to celibacy rules. Richard Sipe, a former priest, researched the issue and found, through self-reporting, at any one time only 50% of priests are celibate. Their relationships by necessity are furtive and deceitful. If priests were allowed to marry, as they were in the earlier days of the church, and women shared leadership as also was a part of the early church, it would be healthier.
I want the laity to share leadership in a real and meaningful way. As it is, they have to accept whatever comes their way, or leave. I want them, also, to step up to the plate. Too many are not willing to challenge the church authority.
I would like laity to consider witholding funds until the churh is more proactive on the abuse issue. There is a movement to do so, which you can find on the Web if you're interested.
I want people who leave not to be disrespected. I am, according to the church's teaching, an apostate or heretic, I'm not sure which, but both are viewed as people who are going to hell. I am viewed as having an invalid marriage, because I was baptized as a Catholic when I was a baby but married in a different church. What does that make my children, in their eyes? There was a move during the time of Vatican II to be more accepting of other faiths, but that has ended under this pope, who proclaims that Protestant churches are not churches in the true sense of the word. What does this have to do with the abuse situation? When you believe you are the only holders of sacred truth, it's a lot easier to do whatever it takes to prevent people from seeing the problems in your system.
I want the bishops who covered up for abusers to stand trial in criminal court, where that's appropriate. And, of course, I want the abusers to be held accountable.
That's my wish list.
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