Recently the Philadelphia area press have reported on the grand jury report that the office of the Honorable Lynne Abraham (District Attorney of Philadelphia) released concerning the cover up of abusive Catholic priests. My friend and I were talking about this report over lunch today and, unfortunately, I’ve been so busy with work and with home issues that I didn’t pay attention to the news last week. But when my friend told me some of the stories that she had read in the report, I have to admit that I thought she was exaggerating. Here are some direct quotes from the report report:
(from page 9 of the 424 page report)
“These are the kinds of things that Archdiocese priests did to children:
--A girl, 11 years old, was raped by her priest and became pregnant. The Father took her in for an abortion.
--A 5th-grader was molested by her priest inside the confessional booth.
--A teenage girl was groped by her priest while she lay immobilized in traction in a hospital bed. The priest stopped only when the girl was able to ring for a nurse.
--A boy was repeatedly molested in his own school auditorium, where his priest/teacher bent the boy over and rubbed his genitals against the boy until the priest ejaculated.
--A priest, no longer satisfied with mere pederasty, regularly began forcing sex on two boys at once in his bed.
--A boy woke up intoxicated in a priest’s bed to find the Father sucking on his penis while three other priests watched and masturbated themselves.
--A priest offered money to boys in exchange for sadomasochism – directing them to place him in bondage, to “break” him, to make him their “slave,” and to defecate so that he could lick excrement from them.
--A 12-year-old, who was raped and sodomized by his priest, tried to commit suicide, and remains institutionalized in a mental hospital as an adult.
--A priest told a 12-year-old boy that his mother knew of and had agreed to the priest’s repeated rape of her son.
--A boy who told his father about the abuse his younger brother was suffering was beaten to the point of unconsciousness. “Priests don’t do that,” said the father as he punished his son for what he thought was a vicious lie against the clergy.”
My friend had not exaggerated. Far from it, she only told me some of the lesser details. And the strange and insane part of the whole report can be summed up in this quote: “This report contains the findings of the Grand Jury: how dozens of priests sexually abused hundreds of children; how Philadelphia Archdiocese officials – including Cardinal Bevilacqua and Cardinal Krol – excused and enabled the abuse; and how the law must be changed so that it doesn’t happen again.” Cardinal Krol (who is now deceased) and Cardinal Bevilacqua (who I believe was Archbishop at the time) are officially mentioned in the report as “excusing” the abuse. Because of the statue of limitations, the abuse dealt to hundreds of children cannot be tried in the court of law. I cannot believe this to be true. And yet it is.
Back in 1988 I met (then) Archbishop Bevilacqua at the Philadelphia Art Museum. I had been honored by the Archdiocese for being one of the top students in my High School class. My mom and I went to the event and had a great time. I still remember processing down the steps inside the museum in my cap and gown. Hundreds of students from all around the Philadelphia area were to receive the honor of being awarded a certificate for being the top in their class. Some students wore blue, or yellow, red, and black gowns—I still remember the vibrant colors and the excitement in the air. After the ceremony, I met Archbishop Bevilacqua and remember him asking me: “What do you want to grow up to be?” I thought for a moment and told him that I wanted to be an astronomer or a writer. He took in what I said and then asked, “Have you considered becoming a priest?” I did not tell him that I had considered that, but had decided that it wasn’t for me. I simply smiled at him and went my way. This same man was responsible for helping to hid sexual abuse being committed by priests in the Archdiocese. I just can’t believe that so many men who had been the religious leaders in the area could do such a thing. How is this possible? And why would they do this? Why would they protect dozens of priests who were sexual abusers, allowing hundreds of children to be abused? Why?
I have been raised Catholic, but have not practiced my faith in almost 15 years. I have my reasons. And it’s not that I do not believe in God. I just do not believe in a man made religion that thinks that only the Catholic religion is the one “true” faith. That only Jesus can be God and that all the other religions are wrong. In High School, we asked our religion teacher (who was a priest): “Will the Bushmen of Africa go to hell because they don’t believe that Jesus is God?” We had set a trap for our religion teacher. We want to hear what the official religious teaching would be: Would God damn a person because he/she had not been lucky enough to learn who Jesus was? Or would our teacher tell us that God would be merciful? He told us that those in Africa, who had never heard the Word of the Lord, would be doomed to go to hell. And that got me thinking. I was about 13 or 14 years old at the time. I started thinking really hard: If you were God, I mean God in that you created all things and do anything, why would you damn people to hell because they simply had not heard of you? I just couldn’t understand that. And as I matured and began questioning my faith, I started wondering why God would need you to worship Him anyway. Heck, he’s God! Would He be so shallow and vain that you needed to stroke His ego and remind Him of your love? It just didn’t make any sense. Women cannot be priests. Priests cannot marry. The list went on and on until I realized that I needed to think for myself instead of people trying to cram a religion down my throat.
And today I learn about these horrid truths that have come to light. Some of the leaders of the Catholic Church in the Philadelphia area knowingly allowed reports of abuse to be hidden from the light of day until the statue of limitations had been reached. Now don’t get me wrong: I haven’t read the entire 424 page report, but from what I have read, I’m saddened and disgusted. Will justice ever come to these priests and to the leaders who allowed this to happen? Time will tell. But in the meantime, hundreds of children have grown up sexually abused. Their lives have been shattered. And they know that the men who abused them were never punished. How can this be? How?
(from page 9 of the 424 page report)
“These are the kinds of things that Archdiocese priests did to children:
--A girl, 11 years old, was raped by her priest and became pregnant. The Father took her in for an abortion.
--A 5th-grader was molested by her priest inside the confessional booth.
--A teenage girl was groped by her priest while she lay immobilized in traction in a hospital bed. The priest stopped only when the girl was able to ring for a nurse.
--A boy was repeatedly molested in his own school auditorium, where his priest/teacher bent the boy over and rubbed his genitals against the boy until the priest ejaculated.
--A priest, no longer satisfied with mere pederasty, regularly began forcing sex on two boys at once in his bed.
--A boy woke up intoxicated in a priest’s bed to find the Father sucking on his penis while three other priests watched and masturbated themselves.
--A priest offered money to boys in exchange for sadomasochism – directing them to place him in bondage, to “break” him, to make him their “slave,” and to defecate so that he could lick excrement from them.
--A 12-year-old, who was raped and sodomized by his priest, tried to commit suicide, and remains institutionalized in a mental hospital as an adult.
--A priest told a 12-year-old boy that his mother knew of and had agreed to the priest’s repeated rape of her son.
--A boy who told his father about the abuse his younger brother was suffering was beaten to the point of unconsciousness. “Priests don’t do that,” said the father as he punished his son for what he thought was a vicious lie against the clergy.”
My friend had not exaggerated. Far from it, she only told me some of the lesser details. And the strange and insane part of the whole report can be summed up in this quote: “This report contains the findings of the Grand Jury: how dozens of priests sexually abused hundreds of children; how Philadelphia Archdiocese officials – including Cardinal Bevilacqua and Cardinal Krol – excused and enabled the abuse; and how the law must be changed so that it doesn’t happen again.” Cardinal Krol (who is now deceased) and Cardinal Bevilacqua (who I believe was Archbishop at the time) are officially mentioned in the report as “excusing” the abuse. Because of the statue of limitations, the abuse dealt to hundreds of children cannot be tried in the court of law. I cannot believe this to be true. And yet it is.
Back in 1988 I met (then) Archbishop Bevilacqua at the Philadelphia Art Museum. I had been honored by the Archdiocese for being one of the top students in my High School class. My mom and I went to the event and had a great time. I still remember processing down the steps inside the museum in my cap and gown. Hundreds of students from all around the Philadelphia area were to receive the honor of being awarded a certificate for being the top in their class. Some students wore blue, or yellow, red, and black gowns—I still remember the vibrant colors and the excitement in the air. After the ceremony, I met Archbishop Bevilacqua and remember him asking me: “What do you want to grow up to be?” I thought for a moment and told him that I wanted to be an astronomer or a writer. He took in what I said and then asked, “Have you considered becoming a priest?” I did not tell him that I had considered that, but had decided that it wasn’t for me. I simply smiled at him and went my way. This same man was responsible for helping to hid sexual abuse being committed by priests in the Archdiocese. I just can’t believe that so many men who had been the religious leaders in the area could do such a thing. How is this possible? And why would they do this? Why would they protect dozens of priests who were sexual abusers, allowing hundreds of children to be abused? Why?
I have been raised Catholic, but have not practiced my faith in almost 15 years. I have my reasons. And it’s not that I do not believe in God. I just do not believe in a man made religion that thinks that only the Catholic religion is the one “true” faith. That only Jesus can be God and that all the other religions are wrong. In High School, we asked our religion teacher (who was a priest): “Will the Bushmen of Africa go to hell because they don’t believe that Jesus is God?” We had set a trap for our religion teacher. We want to hear what the official religious teaching would be: Would God damn a person because he/she had not been lucky enough to learn who Jesus was? Or would our teacher tell us that God would be merciful? He told us that those in Africa, who had never heard the Word of the Lord, would be doomed to go to hell. And that got me thinking. I was about 13 or 14 years old at the time. I started thinking really hard: If you were God, I mean God in that you created all things and do anything, why would you damn people to hell because they simply had not heard of you? I just couldn’t understand that. And as I matured and began questioning my faith, I started wondering why God would need you to worship Him anyway. Heck, he’s God! Would He be so shallow and vain that you needed to stroke His ego and remind Him of your love? It just didn’t make any sense. Women cannot be priests. Priests cannot marry. The list went on and on until I realized that I needed to think for myself instead of people trying to cram a religion down my throat.
And today I learn about these horrid truths that have come to light. Some of the leaders of the Catholic Church in the Philadelphia area knowingly allowed reports of abuse to be hidden from the light of day until the statue of limitations had been reached. Now don’t get me wrong: I haven’t read the entire 424 page report, but from what I have read, I’m saddened and disgusted. Will justice ever come to these priests and to the leaders who allowed this to happen? Time will tell. But in the meantime, hundreds of children have grown up sexually abused. Their lives have been shattered. And they know that the men who abused them were never punished. How can this be? How?
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