{"id":9290,"date":"2015-09-25T12:23:24","date_gmt":"2015-09-25T19:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/?p=9290"},"modified":"2015-09-25T12:23:43","modified_gmt":"2015-09-25T19:23:43","slug":"catholic-church-sex-abuse-survivors-frustrated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/catholic-church-sex-abuse-survivors-frustrated\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Church Sex Abuse Survivors Frustrated By Pope Francis’ US Visit, Lack Of Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Marker]\u00a0pointed to the case of his classmate Ben Spanier, whose parents allege he was abused by the Rev. Thomas Andert at Saint John\u2019s Abbey in the mid-1990s. Pending a separate investigation, the accused priest was put on leave this past August — too late for Spanier, who killed himself in December 2014.<\/em>
\n<\/p>\n

View Entire Article and Comments… Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Catholic Church Sex Abuse Survivors Frustrated By Pope Francis’ US Visit, Lack Of Action<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bernie McDaid remembers staring at the stained glass the first time his Catholic priest molested him. He said he was about 12 years old, an altar boy standing in the sacristy of St. James\u2019 Church outside of Boston, when the Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham grabbed him, started tickling and then put his hands down McDaid\u2019s pants.<\/p>\n

McDaid soon began skipping Mass, hoping to avoid the older man. When Birmingham realized he wasn\u2019t seeing the boy in church, he started organizing beach trips with McDaid and his classmates. McDaid would try to hide in the bushes in front of his house when Birmingham\u2019s gold Plymouth Fury came cruising down the street to pick him up. Once in the car, he and his friends would scramble to jump out at every stop, because if they were left alone, Birmingham would ask whether they\u2019d been masturbating, McDaid said. Sometimes, he\u2019d scream at them.<\/p>\n

Since then, more than 30 men have\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0come forward claiming Birmingham abused them as kids, and the Archdiocese of Boston settled on the grounds of at least one such victim\u2019s claims in 1996. Birmingham died in 1989.<\/p>\n

Years later, McDaid — no longer a Catholic — sat next to his mother in Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., watching as Pope Benedict XVI rode around in the popemobile. It was 2008, and McDaid said he had tears in his eyes as Benedict waved to the 46,000 cheering people packed into the stands for Mass. \u201cThe crowd treated him like a rock star, and I couldn\u2019t get over that,\u201d McDaid said. \u201cHe\u2019s not God. He\u2019s not a rock star.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benedict’s successor, Pope Francis, arrived Tuesday in the United States for another historic papal visit. But as the pontiff tours the East Coast, meeting privately with President Barack Obama and touring\u00a0Central Park, victims like McDaid worry his celebrity reception overshadows the Catholic church\u2019s long history of clergy sex abuse. Still scarred from their childhood experiences, survivors and advocates say they\u2019re frustrated by the overwhelmingly positive view of the modernizing church and pope, both of which they argue refuse to rectify the situation in order to save their reputation. They say that every minute without a resolution, more children are being abused.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand\u00a0all of the excitement, but really on some level you have to step back as an adult and realize that he\u2019s just a man and this is a business,\u201d said McDaid, now 59. \u201cAnd they\u2019ve covered up this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Who Are We Kidding?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sex abuse has existed in the Catholic church for decades, both in the U.S. and abroad. American lawsuits made\u00a0public\u00a0incidents in the 1940s and again in the ’80s, but they were largely viewed as isolated occurrences. That all changed in 2002, when an investigation by the Boston Globe revealed a horrifying trend of cover-ups and kicked off a flood of media coverage. In 2004, a\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops found that more than 4 percent of priests over the past 50 years had been accused of sexually abusing minors.<\/p>\n

In 2010, amid a wave of lawsuits in Europe, news broke that then-Pope Benedict XVI had declined years earlier to respond to letters from an American bishop requesting a Wisconsin priest be prosecuted for molesting boys. Benedict resigned three years later.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis was elected, and now — on his first papal visit to the U.S. — people like Pat Marker, a 50-year-old victim advocate and stay-at-home dad in Seattle, are hoping this pontiff will address the scandal because the victims say they are still hurting. As it stands, the American Catholic church doesn\u2019t deserve to be celebrated, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the pope visits a country, it\u2019s like having the Olympics. You put your best face forward and you pretend that everything\u2019s OK, and then once the Olympics leave, you\u2019re left with little to show for it,\u201d Marker said. \u201cWho are we kidding when we put on a smile for such a visit?\u201d<\/p>\n

As a child, Marker grew up in the church. His parents regularly invited members of the congregation and the church\u00a0leadership to meals, and he attended Catholic school from fifth grade through high school graduation. A priest took Marker to his first Seattle Seahawks game. A priest taught Marker to drive.<\/p>\n

But in the 1980s, his parents got jobs in Minnesota and moved the family. Marker was intensely homesick, and the only person who picked up on it was the Rev. Dunstan Moorse at St. John\u2019s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota.<\/p>\n

At first, it was nice to have someone to talk to. After a few months, Marker said Moorse would try to kiss him, but he simply pushed the monk away.<\/p>\n

Then, one day, Moorse led Marker downstairs to his living quarters to help him sew chains on vestments — garments that clergy members wear. Moorse allegedly looked at Marker and said, \u201cToday\u2019s the day.\u201d Marker said he ended up undressed, only allowed to keep on his baseball cap, and the monk began to masturbate him. Marker said he recalls watching the older man, who was naked himself, become frustrated when Marker\u2019s body wouldn\u2019t respond. Soon after that, he blacked out — he said he can\u2019t remember anything else.<\/p>\n

Years later, after nightmares and flashbacks and a road trip to find himself, Marker said he called Moorse to ask for money to cover expenses for counseling associated with the incident. Marker said he\u2019ll never forget the priest\u2019s response: \u201cPat, I can\u2019t. \u2026 If they find out I did this to someone else, they\u2019ll kick me out.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 1990s, Marker and Saint John\u2019s Abbey\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0settled a lawsuit over the alleged abuse, and in 2013 Moorse\u2019s name was included on a\u00a0list<\/a>\u00a0of likely offenders released by the monastery.<\/p>\n

Marker has made it a lifelong mission to get the names of all church leaders accused of sex abuse publicized. The Globe investigation, as well as subsequent reports, found that many abusers were repeat offenders — instead of firing priests linked with assault, church higher-ups made a habit of simply transferring them. The 2004 study found 143 priests who were identified as serial abusers, including nine men who had been accused of assault in three different dioceses. Some accused priests are still working today, either in the U.S. or abroad,\u00a0GlobalPost reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Marker said Pope Francis should release all the names of clergy members who have been reliably accused of sex abuse. With each name comes an apology, he said, and that apology helps victims heal. He pointed to the case of his classmate Ben Spanier, whose parents allege he was abused by the Rev. Thomas Andert at Saint John\u2019s Abbey in the mid-1990s. Pending a separate investigation, the accused priest was put on leave this past August — too late for Spanier, who killed himself in December 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Ben] would still be alive if they did it in 1994, 2011 or 2007\u2026 there were so many opportunities to save Ben’s life,\u201d Marker said. \u201cHarboring pedophiles and holding their names back because there is no pending media story or lawsuit is the wrong approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s What Jesus Would Do\u2019<\/p>\n

It took decades for Barbara Blaine to come to terms with her abuse — and her epiphany came nearly by accident. Years after she said the Rev. Chet Warren at St. Pius X Church in West Toledo, Ohio, had an inappropriate relationship with her as a young teenager, Blaine went to see a therapist. At their first meeting, the counselor was asking general questions, like where Blaine grew up, whether her parents cared for her and who she kissed first.<\/p>\n

As the words came out of her mouth, Blaine said she was struck by self-awareness. \u201cIt was at that moment that I began to have a little insight. \u2018Um, oh, it was seventh, eighth grade. The priest at my church [was my first kiss],\u2019 \u201d Blaine said. \u201cAs I said that, it was the beginning of recognizing that, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s abuse. That wasn\u2019t me doing something wrong.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

The bishop of St. Pius X Church publicly apologized to another Warren victim for the priest\u2019s behavior as part of a settlement in 2005. At least five women\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0accused the priest of abuse.<\/p>\n

Today, Blaine is the founder and president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a self-help organization based in Chicago. She said that although Francis seems to be more compassionate than his predecessors, he hasn\u2019t actually done anything to make children safer. As of 2014, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has identified at least 17,259 people who say they were abused by priests as children, according to the Massachusetts nonprofit\u00a0Bishop-Accountability.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time for words and apologies is over,\u201d Blaine said. \u201cWhat we don\u2019t have is any real effort to determine who was hurt, what are their damages and how can they be made whole. That\u2019s what the response should be of the Pope. That\u2019s what Jesus would do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis spoke\u00a0out on the issue earlier this year. In July, during mass with a group of victims, he\u00a0condemned<\/a>\u00a0the abusers while asking for forgiveness. This past summer, he also approved the creation of a tribunal to handle the cases of bishops accused of covering up the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no place in the Church\u2019s ministry for those who commit these abuses, and I commit myself not to tolerate harm done to a minor by any individual, whether a cleric or not,\u201d Francis said in 2014. \u201cAll bishops must carry out their pastoral ministry with the utmost care in order to help foster the protection of minors, and they will be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

He repeated this message\u00a0Wednesday<\/a>\u00a0while speaking to bishops at Saint Matthew\u2019s Cathedral in Washington, D.C., calling upon them to \u201cwork to ensure such crimes will never be repeated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blaine said she hopes the United Nations holds the pontiff himself accountable, either during his appearance Friday at the U.N. General Assembly in New York or in the future. A U.N. human rights committee\u00a0published a report<\/a>\u00a0in 2014 that criticized the Vatican for \u201csystematically [placing] preservation of the reputation of the church and the alleged offender over the protection of child victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it stands, Blaine said, \u201cthere\u2019s all these accolades with the pope as though everything\u2019s fine. But that\u2019s not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018A Slap In The Face\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark Rozzi said the Rev. Edward Graff used to make him stand outside the back of the rectory while he walked in alone, because he couldn\u2019t risk other clerics seeing them together. By the end of eighth grade, it was all part of a routine: They\u2019d serve Mass, go to McDonald\u2019s or drink beer in Graff\u2019s room at Holy Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Reading, Pennsylvania. Rozzi said the priest told him he wanted to teach the boy about sex — lessons that often required watching pornographic videos and taking Polaroid pictures of Rozzi\u2019s genitals.<\/p>\n

One day, Rozzi said Graff invited him to come up with a classmate under the guise of showing them sexual positions. Rozzi said the older man began performing oral sex on him. When the boy refused to reciprocate, Graff led him to the shower, where Rozzi said the father turned on the water and raped him.<\/p>\n

Rozzi said he fled, literally running home, but he found himself unable to tell his mother the truth about what had happened. There were other effects, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything in my life changed for me. I never got a good night\u2019s sleep again,\u201d he said, adding that each morning when he wakes up, he almost has to force himself to bathe. \u201cI\u2019m 44, and every day I step in that shower it takes me back to when I was 13 years old. Every single day you relive this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Allentown, Pennsylvania, Diocese\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0settled in 2003 after a 15-year-old in Texas claimed Graff abused him. Graff\u00a0died<\/a>\u00a0the year before after breaking his hip in jail awaiting trial on related molestation charges.<\/p>\n

Rozzi, now a Democratic state representative, has focused his efforts on changing the statute of limitations laws on sex crimes.\u00a0Reuters reported<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0states like Pennsylvania and New York have seen bills recently attempting to extend or eliminate the designated time periods after which victims cannot bring charges against abusers, but the church has attempted to block them.<\/p>\n

Rozzi said the pope has the power to fix this. If Francis instructed his supporters to allow the bills to go through, the courts could do their job and get justice for the victims.<\/p>\n

But Rozzi said he won\u2019t do that. The Catholic church is a business, and Francis wants to keep its image clean. That\u2019s why his entire visit to the U.S. seems like \u201ca slap in the face\u201d to Rozzi.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s just another CEO of a corporation that\u2019s going to always do what is best for the corporation,\u201d Rozzi said. \u201cThe pope can come here 100 times, and it\u2019s still not going to affect the way victims feel\u00a0that\u00a0clergy abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

View Entire Article and Comments… Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Catholic Church Sex Abuse Survivors Frustrated By Pope Francis’ US Visit, Lack Of Action
\nJulia Glum
\nInternational Business Times
\nSeptember 25, 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Marker]\u00a0pointed to the case of his classmate Ben Spanier, whose parents allege he was abused by the Rev. Thomas Andert at Saint John\u2019s Abbey in the mid-1990s. Pending a separate investigation, the accused priest was put on leave this past … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[513,64,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ben-spanier","category-pat-marker","category-tom-andert","wp-image-borders"],"views":1682,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9290"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9292,"href":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9290\/revisions\/9292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}