Sunday, March 17, 2002

Published Sunday, March 17, 2002

NATIONAL/CONNECTICUT/NEW YORK: The Hartford Courant publishes previously secret court documents showing that New York Cardinal Edward M. Egan, holder of the most visible post in the U.S. Church, “allowed several priests facing multiple accusations of sexual abuse to continue working for years.”
—The Courant also reports Sunday: Excerpts from a 1999 deposition of Egan show a “defensive, dismissive tone” in discussing his handling of sexual abuse cases.
—Additional excerpts from the 1999 Egan depsition, as well as another from 1997.
—Excerpts from deposition of former Bishop Walter Curtis regarding his destruction of complaints against priests, among other issues.
— Timeline of the handling by Bishop Egan of the case of an abused priest.

NATIONAL: The New York Times’ Laurie Goodstein and Alessandra Stanley report that “the sexual abuse scandal engulfing the Roman Catholic Church, far from being nearly over, has only begun.” Also: “Since January, at least 55 priests in 17 dioceses have been removed, suspended, put on administrative leave or forced to resign or retire.” The 3,400-word story also reports that some dioceses are having trouble buying liability insurance. (Free subscription required.)
—NYT Week in Review: Terry Golway, author of a biography of John Cardinal O’Connor, says “revolution is not too strong a word” for what’s brewing among the nation’s 66 million Catholics. (Free subscription required.)

NATIONAL: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jon Sawyer and Patricia Rice report that the president of the U.S. Conference of Bishops describes as “a travesty” the failure of a Missouri archdiocese to report allegations of sexual abuse by Rev. Anthony J. O’Connell, who was later named bishop of Palm Beach, Fl.

NATIONAL: The Boston Globe’s Michael Paulson and Thomas Farragher report that the vast majority of priests who sexually abuse minors choose adolescent boys as opposed to young children, rendering the current scandal more a matter of ephebophila or hebophilia than of pedophilia.

NATIONAL: The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Don Lattin explores the roots of priestly sexual behavior.
—Comments from a Chronicle: Why has the Church covered up the scandal?

NATIONAL: The Washington Post‘s Alan Cooperman and Pamela Ferdinand report that Catholics are responding in sometimes paradoxical ways to a crisis of trust in the church: “They are reaching out to supprt the clergymen they know and admire, while expressing an excruciating feeling of betrayal by the church’s more distant and opaque leadership.”
—Text of Msgr. Thomas Kane’s homily, delivered March 10 at St. Patrick’s Church in Rockville, Md.
—Washington Post editorial: “Sexual abuse of minors by pedophilic clergy is no longer just a scandal in the Boston archdiocese of the Catholic Church.”

CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez continues to get no comment from L.A. Archdiocese when he asks if the Church has reported abusing priests to police. In response to readers critical of his columns about the scandal, he concludes: “Without apology, I fully intend to keep banging on the door. Blame it on the nuns. They said you should always ask yourself: What would Jesus do?”
—March 15 Lopez column: Fed-Up faithful seek some real reform.
—March 13 Lopez column: Simple suggestions for Cardinal Mahony.
—Letters to the Editor: Comments about removal of Rev. Michael Pecharich from an Orange County parish.

CALIFORNIA: The Boston Herald’s Meggie Mulvihill reports that the retired California bishop who suspended a former Boston priest for sexual abuse said Saturday he received no information from Boston that the priest had been accused of molesting a Massachusetts boy.

FLORIDA: Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas: Parishioners must take the church back.

FLORIDA: St. Petersburg Times staff writers Alicia Caldwell and Waveney Ann Moore sum up the framework of Tampa Bay-area Catholics: “Deal with the problem. Support the victims. Stay with the church.”

MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald’s Tom Mashberg and Robin Washington report: “With reams of Archdiocese of Boston records on problem priests due to law-enforcement officials by Tuesday, attorneys and experts on abusive clerics are debating whether Roman Catholic higher-ups should face criminal charges for their roles in the molestation cover-up lacerating the church.
—Also in Sunday’s Herald: Eric Convey reports that Cardinal Law’s financial advisers have told him that selling the Brighton seminary is not an option to raise money for legal settlements.
—Convey also reports that Cardinal Law’s task force investigating the scandal includes victims of clergy sexual abuse.
—AP’s Jennifer Peter reports that the task force pledged to make its report public.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Worcester Telegram‘s Richard Nangle and Kathleen A. Shaw report that Bishop Daniel P. Reilly has been named in more than 30 suits alleging sexual misconduct by priests under his charge in Providence, R.I., Norwich, Ct. and Worcester, Ma.
—The Telegram‘s Nangle and Shaw report that Reilly characterizes his handling of the scandal is “pretty good”: “We’re following the law, we’re dealing with the authorities. We’re trying to help the victims. We have very good outreach to the alleged victims and dealing with the perpetrators.
—Telegram columnist Dianne Williamson says telling on a priest is not easy.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Foster’s Sunday Citizen‘s Sean Murphy reports that Diocese of Manchester officials have added a former Portsmouth priest to a list of 14 clergymen accused of sexual misconduct with minors.

NEW YORK: (See also Hartford Courant stories above about Cardinal Egan.) Newsday’s Ron Howell, Merle English and Sheila McKenna collect reactions of Catholics to the sex charges.
—Newsday columnist Ellis Henican says it’s time for Brooklyn Bishop Thomas Daily to address charges that, during his time in Massachusetts, he failed to do stop sexual abuse by the recently convicted former priest John Geoghan. “”We’re listening, Bishop Daily,” Henican writes. “It’s time to come out of the hide-it camp.”
—Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin says he boycotted the St. Patrick Day’s Parade in protest to Cardinal Egan’s “betrayal of the Church and the Irish.”
—Earlier (3/14/02) Breslin: Celbacy doesn’t stand a prayer.”
–Earlier (3/13/02) Breslin: “A crime scene like no other.”

NEW YORK: New York Post‘s Andrea Peyser reports one priest’s story of abuse by another priest.
—New York Post editorial: Egan’s lack of candor endangering integrity of Church.

PENNSYLVANIA: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Ann Rodgers-Melnick reports that judging credibility in abuse cases is a tough call for dioceses.

PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Nancy Phillips reports that a Philadelphia case set a high bar in sex-abuse suits.

RHODE ISLAND: Providence Journal’s Jonathan D. Rockoff reports that the Providence diocese has rejected a proposed sex-abuse settlement.

WISCONSIN: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Heinen reports that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is refusing to say whether priests who have faced credible allegations of abuse in the past are assigned to parishes there.