* Posting thousands of diocesan documents, and
* Gathering detailed John Jay reports on every U.S. diocese.
In this issue of the Monitor:
* We introduce you to the kinds of documents concealed in every U.S. chancery,
* We share with you the library of Boston archdiocesan documents that we have
been building, and
* We invite you to help with the situation in California, where crucial decisions
regarding documents are about to be made.
What's in a Diocesan Archive? Wherever you live, your diocesan archive contains an amazing range of documents, from heartbreaking survivor essays to coldblooded orders transferring known abusers into unsuspecting parishes. We have assembled some examples from the Boston archives, so that you can see the kind of material that is being hidden in your own diocese. Samples from a Diocesan Archive
Guided Tour of the Boston Archive BishopAccountability.org has posted 1,500 pages of Boston archdiocesan documents, affidavits, and deposition excerpts--by far the largest collection of Boston documents anywhere on the Internet. Please explore these files. They reveal the meaning of the crisis in a way that no newspaper article can ... in the bishop's own words and those of his bureaucrats. Boston Secret Archives
Ten-Minute Activist: California Emergency
Lawyers for the diocese of Orange, California, are negotiating a large settlement
that threatens to seal the documents in those sexual abuse cases. This settlement
will set a precedent for Los Angeles and other California dioceses. If you want
the documents to be unsealed, so that the Catholic hierarchy in California can
be held truly accountable, please become a ten-minute activist on this issue.
Unseal
the California Documents
Welcome to this week's issue of the Monitor, BishopAccountability.org's email newsletter about the Catholic sexual abuse crisis and the bishops' responsibility for it. Yesterday CNN gave us a preview of the U.S. Catholic bishops' self-description of the nature and scope of the ongoing crisis. But the resignation last week of Bishop Thomas Dupré should remind us how unreliable the bishops' self-descriptions have been. Two-thirds of the bishops have transferred abusers secretly—are these men equipped to count abusers, victims, and settlements? Many of them are not leading celibate lives—will they tell the truth about others, when they are living a lie themselves? Dupré is not the only sitting bishop who is accused of abuse—will any other bishops step down unless they are forced to?
In this issue, Ten-Minute Activists are asked to lobby for a grand jury in Dupré's former diocese. Springfield needs your activism—and it also offers sad but useful illustrations of hardball diocesan legal tactics, possible destruction of diocesan files, priestly activism and silence, and the favoring of abusive priests over faithful ones. Our featured document in this issue is a fascinating essay by Andrew Greeley, sadly as relevant today as when it was written in the wake of the Porter revelations. We also post the self surveys on which the bishops' report will be based, along with other materials to help you assess their initiative independently.
Ten-Minute Activist: Grand Jury for Dupré - We offer information about the resignation of Bishop Thomas Dupré and the terrible situation in the Springfield diocese. Your activism in Los Angeles last week was very effective. We hope that you will come to the rescue on the other side of the country this week, and help a state attorney general to do what's right.
Ten-Minute Activists for the Springfield Survivors
Greeley Counts 100,000 Victims
- After the 1992 Porter settlement, the Jesuit weekly America published
an article by the Catholic priest and sociologist Andrew Greeley, called How
Serious Is the Problem of Sexual Abuse by Clergy? Greeley's estimate
of the victim population—100,000 people—is frequently quoted, but
his article has been hard to find. Greeley and the other authors that we highlight
with him offer an excellent way to reflect on quantifying the crisis—especially
the number of people victimized by each abusive priest.
Counting the Crisis—Eleven Years After
Counting and Naming Abusers -
Can we expect the bishops to count the damage caused by their own decisions?
They have been lying for a long time, and they still fail to take responsibility
for their extremely harmful transfer policies. But even if the bishops' systems
had not been compromised long ago, the project of "counting the crisis"
would be a questionable one. We need an accounting that includes both
numbers and names of accused priests and reports on the bishops' role.
In this feature, we offer a fascinating document—the bishops' own self
survey, from which their 2/27/04 report is being compiled. We also provide other
lists of culpable priests and bishops, and selected essays that show why internal
reports are unlikely to work.
A Note about the Authors, the Monitor, and BishopAccountability.org
- BishopAccountability.org is the largest source on the Internet of information
about the Catholic sexual abuse crisis and the bishops' responsibility for it.
We also offer ways for you to maintain your involvement and assure true accountability
among the bishops. The Monitor is written by Anne Barrett Doyle, Paul Kendrick,
and Terence McKiernan (Co-Directors of BishopAccountability.org) and Paul Baier
(President of Survivors First). The next issue of the Monitor will be emailed
on February 23, 2004. From now on, we'll be sending the Monitor at the beginning
of the work week. Original material on our Web site and in this newsletter
is copyright © 2004 BishopAccountability.org. You are welcome to forward,
copy, reproduce, and quote with acknowledgment. BishopAccountability.org is
dedicated to the victims and their families and loved ones.
Welcome to this week's issue of the Monitor, BishopAccountability.org's email newsletter about the Catholic sexual abuse crisis and the bishops' responsibility for it. This week we explore the lies and silence that enabled the abuse and cover-up. In the Los Angeles archdiocese, accused priests still serve in parishes, making a lie of the Charter and Norms. Be a Ten Minute Activist and help right this terrible wrong. Our profile introduces Dominican nun Sally Butler, who has advocated for survivors and fought the cold silence and dishonesty that victims of color often experience. A new section of our Web site documents the voices and the silence of priests in the crisis. An occasional feature on Web resources brings you a collection of traditional Catholic reporting and analysis on the crisis - voices that were raised when many of us, including the editors of this newsletter, were still silent.
Please forward this copy of the Monitor to some friends who you know will enjoy the newsletter and find it useful. You can use the "Forward email" link at the bottom of the newsletter, or just forward this email as you would normally do. We are glad that you're with us, of course, but if at any time you'd like to unsubscribe, use the "Safe Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the Monitor. Or send a message to staff@bishop-accountability.org and ask us to take you off the list.
Ten-Minute Activist: Accused Priests Still Serve - In Los Angeles and throughout the country, bishops are violating the Charter's promise that credibly accused priests will not remain in ministry. Join survivor activists nationwide in demanding that the Charter and Norms be strictly enforced.
Ten-Minute Activists for Zero Tolerance
Sister Sally Butler: Survivor Advocate
- Sister Sally Butler and two other Dominican nuns were devoted advocates for
a man who had been sexually abused by three Brooklyn priests. For her service,
Sally was awarded the Survivors Lifeline Award by SNAP NYC. In a speech at St.
Hugh's parish, Sister Sally describes her experience with the Brooklyn diocese
and reflects on the crisis.
Sister Sally
Butler: "What Will History Say?"
Silence and Action among Priests
- Priests are writing petitions and open letters, and creating new organizations
to advocate for due process, an end to celibacy, and other causes. But the cause
of victims has so far been left to a few advocates within the priesthood. Our
archive - unique on the Web - documents the silence and activism of priests
in the crisis.
Voices and Silence
Traditional Catholics Cover the Crisis
- Conservatives were among the first to report on the crisis, but their contribution
has often gone unrecognized in recent reporting by the secular press. In the
first of an occasional series, we offer a collection of traditional reporting
and analysis. In upcoming issues, we will post other Web resources on the crisis,
reflecting other points of view. We take no position in these debates, but we
hope to encourage discussion across the usual boundaries.
Catholic World
Report on the Scandal
A Note about the Authors, the Monitor, and BishopAccountability.org
- BishopAccountability.org is the largest source on the Internet of information
about the Catholic sexual abuse crisis and the bishops' responsibility for it.
We also offer ways for you to maintain your involvement and assure true accountability
among the bishops. The Monitor is written by Anne Barrett Doyle, Paul Kendrick,
and Terence McKiernan (Co-Directors of BishopAccountability.org) and Paul Baier
(President of Survivors First). The next issue of the Monitor will be emailed
on February 13, 2004. Original material on our Web site and in this newsletter
is copyright © 2004 BishopAccountability.org. You are welcome to forward,
copy, reproduce, and quote with acknowledgment. BishopAccountability.org is
dedicated to the victims and their families and loved ones.
Please Consider Participating in Our Service Record Project
Welcome to another issue of the Monitor, BishopAccountability.org's weekly email newsletter about the Catholic sexual abuse crisis and the bishops' responsibility for it. This issue offers several ways to take a fresh look at the crisis. We are between reports from the bishops - a good time to listen to the voices of survivors and remember what is really important. The crisis is a very personal event, and it's also an extremely complex one. We offer two unusual ways of picturing the crisis, both of them very relevant to the upcoming reports. Our Ten-Minute Activist goes outside the self-reporting and self-regulating world of the bishops, and shows how you can help reform the statutes of limitations. This week's profile features a group of cloistered nuns who advocate for survivors, and we also provide a transcript of our recent Fireside Chat.
Picture of the Crisis - The New
York Times published on January 12, 2003 the results of its survey of accused
priests. This was the first real attempt to quantify the problem, and the Times's
findings are very important to review as we prepare for the bishops' own survey.
Here are the Times's graphs and tabulations and their own analysis, together
with a real range of commentary.
Picturing the
Crisis through the New York Times Survey
Ten-Minute Activist: Help Reform the Statutes
of Limitations - Reforming the statutes of limitations (SOLs)
is one of the most effective ways to achieve transparency and justice for survivors.
Right now, the important battleground is Indiana, where you can encourage lawmakers
to enact true reform.
Ten-Minute Activists
for SOL Reform
Survivors' Voices - In this phase
of episcopal self-reporting and pastoral outreach, the voices of survivors help
us remember the realities of this ongoing crisis. Our Timeline is a chronology
of the crisis that includes the speeches and writings of survivors, documents
of all kinds, key events with news stories, and commentary from right to left.
We have added dozens of new items in the last few weeks, building a unique record
of history in the making. Follow the link to Belinda Martinez' remarkable 7/31/03
speech, and then experience the voices of other survivors on the Timeline, including
Phil Saviano (7/20/02), Art Austin (6/4/02), and Mark Furnish (10/12/02).
Survivors' Voices
on the Timeline
Profile: Nuns Who Advocate for Survivors
- Please make a virtual visit to the Monastery of Our Lady of Little Citeaux,
in the hills of East Tennessee. The sisters have dedicated their Web site to
telling some home truths about survivors and the crisis.
Visit the Outspoken
Sisters of Our Lady of Little Citeaux
Picturing Transfers from the Documents
- As the church battles to keep documents sealed in Los Angeles and every other
diocese, we must remember that the secret files give us the best picture of
the crisis - much sharper than any "aggregate" self-reporting. To
see what the documents reveal about criminal transfers arranged by the bishops,
look at a superb picture of some Boston transfers, created by the Boston Globe.
We present it with links to articles and documents, including a brief profile
of the only bishop who wouldn't go along.
What Do the Transfers
Really Look Like
Transcript of the Fireside Chat
- We post a complete transcript of the 1/25 Fireside Chat with Susan Archibald,
Jason Berry, David Clohessy, Tom Doyle, and Richard Sipe.
Transcript of
the Fireside Chat
A Note about the Authors, the Monitor, and BishopAccountability.org
- BishopAccountability.org is the largest source on the Internet of information
about the Catholic sexual abuse crisis and the bishops' responsibility for it.
We also offer ways for you to maintain your involvement and assure true accountability
among the bishops. The Monitor is written by Anne Barrett Doyle, Paul Kendrick,
and Terence McKiernan (Co-Directors of BishopAccountability.org) and Paul Baier
(President of Survivors First). The next issue of the Monitor will be emailed
on February 6, 2004. Original material on our Web site and in this newsletter
is copyright © 2004 BishopAccountability.org. You are welcome to forward,
copy, reproduce, and quote with acknowledgment. BishopAccountability.org is
dedicated to the victims and their families and loved ones.
Visit Our Resources
Page: Timeline, Links, and Documents
Included in this edition of the Monitor is our Year in Review feature, a lively overview of the crucial events and themes of 2003. A profile of Bishop Paul Bootkoski of Metuchen, NJ offers a very personal and compelling model for victim/survivor outreach. We begin our analysis of the USCCB audit with a sampling of initial commentary, and invite you to "audit the audit" in our Ten-Minute Activist feature. Secret annual reports prepared by Cardinal Law's managers and first described in the Reilly report are our featured documents. Please mark January 25 on your calendar. Friends are coming from as far away as Dallas to our opening event of the year, a fireside chat with Tom Doyle, Jason Berry, Richard Sipe, and Sue Archibald. See below for details.
Thank you for your emails--we received over 400 after the last issue, and we've just about answered them all! Thanks also to the dozens of Ten-Minute Activists who volunteered in December, and those of you who made donations to help defray our expenses. Your generosity is much appreciated. Please forward this issue of the Monitor to a few friends, and send us a note if the spirit moves you. What advice do you have for improving this newsletter?
Year in Review - Our illustrated review of the people and issues that made 2003 a momentous year. Relive the hard-fought settlements, grand jury reports, resignations, and other key events that set the stage for events now unfolding.
Profile: A Model Bishop - In refreshing contrast to church leaders who have stonewalled criminal investigations, Bishop Paul Bootkoski of Metuchen, NJ opened up files and asked public prosecutors to help him find the molesters in his diocese. He also initiated contact with local SNAP members and promptly took their advice, placing activist survivors on the diocesan review board. Read about the initiatives of this model bishop.
A bishop who went beyond the Charter
Ten-Minute Activist: Audit the Audit - You have an understanding of your diocese that the USCCB auditors couldn't achieve during their brief and structured visits. As BishopAccountability.org reviews the audit, we are finding that the official assessments of compliance too often neglect important aspects of a diocese's recent history. Examples from Los Angeles and Providence, RI show why a local perspective is essential. You can help complete the picture.
Initial Comments on the Audit - We sample the initial commentary on the audit, including analysis of the audit's selective focus on parts of the Charter, the auditors' apparent failure to gain a perspective independent of diocesan management, and the limited scope of the investigation. Auditors did not have access to personnel files, and they spoke to very few survivors or church-going ordinary Catholics.
Read early comments on the audit
Featured Document - When Attorney General Reilly's team investigated the Boston archdiocese, they discovered that Cardinal Law and his managers had been putting together meticulous annual reports on sexual abuse. In depositions and interviews, Law denied such knowledge, but his own reports, kept confidential for years, tell a different story. This ingrained secrecy has serious implications for a voluntary audit that trusted diocesan staff to share all necessary documents. Click the link for a sample of the Law reports; go to the Reports section of the Resources page to see them all.
See Law's annual report on abuse by priests
Fireside Chat with Doyle, Berry, Sipe, and Archibald - Join Tom Doyle (priest and survivor advocate), Jason Berry (author of Lead Us Not into Temptation), Richard Sipe (author of Sex, Priests, and Power), and Sue Archibald (President of The Linkup), for a panel discussion and 45-minute Q&A on January 25, 2-4 pm, in Wellesley MA. Homestays available for guests traveling a distance.
For more information on the Fireside Chat
A Note about the Authors, the Monitor, and BishopAccountability.org - The Monitor is written by Anne Barrett Doyle, Paul Kendrick, and Terence McKiernan (Co-Directors of BishopAccountability.org) and Paul Baier (President of Survivors First). The next issue of The Monitor will be emailed on January 23, 2004. Original material on our Web site and in this newsletter is copyright © 2004 BishopAccountability.org. You are welcome to forward, copy, reproduce, and quote with acknowledgement. BishopAccountability.org is dedicated to the victims and their families and loved ones.
Contact Information
email: staff@bishop-accountability.org
voice: 781 910 5467
web: www.bishopaccountability.org
P.O. Box 81-172 · Wellesley, MA · MA · 02481
"It is essential to document the truth, and BishopAccountability.org
does that." - Father Thomas Doyle, O.P., J.C.D.
Welcome to the first issue of The Monitor, an email newsletter from
BishopAccountability.org. Early in the new year, we will see major developments
in the Catholic sexual abuse crisis. Reports from the bishops in January and
February will try to press a clever strategy. The bishops will present themselves
as responsible for future reforms, while focusing attention for past malfeasance
on the priests who committed the abuse. They hope that their own accountability
for transfers and concealment will get lost in the shuffle.
On other fronts, diocesan archives may become public in California, Iowa, and
other states, or church lawyers may succeed in keeping files sealed. Important
legislative initiatives are in the works, and settlements will be attempted
on the Boston model. Will other bishops succeed, as Seán O'Malley has,
in paying low awards to victims, with vague assurances of therapy and no independent
oversight?
BishopAccountability.org
will be documenting these and other stories in the new year, and The
Monitor will offer a convenient report on new developments. If your
email program doesn't support links, you can read The Monitor online
by putting this address into your Internet browser's address window: http://www.bishop-accountability.org/monitor/.
Then add The Monitor to your "favorites" or "bookmark"
the page.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Last-minute gifts to buy? Why not purchase
a book through our Amazon link or from our Book List, and support BishopAccountability.org
at no extra charge?
A Note about the Authors
The Monitor is written by Anne Barrett Doyle, Paul Kendrick, and Terence
McKiernan (Co-Directors of BishopAccountability.org) and Paul Baier (President
of Survivors First). The next issue of The Monitor will be emailed
on January 9, 2004. Original material on our Web site and in this newsletter
is copyright © 2003 BishopAccountability.org. You are welcome to forward,
copy, reproduce, and quote with acknowledgement. BishopAccountability.org is
dedicated to the victims and their families and loved ones.
Contact Information
email: staff@bishop-accountability.org
voice: 781 910 5467
web: www.BishopAccountability.org