Mercury News - California
May 15, 2008
LOS ANGELES—The Salesian Society of Catholic priests reached a $19.5 million settlement in a sexual molestation lawsuit, said an attorney for the plaintiffs.
The Salesians were the only religious order that refused to join the $660 million settlement the Los Angeles Archdiocese reached with sexual abuse victims last summer.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury had been seated Wednesday to hear claims that the Salesians knew Father Titian Miani had been accused of abusing children when they assigned him to St. John Bosco
High School in Bellflower.
The settlement money will be split among 17 victims.
Miani, now 81, had been accused of molesting children in Italy and Canada before the Salesians transferred him to St. John Bosco in the 1960s, according to court documents.
At St. John Bosco, Miani befriended a family whose father had died and molested the son and two daughters while their mother was busy at work and night school, the court papers said.
Attorneys for the Salesians maintained the society did not know Miani had abused anyone before assigning him to the school.
"We recognize the pain that has been caused by this reprehensible behavior of some, and we are doing everything in our power to ensure this never happens again," Father John Itzaina of the Salesian Society said in a statement after the settlement was announced.
Raymond Boucher, the plaintiffs' attorney, said he had planned to either call Miani to the witness stand or show the jury his videotaped deposition.
"One way or the other," Boucher said, "the jurors were going to hear from Father Miani."
Miani left the order in 1974 but continued to serve as a priest until 1993, according to court documents.
A message left for an attorney for the Archdiocese, John P. McNicholas, was not returned late Wednesday.
This article was found at:
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9266270?nclick_check=1
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This is the posted response to Salesian Kingpin mouthpiece Fr. Itzaina's unremorseful garbage on the Salesian website.
ReplyDeleteIt has been posted on the Voice of the desert site:
http://reform-network.net/?p=1718
Response to Salesian Kingpin Fr. John Itzaina
The current mouthpiece for the World Record holder clergy molesters, the Salesians of California, is Fr. John Itzaina. Itzaina goes on record as attacking Attorney Ray Boucher, for “getting rich on the misery of the abused.” This formidable statement is followed by Itzaina’s claim that Salesians clergy’s lives are ruined by “allegations without proof.” How can attorneys get rich on the misery of the abused, if, according to Itzaina, the false accusers were not abused?
If it were true that the Salesians were merely innocent priests who have been falsely targeted, I could not go on record and state in writing that: The Salesians Dabbenne and Billante were convicted, Presenti and Miani are serial pedophiles, Whelan and Vitone were found guilty by juries, and of course, “the Salesians are record holder accused molesters.”
If Fr. Itzaina, and his reckless gang of accused, convicted, and admitted sex offenders ever emerged from their cloud of self pity and denial, they would see that they are their own worst enemy. Itzaina now cries to the media that the Salesians are the victims, and they have to sell their mansion in San Francisco that has housed countless child rapists, to pay for their court settlement. Apparently it has not occurred to the narcissist kingpin that generally, the public does not have sympathy for rapists, deviates, molesters, child sodomizers, and pedophiles who bask in the luxury of a San Francisco mansion. Fr. Itzaina has been immersed in a capacious pool of Salesian accused molesters for years on end, and amazingly, and not believably, he “knows nothing.” Predictably, he does not offer an apology in his statement; he typically denigrates the victims, and resumes denial. That is the Salesian way. Along with the Salesian “empty files” of their serial molesters’ histories, they come up empty with remorse for the damage and destruction they have caused to so many children.
Most importantly, as the Salesians continue to wallow in their cesspool of indulgent self pity, they should be reminded that they could have settled the claims against their Mammoth Molestation Machine years ago, and avoided all their court costs and attorneys fees.
The price the Salesians have to pay was driven by their vindictive hatred and their spiteful arrogance for their victims. The next time you go before the altar in front of Jesus Christ, Fr. Itzaina, I want you to light one candle for each of the victims the Salesians have sexually molested in California.
I am sure the light from the candles will illuminate the entire West Coast.
Joey Piscitelli
Between 2000 and 2003, a lot of faculty at Bosco HS were let go for a bunch of bogus reasons, including letting an 11 year veteran teaching PE go for "not using the computer enough in class".
ReplyDeleteI was let go in 03, and only am glad that my pension was vested by then... they made you feel like it was your fault, since none of this information came out until later. I had to move my family out of California to find another job and place to live. Miserable people... it is sad that there are some good people out there, but how could they not know?
Salesian Fr. Itzaina- Suicide Victims = Stupid & Mindless
ReplyDeleteBy Joey Piscitelli, OpEdNews May 21, 2012
Once again, the vocal mouthpiece for the Salesian Order of priests, Fr. Itzaina - now Pastor at St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral in San Francisco, has managed to degrade and dehumanize victims. This time, he discusses in his Sunday bulletin on 5/20/2012 the subject of " whether those who commit suicide go to heaven".
As a clergy abuse victim myself, who has personally butted heads with this cleric, I can say without reservation that Fr. Itzaina has not displayed a shred of compassion for me, or my family, who were tortured by the Salesian Order for over 5 years, for filing a legal claim against them for clergy sex abuse. (Which I won.) Nor have I met any other Salesian clergy victims who have stated that the Salesians have treated them with remorse; or have displayed accountability.
If one can imagine the pain, depression and desperation that a suicide victim endures, which leads to taking their own life; the question of not "going to heaven" for their suicide is redundant and inconsiderate, to say the least.
Itzaina continues his peculiar essay with this revelation, "There's no doubt that suicide is a grave matter, but having full knowledge and willful consent is another thing. There must be full conscious knowledge to make suicide gravefully sinful".
So let's examine this statement. A person who is so distraught, that they take their own life, has to realize what they are doing in order to be labeled a "graveful sinner." Sympathy, unsurprisingly, is apparently not an issue for Fr. Itzaina. He seems to be more concerned with the suicide victims level of punishment in hell for sinning.
But Itzaina does not stop his discussion on the sinfulness of suicide here. He continues to step on his tongue, and dissolve any shred of compassion with further comment. "Let us mention specific mitigating factors like depression, deep seated anger, or anxiety disorders; or some prescription drugs used for depression, sleeping disorders, or psychiatric treatment".
Is that supposed to be a relief for the families of suicide victims? Apparently you receive some mitigating points to thwart your journey to hell; if you have a sleeping disorder, or an anxiety disorder, etc. But Itzaina fails to say who tallys up the points to weigh out the sentence for the suicide victim; and how many points it takes to rescind the eternal damnation proclamation by Catholic doctrine. Teetering on the edge of hell or heaven is heavily influenced by all the negative factors suffered by the sinful suicide victim - to be sure of the appropriate punishment to be received.
But the coup de grace is delivered in this next Itzaina-Salesian classic quote: " Sheer stupidity and mindless impulsiveness cannot be ruled out either". I don't think it's possible for me to point out the insensitivity and callousness of this statement better than Fr. Itzaina has already done himself. He does more damage to himself by his own statements and quotes than I would ever be capable of doing.
Itzaina then follows up the inane remark with this repetitious deleterious observance: "There we hope to follow, as we wonder about and pray for those who do stupid and mindless things to themselves" . Remarkably Itzaina doesn't have the sense to cease his castigation of the mortally afflicted- capitalizing on their "stupidity" instead.
continued in next comment...
continued from previous comment:
ReplyDeleteSo to clarify: a suicide victim that is consumed with sheer stupidity and is mindless- may possibly be considered by the Almighty to escape the fires of hell; depending on the measure of sheer stupidity, of course.
It occurs to me that many victims of Salesian priests have contemplated suicide- people that I personally know; as I have been an abuse victims advocate in California for ten years. In addition, there are articles in the San Francisco Examiner on 4-24-1994 that specifically mention suicide victim(s) of Salesian San Francisco cleric Bro. Salvatore Billante - that have committed suicide.
I would like to ask Fr. Itzaina if any of the suicide victims that were raped by Salesian priests are automatically candidates for a trip straight to hell; or if they are analyzed by a committee to calculate their mitigating points for a pardon. This is a complicated issue, I would imagine - and perhaps the Salesian Provincial of San Francisco could field the question more appropriately.
In the meantime, Itzaina does not offer a professional referral if you are contemplating suicide because of depression, anxiety, or sleep disorders, or if you suffer from "sheer stupidity". Perhaps his implication is that you can consult with a Salesian priest before you do yourself in? You don't want to burn for eternity in hell as a consequence after you're dead. And you would probably have to have the Catholic clergy tally the points against you beforehand. This could be complicated, and my bet is that there is a probably a significant financial "donation" charge for the service.
My logical opinion compels me to say that the former suggestion is a bad idea; given the Salesian Order of San Francisco's' record setting reputation for sex abuse, molestation and rape; as mentioned in the San Francisco Weekly article by Ron Russell, "House of the Accused" in January of 2006.
At this point I would recommend that if you are a Bay Area resident who is depressed or suicidal, you should call a suicide prevention hotline, or a therapist - someone with genuine concern and knowledge. And in conclusion, by all means avoid asking Salesian priest Fr. Itzaina for his advice on suicide; especially if you are "depressed, stupid and mindless ."
Joey Piscitelli is a 56 year old writer and child abuse victims advocate in the S.F. Bay Area. Joey is also a pagan witch, and a member of Mensa. Joey wrote the non-fiction book "A Witch Wins Justice" concerning his unprecedented jury court victory
To see all the links embedded in this article go to:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Salesian-Fr-Itzaina--Sui-by-Joey-Piscitelli-120521-373.html