Only one US bishop has resigned for neglect during decade of clergy crimes, Kansas City bishop unlikely to join him

Kansas City Star  -  Missouri   June 6, 2011

Despite uproar in diocese, KC bishop is unlikely to resign

By JUDY L. THOMAS and GLENN E. RICE  |  The Kansas City Star



As more details emerge about a priest charged with possessing child pornography, calls are escalating for the leader of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to step down.

But if history is any indication, it’s unlikely Bishop Robert Finn would resign.

Even during a national sex abuse crisis that came to light in the Roman Catholic church a decade ago — and calls for other bishops to resign — that kind of pressure has little effect.

“It’s extremely rare for a bishop to resign,” said the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. “During this entire sex abuse crisis, only one bishop has resigned because of his failure to properly deal with his priests.”

Finn himself could not be reached for comment Monday, but he has apologized publicly on at least three occasions, including in a statement read Sunday at parishes across the diocese. Last week, Finn acknowledged that he did not heed past warnings about the Rev. Shawn Ratigan’s troubling behavior.

Finn also has supporters who have expressed passionately that he shouldn’t resign.

But Finn has come under sharp criticism for failing to respond to warnings about the priest now accused of possessing child pornography. Since news first broke last month about Ratigan’s arrest, a growing movement of irate Catholics has called for Finn’s ouster.

One man who was scheduled to be ordained as a deacon Saturday after years of training chose not to participate, instead issuing a statement that called the handling of the case “inexcusable.”

Other protests:

•A meeting at the Kansas City, North, Community Center last week organized by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests drew a standing-room-only crowd, with many expressing frustration at diocesan leadership.

•Hundreds of Catholics gathered Friday for a meeting with Finn at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in south Kansas City. Many of those attending said afterward that Finn could no longer lead them.

•On Saturday, about 20 Catholics protested across the street from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, calling on Finn to step down as an ordination ceremony for deacons was going on inside. (Twice as many showed up to support Finn.)

•A Facebook page called “Bishop Finn Must Go” has dozens of people calling for the bishop’s resignation, some urging prosecutors to investigate.

Finn’s statements and apologies haven’t satisfied those calling for his resignation.

“I think he has lost a lot of his effectiveness,” said Janice Andwander of south Kansas City, who attended the session Finn held at St. Thomas More and has been a member of the parish for 23 years. “There is not a lot of faith in his leadership.”

Andwander said the recent problem has diminished much of the good work the church and lay leaders have done in the Kansas City community and beyond.

“Things keep getting swept under the rug,” she said. “Now it is time to take away the rug.”

Those who gathered outside the cathedral during the ordination ceremony Saturday also didn’t mince words when talking about the bishop.

“I’m here because he dropped the ball,” said Phil Ways, of St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church. “He’s a bad role model, and he should resign. Period.”

Tom White, a former priest in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas — a separate diocese — displayed a sign that said, “We deserve a shepherd, not a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Resign Now!”

Among those who were to be ordained as a deacon on Saturday was Jim McConnell, of Holy Family Catholic Church. But last week, after years of preparation, he changed his mind.

“After a great deal of soul searching, prayer and reflection, I have decided not to accept the call to Holy Orders that I have received,” McConnell wrote to parishioners of Holy Family in a note that was posted on the church’s website.

“Because of the recent disclosure of failures within the diocese to protect the people of St. Patrick Parish from harm, I cannot promise respect or obedience that is a part of the diaconate ordination,” wrote McConnell, who could not be reached for comment. “To me this breakdown in the system that was put in place to protect God’s children is inexcusable.”

Supporters of Finn have been vocal as well, with many posting encouraging words on the bishop’s Facebook page.

Jim Dougherty, a candidate for permanent diaconate in the diocese, said he supported Finn and believed the bishop would be able to weather the controversy and would work to improve conditions within the diocese.

“He is a good man and he is a holy man; he really wants to do the right thing,” said Dougherty, who attends St. Louis Catholic Church on Swope Parkway. “I am inspired by his holiness and his courage, and he is the kind of man I would like to be.”

Dougherty said Finn has worked to attract more men into the priesthood and has made positive changes within the diocese.

“In our faith, the ultimate test is when you go on the cross and you stand on your faith,” Dougherty said. “I think Bishop Finn has the heart and the head to run the church in this capacity. He has admitted he could have done things differently, and the bishop is the man who can clean it up.”

Earlier resignation

In 2002, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, whose name became symbolic with the priest sex abuse scandal, resigned over his repeated failure to remove abusive priests from ministry.

Pope John Paul II accepted Law’s resignation, and Law was moved to Rome, where he is now in charge of the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

Reese said other bishops have resigned in the past decade, but those resignations were because of allegations of sexual impropiety against them, not because of how they handled cases involving their priests.

Only the pope can remove a bishop, said Reese, author of “Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church.”

“The Vatican has to be convinced that what the guy did was egregious,” he said.

Just last month, Pope Benedict XVI removed an Australian bishop for suggesting that the church discuss ordaining women and married men.

As for Finn stepping down, Reese said, “My guess is this has not risen to the level where the Vatican would want him to resign. And it’s not likely to happen based on past experience.”

A woman who answered the phone at the Papal Nuncio’s office in Washington, D.C., on Monday said that any questions regarding Bishop Finn needed to be put in writing and mailed to the office. The Papal Nuncio is the pope’s representative in the United States.

She added, however, that “there’s not a place where (parishioners) can call and complain about the bishop.”

“First, you should contact the diocese directly.”

Finn has said he regretted that he didn’t take action earlier in the Ratigan case.

A principal of a Catholic school in Kansas City, North, warned the diocese a year ago about Ratigan’s inappropriate behavior around girls, and the diocese learned in December of images Ratigan had on his laptop computer.

But the diocese did not officially notify police until last month.

Ratigan, 45, of Kansas City, North, is charged in Clay County with three counts of possessing child pornography — photos taken while working for churches and schools in the area.

Ratigan has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody, with bond set at $200,000.

On Thursday, the parents of a minor child alleged in a federal lawsuit that beginning around 2006 and continuing through 2010, Ratigan took photographs underneath her clothing and while the child was nude.

The couple also alleged officials were warned in 2006 about Ratigan yet took no action.

On Thursday night, the diocese announced that Finn had removed another priest from his duties because of “credible reports” of sexual misconduct with minors.

The priest, the Rev. Michael Tierney, was accused in a civil lawsuit last year of molesting a 13-year-old Missouri boy in 1971.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, a lawyer representingTierney said his client had done nothing wrong.

Bishop Robert Finn
1979: Ordained a priest, serving as an associate pastor of two parishes in the St. Louis area.

1989: Received a master’s degree in education administration from St. Louis University and became administrator of St. Dominic High School in O’Fallon, Mo.

1996: Appointed director of continuing formation for priests in the St. Louis Archdiocese.

1999: Named editor of the St. Louis Review, the weekly diocesan newspaper.

2004: Named coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph by Pope John Paul II.

2005: Succeeded Raymond J. Boland as bishop.


This article was found at:

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/06/2931716/despite-calls-for-bishops-resignation.html


RELATED ARTICLES ON THIS BLOG



Catholic clergy abuse review boards made ineffective by bishops who hide cases from them




Lawsuit against Kansas City diocese alleges Bishop neglected to protect children from priest who made child pornography


Missouri diocese ignored school principal's warning about predator priest who was arrested a year later for child pornography

Two years after Ryan report on systemic institutional abuse still no prosecutions Irish gov tells UN torture committee

Italian priest in diocese of Cardinal assisting Pope on child protection reforms arrested on pedophilia and drug charges

A selection of critical responses to the John Jay report on the causes of Catholic clergy sex crimes

Philadelphia cardinal and bishops hid problem priests from clergy abuse review board, put church law before civil law


Credibility of US bishops' reformed child protection policies challenged by Philadelphia clergy abuse scandal


Bishops were warned of abusive priests as early as the mid-1950s


1963 letter by church expert on pedophile priests shows Pope Paul VI and Vatican officials ignored warnings to expel problem priests


Jesuit priest being considered for sainthood among order's leaders who protected "the Hannibal Lecter of the clerical world"


Jesuit leaders concealed 40 years of warnings about pedophile priest who became spiritual adviser to Mother Teresa


New Vatican rules rely on Bishops to deal with clergy crimes before reporting to police, still don't protect children


New rules on clergy sex abuse shows there is still no moral awakening in the Catholic church 


Calgary Bishop rejects criticism of Vatican reforms, says child protection protocols will work in his diocese


US bishop's report on clergy abuse puts focus on sociological factors instead of church leaders who covered up crimes


Inquiry finds US Catholic hierarchy still endangering children and fighting justice for clergy abuse survivors


Catholic theologian says secrecy, misogyny and resistance to reform in wake of clergy sex scandals will doom the church


Retired Archbishop blames protective church hierarchy for clergy abuse scandal


Australian Archbishop says church culture responsible for deep-rooted child abuse crimes and cover-ups


Former Benedictine monk says church has not yet addressed child abuse crisis, most bishops still mired in obfuscation and deceit


Is the Catholic church in state of denial over clergy abuse, or is it honest and transparent?


Hundreds of admitted or credibly accused pedophile priests who escaped justice are unsupervised by church or police


Dublin Archbishop admits frustration over failed effort to promote major reforms in Catholic Church


Leaked confidential letter reveals Vatican's intention to prevent reporting of abuse to criminal authorities


Canadian Bishop who oversaw historic abuse settlement pleads guilty to importing child porn, asks judge to jail him


Church of England vicar sentenced to nine months for downloading child pornography


Infamous pedophile priest who was subject of film Deliver Us From Evil arrested in Dublin for child pornography


Clergy abuse survivor tells Delaware court that church officials blamed him for tempting pedophile priest


Diocese faces new abuse suit


Church in Wales vicar imprisoned for child pornography gets additional sentence for serial sex abuse of girl


Vicar is jailed over child porn


Church in Wales launches major child protection review


Mexican bishop adds internet porn, erotic TV and loose morals in society to list of excuses for why priests commit sex crimes


Catholic priest jailed for child sex offences


U.S. 'missionary' jailed in Canada for trafficking massive amounts of child pornography 


Canadian pastor gets only 15 months for creating pornographic video inciting people to rape teen church member 


Utah Boy Scout leader pleads guilty to child sex abuse 


Garrido "talked a lot about Jesus" to his 1976 victim after raping her repeatedly over 5 hours 


Alaskan church youth leader gets 5 years for sexually abusing an autistic 12-year-old boy 


Grace Christian Fellowship pastor, formerly Baptist pastor, charged with child porn and sexual torture 


Former Mormon Bishop jailed for child porn


St Stanislaus' College "a pedophile paradise"


Celibate Canadian Bishops lecture Catholics on sexuality, warn young people against sex outside marriage and masturbation


Catholic Church found liable for abuse of Newfoundland altar boys


Christian Brothers school built by sex abused child slaves depicted in film on tragedy of UK's child migration scheme

Religious fanatic Phillip Garrido and wife sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and torturing Jaycee Dugard

Los Angeles Times   -  June 3, 2011

Kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido are sentenced in sex-slave case

Phillip and Nancy Garrido, the Bay Area abductors of Jaycee Lee Dugard, whom they held in captivity for 18 years, get 431 years and 36 years to life in prison, respectively.

By Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Placerville, Calif. -- Twenty years after Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted while walking to her school bus stop, the couple who kidnapped and raped her and stole her childhood were sentenced Thursday to prison terms that could keep them behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Phillip Garrido, a 60-year-old serial predator, was sentenced to 431 years to life in prison. His 55-year-old wife, Nancy, was sentenced to 36 years to life and cannot be paroled until she is in her 70s.

As he imposed the lengthy prison term, Eldorado County Superior Court Judge Douglas C. Phimister said Garrido "lacks a soul" and called his actions "beyond horrible." A tearful Terry Probyn, Dugard's mother, described her daughter's attacker as "the epitome of disgust … some evil being."

And Dugard herself, in a defiant statement read by her mother during the emotional hearing, said the man who kidnapped her as a sex slave, raped her over a period of years, videotaped many of the attacks and fathered her two children "stole my life."

"To you, Phillip, I say … I hated every second of every day of 18 years because of you," said Dugard, who was 11 when she was abducted. "To you, Nancy, I have nothing to say. As I think of all those years, I am angry. You stole my life and that of my family."

Dugard, now 31, did not attend the hearing, she said, "because I refuse to waste another second of my life in your presence."

The Garridos abducted Dugard on June 10, 1991, as she was heading to school in her South Lake Tahoe neighborhood while her horrified stepfather leapt on a mountain bike in pursuit. The case made international headlines when Dugard resurfaced in August 2009 with her children — after a UC Berkeley policewoman spotted an odd-acting Garrido with the little girls on campus.

During Thursday's hearing, Dugard's former captors sat flanked by their attorneys in Department 7, which was packed with reporters, cameras, a few of Dugard's family members and Katie Callaway Hall, whom Garrido was convicted of raping in 1976.

Dugard's aunt, Tina, told Phimister during the sentencing that the abduction left the entire family "under a cloud of despair" and killed Tina's mother, Dugard's grandmother.

"My mom died less than a year after Jaycee was stolen from us," she said. "My mother died of a broken heart. Facing life without her beloved Jaycee was more than my mom could handle. "

But the most heart-wrenching testimony came from Probyn. She and Carl Probyn, Dugard's stepfather, divorced after the abduction. He has said that the crime and its aftermath "ended" their marriage.

Probyn talked about the joy she felt on May 3, 1980, when her daughter was born at 10:52 p.m. — blond hair, blue eyes, 6 lb. 4 oz., "a true miracle," "a gift from God." She told the court how, when Dugard's belly hurt, she would rock her little girl in her arms and sing, "You Are My Sunshine."

The day Dugard was taken, Probyn said, "my world went dark, and my sunshine was taken away." Probyn described the months and years of not knowing her daughter's fate as "hell on this earth."

"I could hear her crying, but not with my ears, with my heart," said a tearful Probyn. "I could feel her pain, not with my body, but with my heart. I endured a huge gaping hole in my heart, that some evil being put their hand in and ripped it out."

Garrido was driving that June morning. He and Nancy had blankets in the car and a Taser. They were "shopping for a victim," Phimister said Thursday. "What was the conversation in the car? 'Should we select this one? That one? What are we looking for?'"

Once they settled on Dugard, Garrido stunned the little girl with the Taser, and Nancy snatched her. They put her in the car, covered her with blankets and headed to their home in Antioch, an East Bay suburb, where they had prepared an undetectable warren of tents and sheds in the backyard.

Dugard was locked in one of the backyard buildings for a year and a half as a "prisoner," said Dist. Atty. Vern Pierson in court documents recommending that Garrido receive a sentence of 431 years to life. She did not leave the backyard for the first four years after the abduction.

Dugard "was impregnated by Phillip Garrido when she was 13 years old and had her first child at the age of 14," Pierson said in the document. She "was again impregnated by Phillip Garrido when she was 16 and had her second child at the age of 17."

The children were delivered by Nancy in the couple's ramshackle compound; neither they nor Dugard set foot in a schoolroom or saw a doctor until they were discovered in 2009.

Phimister said Garrido kept Dugard in line by threatening that "if she escaped, pain would be imposed. You would Taser her." He "reinvented slavery" and turned the girl into "chattel," morphed a human being into "a piece of furniture to use at your whim."

According to grand jury testimony released Thursday, Garrido never tased Dugard again after the first attack but kept the weapon lying openly around as a threat.

"When I didn't want to do something that he wanted me to do, he would turn it on and say, something like, you know, 'You don't want it to happen again. You should be good,'" Dugard testified before the grand jury on Sept. 10, 2010.

"I didn't want it to happen again," she told the grand jury. "So I was good."

Dugard testified that Garrido told her "he had a sex problem and that, you know, he got me so he wouldn't have to do this to anybody else. So I was helping him."

Phimister fumed that Garrido gamed the system when he was released far short of the 50-year sentence he had received for kidnapping and raping Callaway Hall. And he was furious that more than a dozen healthcare professionals had examined the man through the years and failed to recognize that Garrido is "evil."

Susan Gellman, Garrido's attorney, read a brief statement from her client when it was her turn to address Phimister. Four sentences long and entirely in the third person, the statement from Garrido said he had pleaded guilty to all charges and "accepted responsibility for his actions."

"He has done that with no expectation of leniency," the statement continued, "and because he wanted to spare everyone, including Ms. Dugard and the children, the ordeal of the trial."

Although Gellman called the sentence excessive, she said Garrido had expected a harsh outcome. His main concern now, she said, is being able to communicate with his wife when they are in prison.

About Dugard and the girls, she said, "he cares about them very much, despite the fact that he felt driven to tell his story — that he changed, 12 years before he was apprehended."

Nancy Garrido sobbed through much of the sentencing and looked Dugard's mother and aunt in the eye as the two women were describing the impact of the abduction on their family. The reason, said Stephen Tapson, her attorney, was that she wanted them to know she is sorry.

Reading her statement in court and speaking with reporters afterward, Tapson said that Nancy "wanted Jaycee to know she is sorry for what she did, that there is no way to express that. I stole your life, and there's no way to explain it away."

This article was found at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0604-garrido-20110603,0,7347880.story

*********************************************************************

Los Angeles Times   -   June 4, 2011

Jaycee Dugard's words tell vividly of her long ordeal

In the newly unsealed transcript of her grand jury testimony, Jaycee Lee Dugard recounts her abduction and captivity and explains why she never tried to escape.

By Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times



Reporting from Placerville, Calif. -- At times, the voice is young and terrified — an 11-year-old girl who was kidnapped during the last week of school, raped for years and kept in line under threat of pain.

At times, the voice is brave and resilient — a mother protecting her vulnerable daughters, struggling to give them a normal life under the most horrific of circumstances.

And at times, it is angry and defiant — a survivor facing down her abusers and prevailing.

Always, though, the voice is Jaycee Lee Dugard's. On Thursday, it was heard loud and clear for the first time since she was abducted 20 years ago while heading to the bus stop.

Revealing the child she was and the woman she has become, Dugard's voice rang out in Department 7 of El Dorado County Superior Court, where Phillip and Nancy Garrido were sentenced Thursday for kidnapping and rape, and in the unsealed transcript of the secret grand jury hearing that led to the couple's 2010 indictment.

Dugard's own words give the clearest picture of her ordeal to date. Her memoir, "A Stolen Life," will be published July 12. But until then, the transcript and the statement read at the Garridos' sentencing are the first windows into the life of a young woman who was held in captivity for 18 years and gave birth to two daughters by the man who raped her.

"Phillip wanted us to be a family," Dugard testified. "He was our dad, and Nancy was their mom. You know, that's what we did … to give the kids, you know, normal as possible" a life.

After sentencing the Garridos on Thursday to prison terms that could keep them behind bars for life, Superior Court Judge Douglas C. Phimister unsealed the transcript from the grand jury hearing. It was the only time Dugard testified. The Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee and several other media outlets had intervened in the case, seeking to have the transcripts made public.

Attorney Karl Olson argued on behalf of the media that the right to privacy does not justify continued secrecy on behalf of a rape victim whose name was made public by law enforcement officials and who has chosen to write a memoir of her ordeal.

Dugard's family, the El Dorado County district attorney and lawyers for the Garridos vehemently disagreed. Phimister was only partly supportive, keeping more than 20% of the transcript under seal, calling the segments in which Dugard's sexual attacks were described as "disgusting" and "inappropriate," material that "would qualify as pornography."

Phimister decried the media for "asking the court to assist in the exploitation of this child," and declared that he would not do so.

The 123 pages that were unsealed paint a terrifying portrait of a sick man who kidnapped a little girl to satisfy his sexual perversions. Who intimidated his wife into taking part in the abduction and condoning the rapes. Who believed he was doing nothing wrong.

On June 10, 1991, the Garridos were driving in South Lake Tahoe when they spied Jaycee, heading up the hill for her school bus. She was 11 and had just yelled goodbye to her stepfather, who was in their garage. It was about 7:30 a.m.

The Garridos' car "creeped up" behind the little girl. A voice called out, asking for directions. "And then," Dugard testified, "all of a sudden his hand shoots out and I feel tingly and like losing control, and I'm in the bushes, trying to go back, and somebody is dragging me."

The couple had hatched plans to go "shopping for a victim," Phimister said in court Thursday, and they were equipped with blankets and a Taser. Garrido, who was driving, shocked Jaycee, and Nancy dragged her into the car. She was laid face down on the floorboards of the back seat and covered up. She blacked out.

The Garridos took Jaycee back to the ramshackle warren of tents and sheds they had constructed behind their house in Antioch, northeast of Oakland. The drive, Dugard said, "seemed like forever." Garrido sexually assaulted her on arrival.

"I was very scared," Dugard testified. "I didn't know who he was. I didn't know why he was doing this. I just wanted to go home. I think in the bathroom I kept telling him that, you know, 'I don't know why you're doing this.'

" 'If you're holding me for ransom, my family doesn't have a lot of money,' " she continued. "I didn't know — I didn't know his purpose."

The Garridos gave her "Barbie stuff" during her first birthday in captivity. Garrido gave her a cat to keep her company when she complained about loneliness. But then he took it away because it messed up the small space where he kept her prisoner. She would figure out the date by watching the morning shows on television.

For the first three years, until the birth of her first daughter in August, 1994, Garrido would force himself on Jaycee once a week or more. After the birth of the child, the frequency of the rapes slowed. Nancy, who would take Jaycee food, offered to have sex with her husband instead. She would say, "Oh, I'll take this run for you."

After the first birth, Dugard testified, "things really changed. He said that he was eventually going to stop having sex with me and that, you, know, he's just really trying to change and he wants us all to be a family."

The last time Garrido raped Dugard was the day her second daughter was conceived. That child was born in November 1997.

The Garridos let Dugard pick a name. She chose Alissa. The "family" began to celebrate the little girls' birthdays together. A swing set was installed in the compound. Dugard told the grand jury that she did what she could to give her children a normal life.

But there wasn't much that she could do. She couldn't leave. At first because she was terrified.

There were Doberman pinschers on the property, Garrido told her on the day she arrived in Antioch, and they were vicious. "I didn't know where they were," she testified. "So I was afraid to do anything. I didn't know what he would do either."

Garrido never used the Taser on Dugard again after the abduction. But he kept the weapon lying around, an implicit threat. When she refused to follow his commands, he would turn the weapon on and tell her, "You don't want it to happen again. You should be good."

"I didn't want it to happen again," Dugard testified. "So I was good…. Tried to do what he wanted me to do even though I didn't like it."

Later she stayed in part because she felt she was "helping somebody, even though it was in a really sick, perverted way."

Dugard testified that Garrido told her he had a "sex problem and that, you know, he got me so he wouldn't have to do this to anybody else. So I was helping him."

And finally, she said, she stayed because she had no place to go. During 18 years in captivity, she never tried to escape.

"We went places later as a family, but never by myself," Dugard testified. "And I wanted him to teach me how to drive and stuff. And that never came. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't leave. I had the girls. I didn't know where to go, what I would do for money or anything.

"I didn't have anything."

Dugard has been free for nearly two years, and she has spent that time in seclusion with her mother and daughters, writing her book, seeing therapists, working to build back the life that the Garridos stole from her.

She is angry, she said in the statement that her mother read in court on Thursday, but she will prevail.

"Everything you have ever done to me has been wrong, and someday I hope you can see that," she said. "Thankfully I am doing well now and no longer live in a nightmare. I have wonderful friends and family around me. Something you can never take from me again.

"You do not matter anymore."


This article was found at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0604-jaycee-dugard-20110604,0,7538871.story

RELATED ARTICLES ON THIS BLOG

Religious fanatics Phillip Garrido and wife plead guilty to kidnapping, raping and confining Jaycee Dugard

Garrido "talked a lot about Jesus" to his 1976 victim after raping her repeatedly over 5 hours

Kidnap victim kept in backyard compound of religious fanatic for 18 years

Child sexual abusers commonly turn to religion to rationalize their behavior

Self-proclaimed prophets: Phillip Garrido, David Berg and Joseph Smith

Lawsuit against Kansas City diocese alleges Bishop neglected to protect children from priest who made child pornography

Kansas City Star   -  Missouri      June 2, 2011

Lawsuit: Diocese was warned about priest now facing child porn charges

By JUDY L. THOMAS and GLENN E. RICE  |  The Kansas City Star



Local Roman Catholic officials were warned in 2006 about a priest now accused of possessing child pornography yet took no action, a lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday alleges.

The lawsuit, filed by the parents of a young girl, also alleges that beginning around 2006 and continuing through 2010 the Rev. Shawn F. Ratigan took photographs underneath her clothing and while the child was nude.

Lawyers for the child’s family said the photographs were taken while Ratigan was assigned in St. Joseph.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, names Ratigan, Bishop Robert Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph as defendants.

“Another child has been harmed, and more children have been harmed, and this diocese has failed to protect the children,” Jeff Anderson of the Minnesota law firm of Anderson & Associates said in a news conference in Kansas City.

The diocese issued a brief statement in response to the lawsuit.

“First and foremost, the diocese is deeply concerned for the well-being of this child and her family,” the statement said. “The bishop has reached out to a number of parishes and offered listening sessions.”

Ratigan, 45, of Kansas City, North, was charged last month by Clay County authorities with three counts of possessing child pornography — photos taken while working for churches and schools in the area. Ratigan has pleaded not guilty to those charges and remains in custody on $200,000 bond.

The diocese already had acknowledged that a principal of a Catholic school in Kansas City, North, had warned diocesan officials a year ago of Ratigan’s troubling behavior around girls.

But the lawsuit alleges that as far back as 2006 an employee of the diocese reported to diocesan officials that she observed suspicious behavior involving Ratigan and a young girl. The lawsuit alleges that the diocese and Finn protected themselves and Ratigan from scandal by doing nothing with the report.

The plaintiff’s lawyers would not provide further details about the 2006 report, including who made it or specifically to whom it was given.

The lawsuit alleges Ratigan took sexually explicit photographs, uploaded them to his computer and distributed them over the Internet. It also contends that Finn and the diocese possessed and distributed child pornography by viewing and making copies of Ratigan’s photos.

The lawsuit seeks damages, including expenses incurred for medical treatment of the girl.

Two law firms announced the legal action Thursday at a news conference.

Anderson’s firm was joined by the Kansas City firm of Randles, Mata & Brown, which has filed dozens of priest sex-abuse lawsuits. Anderson & Associates has filed about 2,000 priest sex-abuse lawsuits across the country.

The diocese “allowed this predator, Father Shawn Ratigan, to access children with what we believe is sufficient knowledge to not only have removed him but to have reported him,” Anderson said.

Ratigan’s attorney, John P. O’Connor, declined to comment.

One case handled by the Randles firm involved 47 plaintiffs and resulted in a $10 million settlement against the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese in 2008.

Rebecca Randles said the diocese entered an agreement with the plaintiffs when it settled that lawsuit.

“As part of the agreement, the diocese agreed that they would take certain steps to ensure that children were safe from now on,” she said.

Those steps, she said, included setting up victims’ advocacy programs and immediately reporting any abuse or suspicion of abuse to law enforcement authorities in accordance with Missouri statutes.

“Our clients are incredibly upset. They’re angry, and they’re very sad that the steps they took to try to protect children for the future simply seemed to fall on deaf ears,” Randles said. “At the time we negotiated those settlements, the bishop and the monsignor were in the mediations listening to those stories of abuse, listening to the lives that were shattered.”

Pat Noaker, of Anderson & Associates, told The Star that the FBI was investigating the case and that the girl’s family had been cooperating with the agency. Authorities in Buchanan County, where St. Joseph is located, also said the FBI was investigating.

FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said she could neither confirm nor deny whether the agency was looking into the Ratigan case.

Ratigan was charged last month, although church officials had learned about several questionable photos in mid-December when a technician fixing Ratigan’s laptop computer discovered them, according to court documents.

The diocese did not officially notify police until May 13.

Noaker said the lawsuit was alleging that the diocese possessed and distributed child pornography because “they had access, and they in fact made copies of the pornography that they pulled off Father Ratigan’s computer in December 2010, and they possessed that for six months before turning it over to law enforcement authorities.”

“They also distributed it to different people along the way.”

The lawsuit cites Masha’s Law, a federal law enacted in 2006 that gives child-pornography victims the right to sue anyone who produces, downloads, distributes or possesses sexually explicit images of them.

The law was named after a girl from Russia who was adopted at age 5 by a man who sexually abused her and made recordings of it.

Victims can recover damages of no less than $150,000.

Randles told The Star that she also had been contacted by six members of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Kansas City, North, who allege that their children are victims of Ratigan. He was at St. Patrick from July 2009 to December 2010.

Police have said they had contacted families at the church in an attempt to identify the girls in the photos. Lawyers in the case filed Thursday said that’s how their clients learned of the abuse.

The diocese on Thursday also asked for the public to help police with the case.

“We urge anyone within the community who has information about the actions of Shawn Ratigan to make a confidential report to (Kansas City police) Detective Maggie McGuire at (816) 584-6633,” according to the diocese’s statement.

Finn earlier expressed regret about the handling of the case.

Last week he acknowledged that he did not heed warnings about Ratigan’s past behavior.

Finn’s statement came after it was revealed that the principal of St. Patrick School in Kansas City, North, had given diocesan officials a memo more than a year ago detailing concerns teachers and parents had about Ratigan’s behavior and interactions with children, including hugging and touching that they considered inappropriate.

Finn said that Monsignor Robert Murphy, the diocese’s vicar general, briefed him about the memo last year but that he did not ask to read it. Finn said that when he finally read it last Thursday “I was ashamed at the fact we had not done enough to respond to that.”

Finn is to meet with members of St. Thomas More parish in south Kansas City at 7 p.m. today.

On Wednesday a review board established years ago by the diocese to assess sexual abuse allegations met privately for two hours and came up with a recommendation to deal with cases such as Ratigan’s.

Review board chairman Jim Caccamo and a diocesan spokeswoman said it would be up to the bishop whether to discuss the content of the proposal.

Thursday night dozens gathered at the Kansas City, North, Community Center to discuss the Ratigan case at a meeting organized by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

The meeting was closed to the media “out of consideration for the privacy and feelings of parishioners,” SNAP leaders said. Organizers said there was a standing-room-only crowd.

“It’s packed,” said Judy Jones, SNAP’s Midwest associate director. “As you can imagine, things are pretty tense in there. People are very upset. Almost everyone is angry at the church officials.”

Stephanie Gunn, of St. Thomas More parish, said she was “sick and fed up of the whole situation.”

“I came here because I’m devastated,” she said. “I’m embarrassed, and I am so angry at the religious leaders of the Catholic Church. … They have put children’s lives in danger. They knew it, and they tried to sweep it under the covers like they have in the past.

“It’s not going to work this time. There are too many people who are fired up, and we intend to go as far as we can to remove these people from the diocese office.”

Gunn said numerous people talked about wanting the bishop to step down.

“They’re sick of it,” she said. “They’re not willing to listen to any more excuses.”

This article was found at:

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/02/2922692/diocese-was-warned-in-2006-about.html

***************************************************************************

Kansas City Star - Missouri June 3, 2011

The Star’s editorial | Bishop’s delays, inaction should lead to his resignation



Recent child sexual abuse allegations and disturbing inattention to earlier warnings make it clear it’s time for Bishop Robert Finn to step down.

It’s painful to believe the most vulnerable in his flock weren’t protected. Allegations that priests in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph were harming children apparently were downplayed, even in the aftermath of a stream of national scandals. Finn appears to have pushed legal limits and shattered moral guidelines by delaying actions. He has tragically shaken the faith of many who seek peace in churches under his supervision.

In 2008, when the church agreed to settle a lawsuit with 47 plaintiffs for $10 million, Finn promised that the diocese would take steps to ensure that children from that moment on were safe in religious settings. Yet he now says he regrets not actively pursuing newer allegations against a priest in his diocese.

Clearly, Finn could not reasonably have been expected to have governed the actions of every priest under his jurisdiction. And he is not responsible for what happened before he assumed his office in 2005. However, there was a disturbing pattern in his diocese. As of now, 18 current and former priests have been accused of abuse.

Given those numbers, Finn can reasonably be held to a higher degree of diligence than he exhibited. And it’s understandable that some parishioners perceive a cavalier manner in which he loitered with allegations.

Our society has enacted laws to punish those who victimize children. But there are also laws against ignoring suspicions of child abuse.

Last year in Augsburg, Germany, Bishop Walter Mixa faced abuse allegations, resigned, and the German church was healed, in part at least.

A resignation here could be step one in rebuilding faith in the diocese. For step two, area prosecutors must actively pursue all relevant criminal charges against all involved in these scandals.

These steps are necessary to protect society, to protect the Catholic Church and, most of all, to protect our children.

This article was found at:

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/03/2924898/the-stars-editorial-bishop-finns.html

**************************************************************************

National Catholic Reporter  -  June 1, 2011

Priest's pornography case reveals clericalism of the laity

by Jamie L Manson



Scholars do it.

Activists do it.

Even educated, justice-oriented parishioners do it.

No, Cole Porter fans, I’m not talking about falling in love, but rather falling fall prey to the internalized clericalism of the laity.

What else can explain the fact that many members of the Roman Catholic laity continue to give the clergy a pass after committing crimes that would easily bring down political powerhouses and tycoons of industry?

The latest tale of the mishandling of priestly sexual misconduct comes from the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese. Exactly one year after the principal of a Catholic elementary school sent a letter of concern about the predatory behavior of Fr. Shawn Ratigan, the priest was arrested for possession of child pornography.

At issue is the fact that no diocesan official ever responded to principal Julie Hess’ concerns. It wasn’t until Ratigan attempted suicide in December -- seven months after Hess’ complaint was submitted -- that the priest was reassigned to a sisters’ community.

Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn admitted Friday that he did not read Hess’ letter, submitted May 19, 2010, until May 26, 2011 -- a week after Ratigan’s arrest.

Hess’ letter recounts over a dozen “red flag-raising” instances of the priest spending excessive time with children, inappropriately touching children and making children touch him. One father saw Ratigan rubbing circles in his daughter’s back. A mother found a pair of girl’s panties in a planter at the priest's home during a Brownie Girl Scout gardening.

The letter makes clear that Hess, as well as many teachers and parents, were very proactive not only in adhering to the diocesan guidelines for preventing sexual misconduct, but also in trying to keep the children away from the priest. Parents called their children away from him, and teachers quickly hovered near the priest when he approached the children too closely.

Their actions are commendable and one hopes that teachers and parents everywhere are modeling similar responses around suspected predators. However, I cannot help but note two troubling aspects of the story. First, it seems no one called the police. Second, parents, teachers, and school leaders did not make more noise and make greater demands for timely action. They waited and waited for a response from the chancery.

Obviously, I do not know every exact detail of what happened at that school over the past year. But this story, and the many others like it, left me wondering: if the predator in question were not a priest but were, instead, a teacher or coach, would parents and teachers have moved more quickly and aggressively to have the situation dealt with?

If parents found out that a public school superintendent, rather than a bishop, neglected to read a principal’s report about a teacher that had similarly sordid claims, would they not be relentless in calling for the superintendent’s resignation and prosecution of the teacher?

And yet, Ratigan was able to function freely as a priest for years, and Finn will likely emerge unscathed from the scandal.

The St. Patrick’s saga is but one example of the fascinating fear that many Catholics seem to have of calling church leaders to accountability the way they would elected officials, educators, and other non-clerical folk. This double standard that Catholics have in dealing with the clergy, I believe, is a result of the internalized clericalism that the laity inherited as part of their Catholic inculcation.

Critics of the institutional church frequently point to the corrosive arrogance of the Catholic clergy as the root cause of so much abuse of power. It is important, however, to consider the extent to which the clericalism of the laity enables these abuses to take place, and to reflect on the multitude of ways this phenomenon affects a spectrum of Catholics, including some of our most progressive voices.

I have seen the effects of lay clericalism among professors at Catholic colleges and universities, who fret about discussing controversial issues about gender and sexuality in an academic forum. Tenured scholars, who are exponentially more educated than most Roman Catholic priests, can quickly become terrified of the reactions of bishops to their academic programs.

I have seen lay clericalism in parishes considered “prophetic” because of their commitment to social justice, service to the poor, and welcoming of marginalized Catholics. And, yet, in many cases these progressive voices will not challenge the parish priest, even when he makes decisions that compromise a parish’s legacy of advocacy.

I know many lay women and men who have labored on parish staffs and have suffered the fruits of lay clericalism. Regardless of a lay minister’s education level, years of experience, and ministerial gifts, parishioners almost always have a submissive “preferential option” for the priest -- even if they disagree strongly with his policies and practices. A lay person’s degrees and pastoral presence are no match against the power of simply being “Father.”

So often it is the clericalism of the laity, rather than the clericalism of the clergy, that undermines the power of the laity in our church.

I am not a psychologist, but I know enough about human emotions to see that many Catholics still react to the institutional church as a damaged child would react to a punishing, authoritarian parent.

Though many have rejected the paternalism of church teachings, especially on issues of sexual morality, so many Catholics have not been able to wipe away the residue of experiencing the Catholic clergy as a disapproving parent, capable of banishing us from the love of God.

In the comments section of one of the NCR reports on the Ratigan case, several readers noted that Hess would surely be fired eventually for exposing both a predator priest and the mishandling of the case by a bishop who is a favorite of traditionalists.

Responding to this claim, an anonymous commentator, seemingly connected with St. Patrick’s, responded emphatically: “If this principal catches any grief over this[,] a full riot will occur at St. Pat's[.] I will help incite it. We will not let mis-conduct by the diocese punish our excellent school and its stellar leader.”

I pray that this person’s convictions will find support within St. Patrick’s lay community.

By risking their relationship with the institutional church in order to uphold a layperson of integrity, the laity of St. Patrick’s have the opportunity to join the growing ranks of Catholic communities that refuse to collude in the hierarchy’s abuse of power, like the administration of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Ariz.

As the tales of the institutional church’s deception and negligence continue to mount, lay Catholics must stop making themselves subservient to their imagined notions of the power of the hierarchy, and must instead allow themselves to be channels of the power of God that is made manifest through sacrifice, courage, and truthfulness.

They must recognize how their internalized clericalism may be impeding their prophetic participation in the Spirit’s unfolding work in our church.

[Jamie L. Manson received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School where she studied Catholic theology and sexual ethics. Her columns for NCR earned her a first prize Catholic Press Association award for Best Column/Regular Commentary in 2010.]


This article was found at:

http://ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/priests-pornography-case-reveals-clericalism-laity

RELATED ARTICLES ON THIS BLOG

Only one US bishop has resigned for neglect during decade of clergy crimes, Kansas City bishop unlikely to join him

Missouri diocese ignored school principal's warning about predator priest who was arrested a year later for child pornography

Two years after Ryan report on systemic institutional abuse still no prosecutions Irish gov tells UN torture committee

Italian priest in diocese of Cardinal assisting Pope on child protection reforms arrested on pedophilia and drug charges

A selection of critical responses to the John Jay report on the causes of Catholic clergy sex crimes

Philadelphia cardinal and bishops hid problem priests from clergy abuse review board, put church law before civil law


Credibility of US bishops' reformed child protection policies challenged by Philadelphia clergy abuse scandal


Bishops were warned of abusive priests as early as the mid-1950s


1963 letter by church expert on pedophile priests shows Pope Paul VI and Vatican officials ignored warnings to expel problem priests


Jesuit priest being considered for sainthood among order's leaders who protected "the Hannibal Lecter of the clerical world"


Jesuit leaders concealed 40 years of warnings about pedophile priest who became spiritual adviser to Mother Teresa


New Vatican rules rely on Bishops to deal with clergy crimes before reporting to police, still don't protect children


New rules on clergy sex abuse shows there is still no moral awakening in the Catholic church 


Calgary Bishop rejects criticism of Vatican reforms, says child protection protocols will work in his diocese


US bishop's report on clergy abuse puts focus on sociological factors instead of church leaders who covered up crimes


Inquiry finds US Catholic hierarchy still endangering children and fighting justice for clergy abuse survivors


Catholic theologian says secrecy, misogyny and resistance to reform in wake of clergy sex scandals will doom the church


Retired Archbishop blames protective church hierarchy for clergy abuse scandal


Australian Archbishop says church culture responsible for deep-rooted child abuse crimes and cover-ups


Former Benedictine monk says church has not yet addressed child abuse crisis, most bishops still mired in obfuscation and deceit


Is the Catholic church in state of denial over clergy abuse, or is it honest and transparent?


Hundreds of admitted or credibly accused pedophile priests who escaped justice are unsupervised by church or police


Dublin Archbishop admits frustration over failed effort to promote major reforms in Catholic Church


Leaked confidential letter reveals Vatican's intention to prevent reporting of abuse to criminal authorities


Canadian Bishop who oversaw historic abuse settlement pleads guilty to importing child porn, asks judge to jail him


Church of England vicar sentenced to nine months for downloading child pornography


Infamous pedophile priest who was subject of film Deliver Us From Evil arrested in Dublin for child pornography


Clergy abuse survivor tells Delaware court that church officials blamed him for tempting pedophile priest


Diocese faces new abuse suit


Church in Wales vicar imprisoned for child pornography gets additional sentence for serial sex abuse of girl


Vicar is jailed over child porn


Church in Wales launches major child protection review


Mexican bishop adds internet porn, erotic TV and loose morals in society to list of excuses for why priests commit sex crimes


Catholic priest jailed for child sex offences


U.S. 'missionary' jailed in Canada for trafficking massive amounts of child pornography 


Canadian pastor gets only 15 months for creating pornographic video inciting people to rape teen church member 


Utah Boy Scout leader pleads guilty to child sex abuse 


Garrido "talked a lot about Jesus" to his 1976 victim after raping her repeatedly over 5 hours 


Alaskan church youth leader gets 5 years for sexually abusing an autistic 12-year-old boy 


Grace Christian Fellowship pastor, formerly Baptist pastor, charged with child porn and sexual torture 


Former Mormon Bishop jailed for child porn


St Stanislaus' College "a pedophile paradise"


Celibate Canadian Bishops lecture Catholics on sexuality, warn young people against sex outside marriage and masturbation


Catholic Church found liable for abuse of Newfoundland altar boys


Christian Brothers school built by sex abused child slaves depicted in film on tragedy of UK's child migration scheme