• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 1451 0

His data were drawn from a book by Philip Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests (New York, 1996), which in turn had cited a 1992 study of Chicago priests, meaning that the cardinal’s figures were a decade old. A Report on the Crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States, by Robert S. Bennett et al., prepared by the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People (Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2004), cited data that put the figure at 4 percent of American priests.

13. On Castrillón correspondence, see Jason Berry, “Vatican Cardinal Bucked U.S. Bishop on Abuse,” National Catholic Reporter, April 22, 2010; Patty Machelor, “Moreno Struggled to Defrock 2 Priests,” Arizona Daily Star, April 1, 2010. See also Berry and Renner, Vows of Silence, 234–35; Michael Rezendes, “Ariz. Abuse Case Names Bishops, 2 Priests,” Boston Globe, August 20, 2002. Castrillón correspondence is posted on www.natcath.org.

14. Phone interview with Lynne Cadigan, May 13, 2010.

15. Berry and Renner, Vows of Silence, pp. 65–66.

16. John Allen, “Catholic Vatican Summit Produces Flawed Document,” National Catholic Reporter, May 10, 2002.

17. Berry and Renner, Vows of Silence, pp. 65–66.

18. Nicholas P. Cafardi, “The Scandal of Secrecy,” Commonweal, August 13, 2010.

19. Laurie Goodstein and David M. Halbfinger, “Church Office Failed to Act on Abuse Scandal,” New York Times, July 1, 2010.

20. The papal document was a motu proprio, meaning “by his own hand” or “impulse,” a distinction signaling direct action by the pope. In this case the language obscures reality. The available record on Pope John Paul II, including biographies by Jonathan Kwitny and George Weigel; his myopic support of the long-accused Father Marcial Maciel; his passive handling of Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër, who resigned as archbishop of Vienna in 1995 under accusations by former seminarians, suggest the opposite: the pope was locked in denial and viewed predatory priests as a marginal issue. A moral fundamentalist, Ratzinger abhorred the crisis—though he had no idea of its explosive impact to come in Boston—and insisted on taking canonical responsibility for such cases in the Vatican, thereby assisting the pope. In the New York Times article cited in note 18, journalists Goodstein and Halbfinger report that Ratzinger had greater authority that he should have used all along. They make a strong case.

21. John Thavis, “CDF Official Details Response to Sex Abuse,” Catholic News Service, National Catholic Reporter, March 16, 2010. The official, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, said that only about 10 percent involved prepubescent children, while 60 percent involved priests who preyed on adolescent males.

22. John Thavis, “Doctrinal Congregation Takes Control of Priestly Pedophilia Cases,” Catholic News Service, December 5, 2001.

23. David Gibson, The Coming Catholic Church (San Francisco, 2003), p. 22.

24. David France, Our Fathers (New York, 2004), p. 423.

25. Ibid., p. 430.

26. Jack Sullivan and Eric Convey, “Land Rich: Archdiocese Owns Millions in Unused Property,” Boston Herald, August 27, 2002. The plaintiff attorneys had made Law, not the archdiocese, a defendant. Legally, the cardinal was a corporation sole, which meant he had power over all church assets. Massachusetts law had a $20,000 limit on damages that a charitable organization could pay. But if officers of a group drew salaries, they could be sued personally. Garabedian had therefore sued Law and other hierarchs, though the funds would come from the church and its liability insurers.

27. Michael Paulson, “After Abuse Scandals Many Priests Tread Warily,” Boston Globe, January 13, 2002.

28. Michael Rezendes and Thomas Farragher, “Archdiocese Mortgages Law’s Home to Pay Debt,” Boston Globe, September 28, 2002.

29. For King quotation, see Stewart Burns, To the Mountaintop: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Mission to Save America (San Francisco, 2004), p. 27. Bowers’s thoughts are from an unpublished essay used by permission.

30. Michael Paulson, “58 Priests Send a Letter Urging