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Voice
of the Faithful Focus – A brief update
highlighting both a problem in our church and some
progress being made as we work together to Keep the
Faith, Change the Church.
Progress
St. Ambrose University “get’s it”
The
Board of Directors of St. Ambrose University in Davenport,
Iowa has decided to remove the name of former Davenport
Bishop, Gerald O’Keefe from the school’s
library “because of the bishop’s failure
to take the necessary precautions to protect children
from clergy sexual abuse that occurred during his tenure
as bishop of the Davenport Diocese.” The statement
went on to say: “While a very difficult decision,
the board felt it was the right thing to do for the
university, as well as a step taken in the spirit of
promoting healing within the diocese and, in a larger
sense, for all victims of abuse.”
- VOTF
Vice President, Sally Vance Trembath is an alumna
of St Ambrose. Click
here to read Sally's statement.
- Click
here to read the statement of St Ambrose’s
Board of Directors.
Problem
Vatican Secretary of State doesn’t “get
it”
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary
of State at the Vatican was honored by the Knights
of Columbus with
its Gaudium and Spes Award at the Knights annual Convention
in Nashville. Speaking at a news conference the Cardinal
showed great insensitivity and lack of awareness of the
clergy abuse crisis in this country stating that the
Church has “faced this trial with great dignity
and courage” and went on to say that he hoped that “other
institutions and social agencies will face this same
problem with their members, with an equal degree of courage
and realism as the Catholic Church has done; if they
have taken care of the victims and those who are guilty.”
It is incredible that such a high ranking
official at the Vatican would believe that the hierarchy
in the U.S.
has behaved with dignity and courage in a scandal that
they have known about for over 50 years. Until the public
outcry forced them to acknowledge the crisis five years
ago, their constant modus operandi was to cover up the
problem by paying “hush money” to survivors
while transferring abusive priests from parish to parish
so they could abuse again. Let me quote from the Philadelphia
Grand Jury, just one of several grand juries that made
similar findings.
“The
evidence before us established that archdiocese officials
at the highest levels received reports of abuse,” the
report said. The diocese, according to report, “chose
not to conduct any meaningful investigation of those
reports” and “left dangerous priests in place
or transferred them to different parishes as a means
of concealment. ... They chose to protect themselves
from scandal and liability rather than protect children
from the priests’ crimes.” The report noted the behavior of archdiocesan
officials who oversaw the priests was: “not as lurid” as
that of the sex abusers, “but in its callous
calculating manner, the archdiocese’s handling
of the abuse scandal was at least as immoral as the abuse
itself.”
- For
more about the Philadelphia Grand Jury as well as
similar reports from Boston, New York, Rockville
Center NY, Manchester NH, Portland ME and elsewhere
click
here.
- Click
here to read the transcript of the cardinal’s
press conference.
- Click
here to
read SNAP’s response.
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