Bishop Anthony Pilla's Secrecy Imperils the FaithfulMillions trust the Catholic Church to protect its flock. Bishop Anthony M. Pilla, asked parishoners "May we together evaluate media material in terms of both factual evidence and Gospel values." Tragically, the facts show that the Church, through Bishop Pilla, focuses on protecting the patriarchy. The record shows that for decades, the Chuch, through Bishop Pilla, has exposed Cleveland children to sexual abuse by his employees. The Bishop apparently rationalized furtive deployment of accused priests by relying on doctors who said the priests were cured (and that society accepted sex abuse!) Perhaps the priests were cured. But why did Bishop Pilla keep the facts secret? Did he fear adverse parishioner reaction? Why does he coddle those who endangered our children? Bishop Pilla said "Our policy declares that, as a Diocese, we will demonstrate appropriate pastoral and psychological concern and support to all parties involved." Does the Bishop believe that innocent parishoners are uninvolved in the placement of potential rapists? Is it proper pastoral concern to transfer admitted offenders from one end of the Diocese to the other, while hiding the reasons for the transfer? Had Bishop Pilla disclosed the priest's behaviors and the reasons for pastoral reassignments, families may have 1) accepted the Bishop's conclusions or 2) taken steps to protect their children. The Bishop's secretive methods precluded families from taking precautionary actions.
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Mary Beth I, Cleveland
When a client injures the innocent, what's a law firm to do? Tell the client to stop causing damage, or roll up your sleeves and fight the victims? Apparently Jones Day chose the latter. And it seems they've led quite a fight.
First, the lawyers hammer every claimant. Lawyers tell victims they are liars, sinful and outrageous.
But the lawyers need to hide the facts. So they create an argument that the Bishop has special rights. Citizens can be compelled to turn over their records, but not Bishop Anthony M. Pilla. Why? Because the First Amendment protects freedom of religious speech, and the Bishop represents the Faith.
Most laywers would be laughed out of court with this, but not if the idea is created by Jones Day. Jones Day is, of course, a pillar of the community. And it contributes to the campaigns of many, many judges.
The result is no laughing matter. The Cleveland judiciary saw on which side its bread was buttered, and victims were stonewalled. Hooray for the Church lawyers!
What Church lawyers could not hold back, though, was the light of day. When the public saw the reality of Father Geoghan in Boston and a 60 minutes spotlight on Cleveland, Cleveland courts turned back their acceptance of this idea. Don't look for Jones Day to appeal this crock to the Supreme Court--there are too many looking now.
Of course organizations make mistakes, and they are entitled to defend themselves. But what is a law firm to do, when the client engages in a pattern of harmful behavior?
There are in fact good lawyers. They tell clients to STOP bad behavior. They tell clients to STOP behavior that can destroy the client, even if the behavior is legal. They tell clients to TELL THE TRUTH when doing so would be good for the client.
What would have happened if big lawyers had said, STOP, or, TELL THE TRUTH? On the human side: Fewer victims and suffering; Our Church moves ahead with its mission. On the financial side: Lower costs to our Church; Fewer lawyers collecting fat paychecks. Well this is a tough question? Maybe not...
The Bishop says they paid out $14 million in legal settlements and fees, because it was the right thing to do. How right is it to send millions to Jones Day? Jones Day, congratulations on moving up to number two in the nation. But remember, in our hearts, your number one.
Mayor Jane Campbell has lauded Bishop Pilla at City Hall, holding a celebration in his honor. While Mayor Campbell was honoring the man, was she protecting her citizens?
Subsequently, citizens learn that the church's service to the City Mission is rife with sex and drug abuse. Perhaps Mayor Campbell would do better to do her job, protecting citizens and executing the law, rather than propping up the church.
Secret's Out, So Are Priests! 6/15
by Sandra D., Painesville
Bishop Pilla was forced to turn over the names of dozens of priests to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason early in 2002. Within days of the release, Bishop Pilla suspended named priests.
If the named priests were not a threat to children prior to their outing, why are they a threat after their outing? Is the Bishop too embarrassed to look at his emissaries?
Certain priests worked to correct their errors, obtaining counseling, assistance, and repenting. After two decades of subsequent faithful service, some believed they were on the right path. But the Church, through Bishop Pilla, has sacrificed these individuals. Are they scapegoats for the patriarchy's errors?
The Plain Dealer asks in a 2/8 article, why hasn't Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason made good on a promise to open up investigatory files?
Apparently, mighty law firms such as Jones Day have succeeded in threatening our government officials.
According to the mightiest, the Church has a first amendment right to hide the truth about how it supervised its employees.
According to the mightiest, government records cannot be opened to the public.
Concerned citizens should ask the mightiest, how do you feel protecting rapists?
Rapists that prey on second graders?
Is it your duty to represent the most heinous of our society?
April Fool with Ted Henry 7/12
On April 2, 2002, WEWS TV5 reported that Bishop Pilla would resign as Bishop if it was best for the Church. Bishop Pilla said to Ted Henry: "Well, Ted, if I am ever convinced that it is better for the church for someone else to be bishop of the diocese, I would do that..."
Perhaps the interview occurred the day before. A leader tells the truth and faces the consequences. A leader supports his loyal troops. Are there no leaders for the Cleveland Diocese?
In the media, reality is subject to interpretation. Ted Henry proclaimed that he was stunned to learn that more abusive behavior was to be reported. Is Ted modeling the movies?
Rick Blaine: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Captain Louis Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on
in here!"
(At that point, the croupier hands Renault a pile of money, saying: "Your
winnings, sir.")
Captain Louis Renault: Oh, thank you very much. Everybody out at once!"
The point of recounting Capt. Renault is to underscore the difference between fact and fiction, not to make light of the continuing tragedy. The sorry reality is that hundreds of influential Clevelanders have known about serious priest abuse for decades. Church officials. Social workers. Psychologists and psychiatrists. Attorneys and accountants. Reporters. Teachers. Prosecutors. Police. Cleveland Clinic doctors.
Some of these influential Clevelanders thought the abuse they encountered may have been limited in scope, and preferred to trust in the Bishop. Some tried to open up the matter, and were stymied by stonewalling. The Plain Dealer completed the concert with its silence.
In a parable for the Second Coming, the outcasts, the modern Samaritans, serve to reveal the truth. Yea, the lowly American trial attorney brings forth the facts: abuse, denial, and cover-up. And they battle the Church's bizarre claims of exemption pertaining to 1) separation of church and state, 2) First Amendment rights, and 3) diplomatic immunity!
In the spring of 2002, as the American Bishops ventured to Rome to address the scandal, one Bishop promised that the group would prove that they were in tune with society, and were not just a bunch of old, grey-haired men. The product was, to say the least, less than the promise. In their "Final Communique," the Bishops complained that the abuse wasn't pedophilia, because victims had reached adolescence.
Thanks for the lesson, boys, but you are so wrong. Wrong because modern thinkers consider anyone who violates state law by sexually abusing a minor qualifies as a pedophile. And, technically in error: a "pedophile" has a true love of children, not a penchant for bullying the innocent and engaging in sophisticated coverup. If you don't believe my technical reading, go back and dust off the Latin books that you shelved with the coming of Vatican II.
Against a wave of acrimonious response, the Church in the summer of 2002 says it will protect all minors from sexual abuse. So, you see, the Church is progressing!
And why won't the Church also protect adults against sexual abuse? If the Church has abused minors, has it not abused adults? What about other acts of moral turpitude? In all these matters, the Church is silent.
The Denihan Investigation 8/22
by Louis P., Westlake
Bishop Pilla appointed Bill Denihan to conduct an independent investigation. The Bishop asked Denihan to form a group and "critique our policies regarding sexual abuse of minors by clergy and diocesan employees and volunteers, to review the implementation of the policies, and to report to me six weeks with their findings and recommendations."
Bill Denihan has headed public safety and social services in the Cleveland area. All should measure Bill's words against his actions. In social services, he said �I told my social workers that if we had a fatality, I'd protect them.� Notwithstanding his statement, Bill Denihan found and executed a scapegoat in the Sidney Sawyer case. Bill Denihan axed a compassionate, intelligent, and hardworking 9 year agency veteran, simply to calm the political storm.
Also included in this "independent" commission were a past partner with the Diocese's law firm, Jones Day, and an assistant Geauga County prosecutor. How can the Jones Day partner be independent when his firm represented the Diocese? How can the prosecutor be independent when he has a responsibility to protect the citizens of Geauga county from abuse and cover up? Apparently Geauga county sees no challenge in the fact that child abusers were placed into the county without notification.
The Denihan special commission dished up new rules without providing discussion and rationale. The Denihan commission treated compassionate, intelligent, and hardworking priests who had followed Diocese policy for two decades as scapegoats, to be dismissed immediately.
The Denihan special commission did not question the role of the patriarchy in any abuse or cover-up.
The Denihan special commission did not comment whether the Diocese had complied with its longstanding policy that requires "immediate reporting of any allegation to the Children's Services Board, County Department of Human Services or Municipal or County Peace Officer."
The Denihan special commission did not question how Mr. Denihan, as head of Cuyahoga social services, could not have known of such a massive practice of abuse and cover-up. With 118 priests that the Diocese admits were abusers, and $14 million in payouts, how could he not know? Is Mr. Denihan oblivious to the facts?
While the special commission was to be independent, it was not. The myth of independence was belied by Bill Denihan's obsequious statements on the eve of the commission's formation. Denihan fawned: "Bishop Pilla is very open, very concerned and determined to do what's expected and right and in the best interest of the children and the people of the diocese."
The evidence thus suggests that Bill Denihan was not independent of the Church hierarchy and could be expected to find lower level scapegoats.
By the way, Mr. Denihan, where's your report regarding "the implementation of the policies"? We see plenty of rules, but there is no review of how the Church's policies had been implemented.
Auxillary Bishop James Quinn 8/22/02
Bishop Pilla appointed Auxillary Bishop James Quinn to deal with administrative
matters. In a lawsuit, it is alleged that Auxillary Bishop Quinn suggested to
"Comb through your files" and
"if there's something there you really don't want people to see, you might send
it off to the apostolic delegate," because "they have immunity to protect
something that is potentially dangerous." If this allegation is true, how will
truth be served?
WKYC has indicated that the Church believes the quotations were out of context, and that the Auxillary Bishop Quinn was referring to matters pertaining to religous law. Further, it is asserted that transcripts of the 1990 Midwest Canon Lawyers Conference show that Auxillary Bishop Quinn repeatedly made clear that reporting was required to civil authorities. The full transcript, if made available to the Cleveland Public Reporter , will be posted.
PD Finds Scapegoat to Bear its Guilt 8/01/02
Rushing to protect itself, on July 21, 2002 The Plain Dealer lined up
Auxillary Bishop James Quinn as chief scapegoat.
Customary to its style, The Plain Dealer's front page attack insinuates that Auxillary Bishop Quinn is two-faced. Of course, it's not proper to call names in a purportedly objective news story: namecalling is generally in bad taste and if required, more properly placed on the editorial page. So the PD obfuscators start in paragraph one by asserting that the Church is showing two faces, and following in paragraph three with a suggestion that Auxillary Bishop Quinn is a poster child for the part. The PD's punchline:
"And probably no churchman in America--with the possible exception of embattled Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston--has come to personify that split personality more succinctly than Auxillary Bishop Alexander James Quinn of the Diocese of Cleveland."
Really. Perhaps the PD ran national opinion polls to back up its assertion. Perhaps the PD forgot about:
While Auxillary Bishop Quinn has not attracted a lot of fans, the PD's attack is revealing, as it is both illogical and self-serving.
The PD first attacks Quinn by suggesting that he had no cause, in 1969, to stop an unauthorized political rally at St. John's Cathedral by reportedly calling police. The PD provides a 5" x 8" photograph of Quinn and the perpetrators appearing in Municipal Court. What logical purpose the allegation and huge photograph could have, other than providing an appearance that the PD had provided serious reporting, is unclear.
After providing the impression that it was actively reporting on Church activities during 1969, the PD then states that sometime in 1969, two hundred parents and teachers met at St. Francis de Sales School in Parma. The teachers and parents "were in an uproar over accusations that young girls had been sexually abused by Monsignor Edward Kickel." Why didn't the PD report the mass uproar in 1969? Did the PD have no connection with the community, or was the PD silence the product of a pact of secrecy with the Church patriarchy? The PD's attack on Quinn serves to detract attention away from the paper's duplicity in cover-up operations.
The PD also fails to reveal that nuns at St. Francis de Sales actually developed a plan to protect children from Monsignor Edward Kickel. Which was, of course, more than the patriarchy would accomplish over the next thirty years.
Ultimately, if one accepts the PD's assertion that Auxillary Bishop Quinn is the nation-wide lightning rod for the scandal, where has PD reporting been? Apparently, the PD needs Ed Bradley and 60 Minutes II to shame them into reporting something about the local scene.
Archbishop Quinn Aids Nationwide Coverup
Quinn on tape: "Personnel files should be carefully examined to determine their content. Unsigned letters alleging misconduct should be expunged." "Dangerous" info should be sent to the Vatican.
"If you think it's going to be necessary, if there is something there that you really don't want reviewed, you might send it off to the apostolic delegation..." "They have immunity. If it's dangerous, if it's something you consider dangerous you might send it off to them."
This is how the Cleveland Diocese lives the gospel.
Cultural Decay 8/14/02
by John P., Cleveland
William F. Buckley, Jr. has proclaimed that one cause of the Church scandal is weakness in our values--we should strengthen our moral resolve. Many Christians are agreeable to this, believing laity should repudiate weak and amoral statements by officials.
During the Clinton perjury and abuse-of-power fiasco, Bishop Anthony Pilla stated that what Clinton had done was wrong, but went on to say he "has indicated his sorrow over his behavior, his acceptance of blame, and his desire for healing." And with respect to his "accountability in terms of public office," "it is up to the constitutional process to determine the appropriate response."
A spiritual leader would have provided strong moral guidance. For example: "It is abhorrent for a Governor, accompanied by two armed officers of the State, to assault a woman with a lewd and nude proposition. It is reprehensible that a person of power would spread vile innuendo regarding the character of trailer park residents. And I am personally appalled that an elected official would perjure himself, and stand silent while his attorney lies to a magistrate. The President has indicated a sorrow for certain aspects of his behavior, and I encourage him to make full recompense."
Why didn't Bishop Pilla provide strong moral guidance? It is not as though he
was unaware of the power of words. For in 1998, Bishop Anthony Pilla said to
the Pope: "Your stirring words...did much
to remind our nation of its own most fundamental and cherished ideals and
revealed you once again as the world's foremost champion of human rights,
especially of the voiceless and the most vulnerable."
Father Martin Louis 8/21/02
During the mid 90's, Bishop Pilla wrote a letter of support on behalf of a
diocesan priest, Father Martin Louis, who was eligible for release from Grafton
Correctional Institution. Father Louis is incarcerated for raping a young girl
during a three year period. While to forgive may be divine, there are many
others whom deserve support far more than Father Louis. The evidence shows
that the patriarchy supports itself first, apparently without considering the
impact of its actions on the community.
Cleveland's Elite Circle the Wagons 6/22/02
by Sarah K., Lakewood
On June 11, 2002, 75 of Cleveland's elite applauded Bishop Pilla's "non-negotiable" zero-tolerance policy in a full-page Plain Dealer ad. The Bishop certainly is stepping "out of the box." Until now, his only non-negotiable items have been retaining the patriarchy's power and opposing to abortion.
Lauding the Bishop's performance were: Barbara Byrd-Bennett, Mayor Jane Campbell, Jimmy Dimora, George Forbes, Rev. Sterling Glover, Peter Lawson Jones, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Dennis Kucinich, Tim McCormack, Sen. George Voinovich, Pastor John Wesley Walker Jr., Rev. Dr. Louise F. Westfall, Rabbi Richard A. Block, Rev. E.T. Caviness, Rabbi Armond Cohen, Rt. Rev. J. Clark Grew, Very Rev. Tracey Lind, Rev.Marvin McMickle, Rev. Otis Moss Jr., and Bishop Marcus Miller.
While the powerful congratulate themselves, I wonder: what did the celebrants do to stop the abuse? As Governor, George Voinovich created a massive state sponsorship of Bishop Pilla's schools. But why did the Governor not identify the massive abuse and coverup? Similarly, where was Prosecutor Stephanie Tubbs Jones? Where were Cuyahoga County Commissioners Jane Campbell and Tim McCormack? Our citizenry would be better served if politicians diligently worked to execute their responsibilities. But then again, that might require some serious effort.
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