More than Just your Money's Worth

My Letter to Bishop Finn

contributed by Kay Goodnow

A company has no limbic structure predisposing it to recognize its own as intrinsically valuable. People who extend fidelity and fealty to a corporate entity - legally a person and biologically a phantom - have been duped into a perilously unilateral contract. — Lewis, Amini and Lannon, A General Theory of Love, p215, 2000

Dear Bishop Finn:

Please know that you have made my life much easier.

My education in understanding the church is complete.

• I understand that victims are business deals.
• I understand that bishops are corporate executives in an institutional church.
• I understand that the institutional church is not a church.
• I understand that the institutional church has no God other than money.
• I understand that the institutional church has policies and procedures.
• I understand that the policies and procedure are more important than people.
• As a victim (business deal) I understand that the policy and procedures used against me as a business deal means that Bishop O’Hara, the corporate executive of the institutional church in the corporate archdiocese of Kansas City / St Joseph in 1954, was doing his job when he transferred a priest who made a “mistake.”

I understand that the priest who made a mistake [that is, seduced me when I was a child] made other mistakes.

I understand that the value of the life of a child is significantly unimportant as respects the monetary values of the corporate institution known as the church.

I understand that the most important interest of the corporate institution is to ban abortion because doing so might prevent other business deals.

I understand that social justice, women’s rights, discrimination and truth are political terms that are not relevant to the corporate institution.

I understand that those Catholics who are interested in moving the corporate institution to parallel the message brought by Christ are to be silenced and or fired by the corporation.

I understand that “Freedom of Religion” does not mean “Freedom FROM Religion.”

I understand that politics are ploys utilized by the corporate institution to enhance benefits paid as “perks” to its stockholders.

I understand that the officers and shareholders have profited financially by removing a god that they have carefully crafted for centuries.

I understand that from pulpits all over the corporate institution known as the Diocese of Kansas City /St. Joseph we business deals were labeled liars in order to protect the value of the corporation.

I understand that your promise to defrock “mistakes” has been withdrawn due to the age and health of those “mistakes.”

I understand why you chose to ignore the business deals from the corporate institutional diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming, as it would not be proper policy.

I understand that your corporate promise to apologize to KC business deals in person was a promise you had no intention of keeping.

I understand that you have now said that you will write a letter of apology, on behalf of the corporate institution, to any business deal who ASKS (begs) for an apology and explain corporate mistakes. I will apologize to my entire family for considering that proposal. I am an “old business deal.”
Thank you but no, I am not interested in duplicity at this time.

I will always remember you as one of the corporate officers who could have made a difference.
You chose NOT to make the difference so needed to salvage a bleeding church.

And so, with pleasure, I ban you from my world.

In Kay Goodnow's opinion, Bishop Finn "finked out" on the non-monetary commitments of the Settlement Agreement between the Diocese of Kansas City / St. Joseph and the victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by diocesan clergy. In this letter she expresses her anger.

Apparently, she had hoped that representatives of the Church would follow up the money settlement by dealing with the victims face-to-face, soul-to-soul, even though doing so would cost them the personal sacrifice of experiencing the victims' pain and resentment.

Here she expresses her disillusionment over the Church behaving like a corporation, rather than like the earthly manifestation of the Kingdom of God. She is saying to the Church, "God calls you to be worth more than just your money."

Her deposition before the mediator of the settlement is here.

How I was Abused

My deposition to the mediation hearing

contributed by Kay Goodnow

Received in October 2008

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. — Matthew 18:6

 

I was invited here today to tell all of you how my seduction by John C. Baskett, a Roman Catholic priest has affected my life. My case dates back to 1953 when I was 14 years old and a student at Notre Dame de Sion, a private Catholic school for girls run by an order of European nuns.

As I understand it, this is a hearing that is comprised of victim Kay Goodnow, the mediator, attorneys for the victim, a priest as a representative of the institutional church.

It is my understanding that this hearing is a business deal initiated by the institutional church known as the Diocese of Kansas City / St. Joseph. As such, it follows that all human beings are fallible and in that respect, all human beings are equal.

It is also my understanding that this hearing will determine the amount of compensation that I will receive, based solely on the degree of sexual abuse. Oral and anal penetration, digital penetration, kissing, fondling, alcohol abuse by either or both parties, ritual abuse, how long the abuse took place, where and when it occurred and how often will all be considered factors as to how much financial compensation each victim will be awarded.

I am not here to describe my sexual experiences as I find doing so both degrading, demeaning and beyond contempt. I have to work within the limits of the law as it stands today, but experts believe there are no ‘degrees’ of sexual abuse because every human being is different. Our present laws reveal ignorance in respect to the damage done to all victims of sexual abuse. In time, Statutes of Limitation laws and the misrepresentation of “Freedom of Religion” will be clearly defined and implemented, with or without the consent of the institutional church and organized religion.

As requested, I completed a very long written form to confirm the extent of my abuse. That form was initiated by my attorneys when the form provided by the institutional church proved inadequate. I understand that my form has been made a part of what will occur here today.

The contents of the form include my educational, medical, sexual, social and economic background along with my employment history. Every word of it is true. That form will stand by itself.
The person you see here today was the victim of a crime. She is also a survivor. She is a wife of 45 years, a mother of three, a grandmother of eight, a sister, an aunt, and friend to many.

Yes, I am a survivor, but I was seduced, not violently raped and sodomized. I was treated to long walks in a park adjacent to where I lived, I was treated to movies and ice cream cones and long talks. I attended concerts, basketball games at other high schools with this priest, and sometimes I went to parties with him, or met him at parties. On one occasion, I was treated to eggnog, which I later learned was laced with rum. I was carefully groomed by this priest. I trusted him and eventually I loved him.

I had never even dated before this man walked into my life. I was 14 years old. He was 33. He told me that God had sent me to him as a gift because he was so alone. He told me that he did not enjoy the company of other priests. He told me that he would always love me. He told me that because he was a man of God, our love would forever have to be kept secret. He was a man of God, how could I not believe the things he told me?

Yes, I am a victim, and there are thousands of victims out there who will never have the opportunity to speak of abuse and the ruination of their lives. Yes, I am a victim but I am not a lemming, I am not a sheep, and I am not a parrot. I have feelings. The institutional church and American lawmakers are apparently unaware that human beings have feelings.

Many victims of the crime of sexual abuse have committed suicide and my heart aches for their parents, siblings and friends. The institutional church makes no comment. Those victims were seriously damaged first by being abused by someone they trusted, and then by their treatment by the institutional church. That callous treatment so demoralized them that they chose to leave this world. Weapons of choice were placed in their hands by sexually immature priest or nun predators and the institutional church that conspired to shelter and protect them. The institutional church lied when it said that “this problem has been resolved” or “Father so-and-so will never be allowed around children again.” Even victims who have had their day in court have committed suicide thanks to the mental abuse inflicted by the institutional church.

Some victims are too traumatized to speak for themselves. Some are under pressure from their families. And there are those who fear the loss of their eternal souls if they speak against the church or darken her image in any way.

I will speak for myself and for them.

Sexual abuse is an insidious cancer. It spreads out like ripples in water. It wreaks havoc, pain and fear not only on its victim, but also on the victim’s family members and friends.
Sexual abuse is a very extensive social problem, so broad in scope that people generally deny it, look the other way or cast their eyes downward. They avoid mentioning it, let alone discussing how to prevent it. They have the right to make moral choices for themselves but at the risk of the lives of their children and grandchildren.

In Bishop Finn’s Letter to Priests on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 (KC Star) he said:

“Over the past five years, our Diocese and a number of our clergy or former clergy have been sued by persons claiming to be victims of sexual abuse or misconduct.”

Yes, all of that is true. The institutional church traditionally uses the phrase “persons claiming to be victims” to cast doubt on the reality that sexual abuse occurs all the way around the world. To deny this undeniable reality is both offensive and disingenuous.

Finn simply failed to mention that over at least the past five years, every effort was made by the diocese to silence, repudiate, malign and re-victimize those who did sue. Many of us reported to the Vicar General and were dismissed as having no case of merit or were merely ignored.

Since my initial contact with SNAP in 1997, the leadership in this institutional diocese has seen multiple vigils held, while countless “good Catholics” screamed at us to “get over it.” We came forward in peace with the intent of protecting children and educating adults. From pulpits all over this diocese, the institutional diocese of Kansas City explained to parishioners that we are “liars.” Had it not been for the inept handling of clergy sexual abuses cases, I would not have had to stand in front of an institutional building with a sign and a candle. I might have been enjoying the life to which I was originally born. Victims do not ask to be abused. They are chosen by skillful predators.

On Wednesday, August 20, 2008, after the TENTATIVE settlement had been announced and before the list of 17 non-monetary demands had been released on August 22, 2008, Bishop Finn said:

“…the church will remain an inviolate sanctuary for healing, for spiritual renewal, and for love.” (Kansas City Star, 08/20/08)

The key word here is REMAIN. The institutional church in this diocese has NEVER been an inviolate sanctuary. Priests, nuns and bishops have violated children and vulnerable adults. If this institution wants to be an inviolate sanctuary for healing, for spiritual renewal and for love it must first tell the truth. It must then keep telling the truth, even when it is inconvenient or costly or uncomfortable, even when it might tarnish the golden image of the roman collar or the pristine purity of a nun’s habit. The institutional church must hold itself accountable to God’s law and to the laws of this nation. Their attempt to bury the damage and recreate history is not truth. It’s so simple. All they have to do is tell the truth.

This institutional “church” is the antithesis of the message brought by Christ. It is a church divided against itself because of men who are fallible, and as leaders of the institutional church, abused their unquestioned power in order “to protect the church.” By “protect the church,” they mean both money and power. Money is power.

Fallible males have believed in the institutional church for so long that they have become the God that they have so carefully crafted for centuries. Religion by fear or by oppression, religion built on smoke and mirrors, religion that requires its’ membership to worship in the church of the almighty dollar, religion that requires total belief in all of its’ fallible dogmas, doctrines, rites, rituals and lies is not a church. It is a cult that abuses all of its members by brainwashing them from birth.
Yes, I am both proud and pleased to have been a part of crafting the original 24 non-monetary commitments. I am even pleased with most of the 17 in the final draft. Finn has chosen not to apologize to victims as individuals. To the best of my knowledge, neither he nor his predecessor has ever spoken with a victim.

Besides, we’ve only been asking for those same commitments for the past six years or so.
On April 15, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said at a press conference in the United States: "We will do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen in the future. I think we have to act on three levels: the first is the level of justice and secondly the political level. ...then there is the pastoral level.
On April 16, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said to American Bishops: "It is your God given responsibility as pastors to bind up the wounds caused by every breach of trust, to foster healing, to promote reconciliation and to reach out with loving concern to those so seriously wronged."
On April 16, 2008, Pope Benedict VXI said to American Bishops” "....This scourge is found not only within your dioceses but in every sector of society. It calls for a determined, collective response."

During his recent visit to Australia, Pope Benedict XVI said:

“These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation. I ask all of you to support and assist your bishops, and to work together with them in combating this evil. Victims should receive compassion and care, and those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice.”

I ask all involved here today to honor the message brought by Christ along with the pope’s request. I charge all people everywhere to guard and protect their children and grandchildren. What has happened in the past, what is happening in our present, and what will happen in the future depends on our ability to speak our truth without fear of reprisal.

I believe that I have done everything that I can do to call attention to a situation that should never have existed. I will admit to having trusted the church. I admit to being very tired of the lies spoken in God’s name by the corporate, institutional church. For Catholics who continue to believe in the leaders of this travesty of church, you have been warned and the responsibility to make correct choices rests solely with you.

John C. Baskett seduced me because he could do so without fear. He knew that the institutional church would protect him. He knew he would not lose his job, his freedom, or his orders. In 1955, Bishop O’Hara, titular head of the institutional church in this diocese enabled a sexual predator to continue to abuse.

The diocese of Kansas City / St. Joseph owes me for a lifetime of shame, guilt, and fear. It owes me for alcoholism and attempted suicides. It owes me for sexual frigidity. It owes me for ADHD and PTSD. It owes me for obsessive-compulsive behavior disorders. It owes me for my enormous need for approval. It owes me for thousands of dollars spent on psychiatrists as an investment in my sanity. It owes me a personal apology for the demeaning manner in which I was treated by Vicar General Rush from the Boland regime. It owes me and every other victim a personal apology by the bishop, as requested in the original 24 non-monetary demands.

It owes me for 54 of the 72 years I have lived the lie of trying to appear ‘normal’ while knowing that something was very wrong with me.

The child known as Kay will always be Catholic. The child misses the mystical beauty of the music, the art, the stained glass windows, the Latin rituals and the French virgin-martyr tales of her early childhood. The child known as Kay was deliberately brainwashed.

I have lived long enough to know that the pain is so deep that it never goes away. Age, time and professional therapists along with the support of family and friends help. Certainly, survivor organizations have strengthened us on all levels and have helped us find our voices. Without them, I might never have understood that I am a victim and that I am not to blame for what happened to me.
My hands are shaking as I write this on August 22nd, and they will shake again when I am deposed on August 28th.

Kay Goodnow writes of her deposition: 

In March of this year (2008) the Diocese of Kansas City / St. Joseph contacted the law firm that works with victim/survivors in this area. The diocesan lawyers wanted to work out a settlement between victims who had sued the diocese; some of those cases had been wending their way through the court for eight years. The diocese stalled, wrote briefs, etc. etc. ad nauseum. By March of 2008, our law firm had deposed several "higher ups" as well as all of the victims and their families.

I got a call in March, as I have stayed active with SNAP in an attempt to prevent further harm to children and as support for victims. The attorney said that she believed I could be a part of the settlement although my case was well beyond the Statute of Limitations.

So I filed, I did press conferences and the news spread across both Kansas and Missouri, into the Chicago area and eventually to Bishop Accountability in Boston.

Then, on August 17th or so, the lawyers (ours) released the tentative settlement agreement to be shared by 47 victims of 12 area priests. One of those area priests is a retired bishop in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

This was a mediation process and not a lawsuit. I believe it was encouraged by the judge who would have to hear the individual cases as they occurred. All parties agreed to the settlement amount and every one of us 47 victims stated that the non-monetary awards were more important than the money.

Because my case was so old, I figured I would be at the bottom of the heap.

All of this will explain the enclosure, which is what I planned to say when I was deposed. Actually, I did not read it, but my attorney highlighted it and led me through it, which was great. I got everything I wanted to say said, and everyone in the room cried, including the male moderator. Only piggy priest tried to look away, but I caught him and demanded that he listen. He did. He himself had been accused, but not publicly, of soliciting sex and he knew that I had seen both the written accusation and the bishop's written response.

The reason I thought of you is that my lawyer suggested to the mediator that he Google me, and she gave him a copy of what I had written as well. Later, she told me that that evening, the mediator had called to tell her that he had spent quite a lot of time reading my stuff on the internet and he had found the Dogchurch...

The Bishop, whose name is Finn, finked out on the non monetary provisions. In so doing, he irritated me (mild understatement) so I wrote him a letter and mailed it this past Saturday.

I Accuse!

Contributed by Vinnie Nauheimer

Have you ever felt like the boy who yelled, “The Emperor has no clothes?” Did you ever scream to yourself, “Damn, this is wrong!”? Have you ever seen something so clear and vividly that you wondered, “How come everyone doesn’t see this?” If the same thing happens time and time again, in city after city, in state after state, and in country after country, why do we fail to call it what it is? If the act is a criminal act, perpetrated by members of the same organization, and covered up by the management of said organization, why can’t we just call it organized international crime?

We label those dealing in cocaine, the South American Drug Cartels. We label terrorists with cells in multiple counties with names like Al Qaeda. There is the Golden Triangle that supplies heroin to Southeast Asia and then there is the Illicit Drug Trade that refers to the heroin coming out of Afghanistan. All encompassing multinational criminal enterprises have names like the Mafia, Triad, Cosa Nostra, Yakuza etc. Even stand up institutions like banks have been referred to as Money Launderers. So why haven’t we labeled and pursued the Catholic Church for their worldwide sexual abuse of children?

The crime of clerical sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests has been publicly documented in the following countries around the globe: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, United States and Venezuela.¹ This should put an end to the fallacious argument used by the last pope that clergy sexual abuse was strictly an American phenomenon. Sexual abuse reported in 28 countries can hardly be called an American problem.

The United States, because of its size does deserve a special note. Clergy abuse by Catholic priests has been documented in all of 50 of its states. Most of these states, because of land mass and population, could be a country within itself. Several states in the U.S. have more documented cases of sexual abuse by Catholic priests than most other countries. Does that mean it is a solely a problem in the United States as JPII stated? No, it just means that the size and population of the U.S. offered more opportunity.

Why, with its priests committing the same crime (the sexual abuse of children) on a global scale, hasn’t the Roman Catholic Church been named as an international sponsor of child abuse? Why when the hierarchy of the RCC has been compounding sex crimes by aiding and abetting these criminals, hasn’t the hierarchy of the RCC been named as an international criminal organization? The priests committing the rape, sodomization and molestation of children are all members of the religious organization known as the Roman Catholic Church. Before becoming priests these men must all go through a rigorous and lengthy indoctrination period. The guidelines established for their seminary formation come from the hierarchy and the leadership in Rome. The Catholic Church sustains its candidates for the priesthood while they go through their training. The RCC will not ordain them as priests unless they have completed their training. Only Rome may defrock a priest once they’ve been ordained. Therefore, the criminals who have raped, sodomized and molested children are duly trained and ordained priests of the Catholic Church, which is headquartered in the city/state known as the Vatican. These same criminals, who commit vile acts against children, are the responsibility of the RCC headquartered in the Vatican.

If they weren’t, why does the hierarchy of the RCC go out of their way to protect these criminals by silencing victims, shifting predator priests from parish to parish, state to state and country to country? The hierarchy is nothing more than the layers of management between priests and the pope called bishops and cardinals. If management is protecting criminals, what does that make the manager and what does that make the hierarchy?

A criminal organization!

Further proof of the international scope of these criminal activities comes to us in the form of a secret instruction sent to all bishops around the world in 1962. It also cites an 1887 document as seen below. The operative word here is secret. One of the hallmarks of any organized criminal element is their fanatical obsession with secrecy. Why do criminals obsess over secrecy; because it is the key to their ability to operate freely. Mobsters with high public profiles usually wind up with a bullet in their head. Dictators don’t disclose the location of killing fields, Bank heists are never advertised in the local paper. Drug dealers don’t hold press conferences to announce the arrival of drug shipments. Pedophiles don’t wear neon signs proclaiming their proclivity, and the RCC will do everything in their power to keep child sex abuse and the abuser a secret. The instruction Crimen Sollicitationis gives an unprecedented view into the Catholic Church’s obsession with secrecy. If nothing else, Crimen Sollicitationis shows how the Church has conspired to keep crimes against children a secret for well over a century as seen in this excerpt from the English translation,

11. Because, however, what is treated in these cases has to have a greater degree of care and observance so that those same matters be pursued in a most secretive way, and, after they have been defined and given over to execution, they are to be restrained by a perpetual silence (Instruction of the Holy Office, February 20, 1867, n. 14), each and everyone pertaining to the tribunal in any way or admitted to knowledge of the matters because of their office, is to observe the strictest secret, which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office, in all matters and with all persons, under the penalty of excommunication latae sententiae,²

The penalty for breaking secrets (talking) about a priest involved in the sexual abuse of a child is the worst punishment that could be meted out upon a believer of Catholic Doctrine. Their history is replete with examples of people who have chosen to die rather than forfeit their salvation.

This 1962 instruction, called Crimen Sollicitationis, was signed by the Pope John XXIII. According to Fr. Tom Doyle, noted Canon Lawyer and survivor advocate, it is very similar to an instruction issued in 1922. The 1962 instruction was reaffirmed in 2001 under the signature of the current pope who at the time was the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.³ Why one has to ask, is it necessary to say the same thing three times in less than a century? The logical conclusion is that it has been a long recognized problem

Even though the name Crimen Sollicitationis refers to the crime of soliciting in the confessional, the section marked Title V deals with the sexual abuse of children. Title V of Crimen Sollicitationis is subtitled: “The Worst Crime” as seen from this excerpt:⁴

73. To have the worst crime, for the penal effects, one must do the equivalent of the following: any obscene, external act, gravely sinful, perpetrated in any way by a cleric or attempted by him with youths of either sex or with brute animals (bestiality).

74. Against accused clerics for these crimes, if they are exempt religious, and unless there takes place at the same time the crime of solicitation, even the regular superior can proceed, according to the holy canons and their proper constitutions, either in an administrative or a judicial manner. However, they must communicate the judicial decision pronounced as well as the administrative decision in the more serious cases to the Supreme Congregation of the Holy Office.

The wording of Title V is extremely important as it confirms the Vatican’s own knowledge and acceptance of the fact that the sexual abuse of children, regardless of sex, is a crime. The Vatican did not use the words evil, sinful, offensive, lapse of judgment, moment of weakness or illness. They used the word “crime” which is the only word that can adequately describe the act of a priest preying on a child for his own sexual gratification. Therefore, by stating that “the sexual abuse of children is a crime,” the Vatican tacitly acknowledges before God and man that priests who commit the crime of having sex with children, are in fact criminals! They also demand that these criminal acts be reported to their international headquarters, the Vatican.

Criminals commit crimes. Sex with children is a crime under both canon and civil law. Therefore, there can be no doubt that priests who commit the crime of sexual abuse with children are criminals! Ipso facto, those who protect these criminals are themselves guilty of aiding and abetting criminals. The Vatican has known for centuries that the sexual abuse of children is a criminal offense. In that, they are in total agreement with the secular law of just about every country on earth.

Not only is the sexual abuse of children considered a crime by the Vatican, but to add emphasis to the matter, the Vatican chose to label it “The Worst Crime.” Of all the adjectives that are available to describe a crime, the Vatican chose to call the sexual abuse of children “The Worst.” What does that make the men who allow these sexual predators ply their trade unabated? What does this do to the commonly used hierarchal defense, “I didn’t know?” What does it say about the hundreds of bishops in 28 known countries around the world who failed to live up to the Vatican’s standards? What does it say about a Vatican that tolerated these failures?

Crimen Sollicitationis directs the bishops to prosecute crimes of child sexual abuse? Failing to do so makes them all scofflaws! They scoffed at every indecency perpetrated on the bodies of children around the world. Neither bishops nor the Vatican can claim ignorance of the law anymore! Whether it was an internal or external law, they failed to prosecute the rapists, sodomizers and molesters in their midst; by their own account, the criminal element.

Therefore, I accuse!

Due to the global ongoing sexual abuse and cover-up by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, it is safe to assume that the only part of Crimen Sollicitationis that was adhered to was the demand for secrecy. Up until 2002 almost every settlement involving sexual abuse by a priest came with an enforceable gag order on the victim. The victims were silenced while most offending priests were moved to new hunting grounds.

The logical question to ask is, “Cui Bono” who benefits? Who benefits from the silence? It could be argued that the priest and his accuser benefit from the silence. However, since there were no remedies for the care, compensation or treatment of the victim, it is hard to see how victims benefited from Crimen instruction. There has never been any proof whatsoever of rampant false charges being brought against innocent priests. Therefore innocent priests haven’t benefited. So who are the chief beneficiaries of the document Crimen Sollicitationis? The sexually abusive priest and the Roman Catholic Church are the only beneficiaries.

Therefore, I accuse!

Lest Crimen sidetrack us, the salient points are: 1. The document was sent from the International Headquarters. 2. The document was sent out globally. 3. The document was sent in secrecy. 4. The document demanded secrecy. 5. The penalty for violating secrecy is the harshest penalty the church can mete out: excommunication. 7. It labels the sexual abuse of children as “The Worst Crime” thereby admitting to the world the Vatican’s complete understanding of the vile nature of the act of sexually abusing children.

By their own hand they are condemned.

In the 28 countries we know about, the rape, sodomization, and molestation of children are publicly documented. Why then hasn’t Interpol gotten involved? Interpol states that the protection of children is one of their primary goals. This is the first paragraph taken from Interpol’s page on children:

Children are the most vulnerable individuals in our society; they are also the most precious commodity that the world has and have a right to be protected from all forms of abuse. INTERPOL as an organization is also committed to eradicating the sexual abuse of children and has passed several resolutions making crimes against children one of International policing top priorities.⁵

They tell us that, not preventing, but eradicating (wiping out) sexual abuse is one of their top priorities. How can the sexual abuse of children be a top priority when the chief global culprit, the Roman Catholic Church has not been formerly accused by either the UN or Interpol?

I accuse!

The evidence is abundant for any who would make even a cursory examination of the facts. The Dallas Morning News did an entire series on the international scope of both clergy sexual abuse and its cover-up. Central to the series was the theme of hierarchy moving predator priests internationally in order to save them from being tried for crimes committed or to provide new hunting grounds or both.⁶

The facts accuse!

The need to protect children around the world is a global priority of United Nations. The U.N. through its UNICEF organization has put together “The Convention on the Rights of the Child.” Here are articles nineteen and thirty-four from that convention, which address the sexual abuse of children.

Article 19. 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.

Article 34. States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent:
  (a) The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity;

  (b) The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices;

  (c) The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.⁷

I accuse the RCC of violating the Convention on the Rights of the Child!

The Holy See, which could be a member of the United Nations by virtue of the fact that the Vatican is a city-state, has elected not to become a member of the UN. Rather it has been granted the nomenclature of permanent observer. This means that they enjoy the full rights of every sovereign member except the right to vote. In this way they can lobby for whatever they desire and not have yo go on record as voting for or against an issue.

They chose to not to support The Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Holy See declared that "the application of the Convention should be compatible in practice with the particular nature of the Vatican City State and of the sources of its objective law," in a statement issued when they declined to be a signatory. To date, all members but two have ratified the Convention.⁸

The United Nations through Interpol, its international police agency, and UNICEF, their children’s agency recognize the need to police and prevent the sexual abuse of children throughout the world. They state this is a top priority. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been widely accepted by governments around the world, seeks to end the sexual abuse of children. Why then have the UN, UNICEF, and Interpol chosen to totally ignore the most public, international series of sex crimes and cover-ups against children running from the twentieth into the twenty-first century?

I accuse!

Having established that the sexual abuse of children is accepted by the RCC as being a criminal act, it follows that aiding and abetting criminals is also a crime. The international criminal activity of aiding and abetting sexual predators by the RCC is well documented. The award winning newspaper The Dallas Morning News did an excellent series of articles dealing with the international flight of pedophile priests to escape prosecution entitled "Runaway Priests." The following are excerpts from some of their articles as listed on the website Bishop-accountability.org.

Dr. Navarro-Valls (chief spokesperson for the pope) previously declined to comment on The News' investigation, which found more than 200 accused priests, brothers and other Catholic workers hiding across international borders and living in unsuspecting communities, often with the church's support. About 30 of the men were wanted by law enforcement in another country.⁹

Where is Interpol? Where is the outcry from UNICEF?

Bishop Thomas V. Daily of the Diocese of Brooklyn, in an exchange of correspondence with a Venezuelan bishop in 1991 about allegations against Father Diaz, praised the priest's work in his diocese even as a 60-count indictment was pending against him in Queens on child sexual abuse charges. Later that year, after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual abuse in the case, Father Diaz was deported to Venezuela, where the pattern of victimizing young boys continued unabated.

And so it went throughout Father Diaz's ministry. Moving from country to country, from parish to parish, from victim to victim, he was often held unaccountable by church officials and was treated delicately by some law enforcement authorities, the interviews and documents show.¹⁰

How can the above be anything but an international criminal conspiracy?

His order, the Salesians of Don Bosco, has long moved priests accused of sexual abuse from country to country, away from law enforcement and victims. Indeed, it is how many others in the Catholic Church have dealt with the problem, a yearlong Dallas Morning News investigation has found.¹¹

The crimes committed by the hierarchy of the RCC against the children of the world have been documented many times in many countries. In each country from Poland, to Ireland, to the United States around and down to Australia, the story is the same. Priests who commit criminal acts of sexual abuse against children are shuffled from country to country with no regard for either local or international law. These priests are shuffled by a complicit hierarchy who are guilty of aiding and abetting criminals. Once transferred, these priests are free to prey upon a fresh population of unsuspecting families who revere the priest as God’s representative on earth.

In 2002 Pope John Paul II stated before the world, “There is no room in the priesthood for those who sexually abuse children.”¹² But nothing was done; priests were still being shuffled and names of priestly perpetrators are still a closely guarded secret. In April of 2008, while on the plane over to the United States, Benedict XVI said, “I am deeply ashamed”¹³ while referring to the Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal. On July 19, 2008, in Australia, he said,

“I ask all of you to support and assist your bishops, and to work together with them in combating this evil. Victims should receive compassion and care, and those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice.”¹⁴

“AND THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE EVILS MUST BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE!” Strong words from the pope! The pope is an honorable man; bishops and cardinals are all honorable men and they speak well. Yet nothing was said about revoking Crimen Sollicitationis. Did he forget that as Cardinal Ratzinger in 2001, he reaffirmed its validity? He can say one thing publicly, but as long as he still binds everyone with knowledge of clergy abuse to the absolute law of secrecy under the chapter 11, “a secret of the Holy Office,”¹⁵ the pope is only mouthing words. As long as Cardinals, Law, Mahony, George, Egan and Llevada remain in office, he is only mouthing words. As long as bishops, and the leaders of religious orders who shuffled pedophiles from country to country remain in the priesthood, the pope is only mouthing words. The pope is the only one who can start bringing those responsible for these evils to justice!

It is time to put an end to the global scourge of clerical child abuse and put these criminal priests behind bars along with the members of the hierarchy who have purposefully aided them. (It seems that Pope Benedict agrees with me.) These crimes are a violation of God’s law, Church law, Civil law, and International law (all covered in this treatise). As proven in the United States, the only thing that will change the way the RCC harbors their criminals is a courtroom. Interpol must aid in the capture of these international child abusing fugitives and the U.N. must bring charges against the Vatican in the World Court. Only the credible threat of listing the Vatican as a criminal organization, making them stand trial for the abuse of tens of thousands of children and covering-up for thousands of priests will force the much needed changes while making the world a safer place for children. Interpol and the UN had every right to get involved in the clergy abuse scandal because it violates their conventions. Now both the UN and Interpol have an invitation to get involved straight from the pope’s mouth. Pope Benedict XVI has just asked for “aid and assistance” followed up by “those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice.” The Vicar of Christ on earth is asking for help in bringing to justice to those who committed and helped in crimes of sexual abuse against children. What greater invitation can be made?

 

Note: To any lawyers who may represent or have represented survivors of sexual abuse. Crimen Sollicitationis means “crime of solicitation” which refers to crimes of the confessional. Reading this text is extremely difficult because everything up until Title V is about soliciting in the confessional. Title V paragraph 72 states: “Those things that have been stated concerning the crime of solicitation up to this point are also valid, changing only those things necessary to be changed by their very nature, for the worst crime,” Take Crimen Sollicitationis (English version) and put it in a Word document. Then do a find/replace with find Solicitation and replace it with child abuse. You will be amazed at how it clarifies the document giving you a clearer understanding of what Crimen Sollicitationis says about the clergy abuse of children.

Notes

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_sex_abuse_cases_by_country, July 9, 2008 and http://www.scribd.com/doc/1021887/SEXUAL-ABUSE-IN-THE-CATHOLIC-CHURCH-2002, July 9, 2008
2. http://www.priestsofdarkness.com/crimen.pdf, July 10, 2008
3. The 1922 Instruction and the 1962 Instruction “Crimen Sollicitationis,” Promulgated by the Vatican: Thomas Doyle, O.P., J.C.D. June 30, 2008
4. http://www.priestsofdarkness.com/crimen.pdf July 10, 2008
5. http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/Default.asp, July 11, 2008
6. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/longterm/stories/Runaway_priests_hiding_in_plain_sight.5ee1e9be.html, July 11, 2008
7. http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/Conventions/unConvCR.asp, July 12, 2008
8. http://www.unicef.org/pon95/chil0008.html, July 12, 2008
9. http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news/2004_09_12_Dunklin_InThe.htm, July 12, 2008
10. http://www.bishop-accountability.org/resources/resource-files/timeline/2002-04-20-Murphy-Diaz.htm, July 13, 2008
11. http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news/2004_06_20_Dunklin_ConvictedSexual.htm, July 13, 2008
12. http://www.poynterextra.org/extra/abusetracker/2002_04_21_archive.htm, July 18, 2008
13. http://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/pope-says-he-is-deeply-ashamed-of-clergy-abuse-scandal/, July 18, 2008
14. http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=2&ContentID=85771, July 19, 2008
15. http://www.priestsofdarkness.com/crimen.pdf, July 10, 2008

While VCBC does not agree with all the characterizations Mr. Nauheimer makes of the Roman Catholic Church, this is posted here in response to the author's email request:

I would ask all of you to please read this document and if you find it worthy, please send it to everyone in your world. I believe the arguments are that powerful.

Of himself, the author writes:

Vinnie Nauheimer has written extensively on the subject of clerical abuse. He has written two books on the subject, one of poetry Silent Screams, and one comprised of selected letters sent over an eight year period on the subject of clergy abuse called Epistles on Clergy Abuse. His art, poetry and writing can be found on websites around the world. Though they don't issue a degree in Clergy Abuse, Mr. Nauheimer successfully survived advanced classes from the School of Intimidation and Slander sponsored by the NY Archdiocese. Both his and his family’s degree of pain were acknowledged by a Grand Jury probing the issue of clergy abuse. His goals are the same as those stated by Pope Benedict XVI in Australia on July 19, 2008: “Victims should receive compassion and care, and those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice.”

Vinnie's passion comes from discovering that his two sons were abused by a priest.

J'accuse ("I accuse") was an open letter published in 1898 in the newspaper L'Aurore by Émile Zola accusing the French government of anti-Semitism in the Alfred Dreyfus case.

A Statement on Clergy Abuse

Once is one time too many.

When James B. Nelson wrote Embodiment: An Approach to Sexuality and Christian Theology, he did not imagine the current crisis regarding sexual and emotional abuse of parishoners (expecially children and teens) by ordained clergy and other representatives of the Church. Such abuse betrays a person's basic trust — in God, in the Clergy and the Church, in the world, in humanity, and even in the person's own self. This basic trust is essential for the development both of Love and of Faith.

Thus, the abuser destroys what he or she is specifically called to build — a person's relationship with God. And the abuser selects his or her targets for virtues that can be exploited into vulnerabilities.

Consider the case of a young person who can be trusted to sacrifice his or her own well-being rather than harm another. That's the kind of virtue you'd look for in a firefighter, a doctor, or a priest. But it is also the kind of virtue that an abuser exploits in order to keep from being caught. Trustworthy people are so because they value trust so highly — hence it hurts them all the more when they are betrayed. And our society colludes by creating a culture of subversion in which the breaking of a vow or a promise seems to have no consequences, as long as the one doing it espouses the proper ideology.

A Bankruptcy of Bishops

by Vinnie Nauheimer

clergy abuse survivor

Once again with a great deal of aplomb,
One more bishop drops the bankruptcy bomb.
The way they're tearing survivors apart,
Devoid of humanity, they have no heart

Bishops like them, with hearts so callous,
Shouldn't be allowed to touch a chalice.
They know nothing of the miracle of the manger,
Rather they fit the bill of a moneychanger.

Bishops call for a separate church and state!
But when it's convenient, how quickly they mate!
Lewd and shrewd, they throw out the bait.
A legal maneuver to make victims wait.

Not having anything to do with Christ.
Plain and simple, it's a financial heist,
Getting the laity to wring their hands,
And curse survivors for legitimate demands.

At the last judgment they will stand
Thinking themselves all that is grand.
Helping themselves to the milk and honey;
So proud they saved God all that money.

Are Catholic bishops setting an example?
Upon how many people did they trample?
When Jesus opens their cold hearts
In all that is evil, they'll see their parts.

The Horror of Me

contributed by Art Cavazos

survivor of clergy abuse

My head is filled with salted slugs,
silent little screams in their writhing and drowning.
The ooze of their suffering drains through my nose,
tears of pus burst forth the mourning.

My soul is a ripened mass grave,
whispering its secrets through my pores.
Flatulent and busting in decomposition,
a malignant symphony of sounds and odors.

I vomit a worm and it licks my face,
with lust and pustulated tongue.
I curse in the language of the dead,
it spits its venom of acidic dung.

My intestines are loaded with secrets of maggots,
painful explosions from me in legion.
Discussing their plans as they move to the darkness,
I run on fresh stumps to escape the dungeon.

My heart pumps blood that is black with hate,
the collared one squeezes my scrotum.
So hard it gives way with a sickening pop,
blinding pain gives way to the schism.

My eyes have fallen out of their sockets,
lashes blink on nerves exposed.
Repulsive tether balls hang on my cheeks,
gelatinous orbs rest on stubble transposed.

Turned on my stomach by the faceless hood,
sharp nails dig in to my skin.
My spine is pulled out I'm a meat suitcase,
dragged in the dirt of my tortured kin.

I've been dipped in the wax until I harden,
others are with me and set ablaze.
We've been nailed to trees in Nero’s garden,
bubbling and screaming we do amaze.

The Roman Empire has not died,
they persecute the little Christians.
To wear the collar is to serve Caesar,
promise of harm to reveal their intentions.

Look at the man they have created,
they've poisoned the child supernaturally.
The soul is dead and they don't give a shit,
Mind and Soul are the horror, the horror of me.

by Art Cavazos

clergy abuse survivor

There is nothing I want more.

I want to be with you always.

Lost in your fragrance,

I don’t ever want to be found.

The way your hair cradles your face,

The way you smile,

Countries would lay down arms.

I want to be with you always.

I wrap my arms around you.

I stare into your eyes.

They mesmerize and hypnotize,

 And I kiss you deeply.

In unspoken language,

I hear your passion.

In your touch,

I taste memories.

Lost in your fragrance,

I am at your neck and you sigh,

A benevolent parasite,

A willing host.

We remove what is left of our inhibitions.

You radiate an undiscovered light,

I do not wince.

I don’t ever want to be found,

We drift to the alter of Eros.

I am lost in your eyes.

We pleasure each other as lovers do.

A glow consumes us,

sorcerers of romance,

We merge.

The way your hair cradles your face,

I run my fingers through it.

In our oblivious intertwine,

What we want is near.

You grasp my arms in anticipation,

we no longer hold back.

Supernova.

The way you smile,

Has squelched my fear.

You hold my hand as I grow weaker.

The road side bomb that has maimed me,

Has brought me here to you.

I use my last breath to tell you,

And to you it makes no sense:

“We could have been lovers.”

Countries would lay down arms.

The Human Experiment, Analysis

contributed by Art Cavazos

clergy abuse survivor

Our perception of the divine and of science,

no matter how bizarre and farfetched,

is limited to what we are.

At what point do we become greater than our

predefined parameters?

In reverse creation, man has written the

book for man that says we are in a god's

likeness when it is we who have created the

greater being in our own likeness.

Science fiction and other extreme thought,

give us a direction.

But it is still thought on a Human Level.

We just can't do it yet.

Those who see the big picture ask if this is

all there is.

The answer is no.

Master the rhythm of chaos and complete

the human experiment.

But what do I know? I’m only Human.

I Have Forgotten

contributed by Art Cavazos

survivor of clergy abuse

From the wonder, I am aware.

My wisdom is of thousands of lifetimes.

I look at my hands but can not see them.

I look at my life and can see everything.

I will eliminate the horrible and enhance the spectacular.

I am solving, I am calculating.

I can now see faster than the speed of light and what is produced is a beautiful void which is pure in thought, pure in love, and delicate in sound.

I have acquired knowledge that will heal the sick, comfort the wounded, raise the dead.

I have no one to share it with.

I have shifted, I have moved. In my painful eviction, light has outrun me. Sound has betrayed me.

 Cast out of paradise. I can not go back. The tether to my mother has been severed and I have forgotten. For the first time in my life, I cry.

Wizard of God

contributed by Art Cavazos

survivor of clergy abuse

In my drunken stupor last night,
I spoke to someone about my abuse.
It hit me like Thor’s hammer,
The Wizard of Oz shares more than one use.

 When Toto pulled back the drapes,
the illusion was gone.
The struggle that ensued,
defines my struggle with Python.

 The abused are Toto,
The Wizard is Church.
Dorothy, Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man,
continue to tithe to the priest at his perch.

 Blindly following flawed doctrine,
not knowing they have the power to change it.
The drapes do not need any interpretation,
we struggle with Wizard and fancy gadget.

 We see the Wizard for what it is,
no fire, and smoke, no thunderous voice.
No holographic image of the boogey man,
supports the men that made the wrong choice.

 In black and white doggy sight,
Dorothy hasn't happened yet.
That's the problem with time and space,
Dorothy happens when she sees the threat.

 Dorothy the inquisitive parishioner,
who confronts the Wizard.
Not a victim at all like me,
The tithings then are scissored.

 Eventually the nutless Lion,
And the pyrophobic Scarecrow.
Will kindly ask of the tin man,
if his axe they can borrow.

 Hack to the truth,
of what Peter started.
Slough off all the pedophiles,
Secret societies thwarted.

 Toto steps out of rhythm to think,
Observing the church as they fumble.
He thinks without rhythm, rhyme, or meter,
He stops, and narrates for us without mumble:

Toto’s prose:

The nice lady in the bubble is God.
On one paw, she already knows that all Dorothy has to do,
is click her heels three times to get home.
instead, the poor girl endures a cruel journey,
just for grins and giggles.

 On the other paw,
maybe the essence of the journey,
enriches her soul as she puts together the Yellow Brick Posse.
Either way, instant gratification ruins a good movie.
Trials and tribulations, earn rewards in the end.

 The apple trees made me wet my fur.
If I had hands instead of paws,
I would have put the tin man’s axe to them.
Those flying monkeys were a trip.

These freaky moments represent our trauma and betrayal,
at the hands of the green faced clergyman on the broom.
Dorothy and I share a strange connection,
She’s on the inside, I’m on the outside.

Toto’s close:

I've ricocheted off the point just a bit,
I'll be drunk in a slight.
That will suffice for my mental red shoes.
At least for a while, tonight.

And Then I Had the Dream

Contributed by Kay Goodnow

And then I had the dream.

I was standing in a room. I thought it was a hospital room, but there was a nightstand next to the bed. On it was a green plant, a philodendron, and I knew that it was dying. The room was darkened by curtains that covered the windows. It was quiet there, no sound at all. I was neither cold nor warm but I felt surrounded by the silent darkness, as by fog in the early morning.

I stood there, unmoving. As my eyes adjusted I noticed a wheelchair next to the window. It was facing me, facing the middle of the room. I did not feel fear, and so I took a few steps forward, closer to the man who sat in the wheelchair.

He was covered with a blanket, a plaid blanket. I remember noticing red stripes against a brown background. The blanket had been pulled up nearly to his chin but his hands were free and they moved slowly, as though playing with the blanket's fringe that lay across his chest.

His hands were just as I remembered them; slender, with long and graceful fingers. They were pale, nearly white, translucent with age. I knew who he was even before I looked into his face. Long ago, he had been my priest.

I smiled and said, “Hello, Jack. I am Kay London Goodnow. How are you?”

I realized that he could hear me, because he looked into my eyes. I felt him recognize me. And then I saw that I was dressed in my Catholic school uniform, that I was 15 years old again. I knew that my hair was blonde, my posture erect and full of grace from years of ballet exercises. I started to move forward, because I wanted to hug him, to assure him that I am fine, just fine, that I had survived the life to which he had condemned me.

He made a motion with his hand to stop me. It was a signal for me to stay where I was and I responded to it immediately. I watched him breathe, one slow breath after another, and then he looked directly at me again.

“I recognize you, Honey,” he said. “I have been expecting you. It took you a long time to get here but I knew all along that you would come.”

I felt pleased that his mind was clear, his speech distinct and that he seemed rational. I started to speak, tried to talk but nothing would come. There were so many things I wanted to tell him about the past fifty-odd years, and they rushed through my head like waves pounding on a beach before a hurricane. But I could not begin. I was waiting, as in the past, for him to lead so that I could follow. I watched him silently. I looked into his eyes and they seemed as blue as they had been when first I had fallen in love with him. I managed another step forward and yes, his eyes were blue, but lifeless.

“Honey,” he said, “I am old and there is little time. I have waited a long time for you to ask what it is that you have to ask and for you to say what it is that you want to say.”

I remained where I was, 15 years old, still in my uniform. There was more light in the room now. I became aware that it was coming from me, that it surrounded me. The dim outlines that had prevailed earlier were sharpening now. Behind his wheelchair an altar was visible, covered with a long white cloth. Vigil lights burned brightly in the far corners of the room, twinkling gold, red and white. I could smell incense, that faint, vaguely sweet smell that followed the Benediction service. I could hear the organ and the choir of young female voices: Tantum ergo sacramentum…

Still I didn’t move. I sensed that I had been given a second chance. I felt stronger now, the 15-year-old was moving forward in time, accelerating at a tremendous rate of speed. The wife-mother-grandmother that I am now stood there, watching him. As the memories flashed past, and with them the pain, the struggle to comprehend, the years and years that it had taken to empower that 15-year old and force her into assuming responsibility for herself… and I understood.

The room had become considerably brighter, even though the curtains were still closed and the lights were still off. The confusion of who I was cleared from my brain and with it, the darkness cleared from the room. I stepped forward once more.

“There is just one question that must be asked,” I said, and I smiled. “I would like to know, Jack, why you did this to me?”

I saw a spark of life as his eyes briefly glimmered icy, steely blue. He sat upright in his wheelchair, straightening his shoulders. He stopped fingering the blanket fringe and rested his hands one atop the other. He looked at me, and I knew that my smile had struck him to the core.

“I did it, Honey,” he said, “Because I could.”

I turned and I walked out of that room, along a corridor, and I passed what I thought was a nurses’ station. I knew that it wasn’t, because there was a priest standing there, his white collar contrasting with his stark black suit.

“He died early this morning, I am sorry,” the priest said to me. “I know that it was important to you that you talk with him. Shall we pray now, my dear?” He reached forward to take my hand.

I moved away from him. I smiled. “Pray if it will make you feel better,” I said to this man whose aura was not favorable to those of us who trust ourselves. “God is here with me now as He always is. God alone is the final authority.” I was still smiling. I felt like jumping into the air and yelling, “I did it! I am free! I am alive and well and happy!” I felt like doing a cartwheel and handstands, I felt like playing a concert grand piano in Carnegie Hall and figure skating at the Olympics. The priest didn’t speak and I walked away. I went on down that long hall, half walking and half skipping. I went through the last remaining door and found myself in my own room, at home, in bed.

It was nearly dawn when I was fully awake, and as I communicated my joy to the life force in all of us, I felt the light from those who have survived from the dawn of time on this world and in this universe and even some from beyond this universe. I felt the light of survivors of the present and those of the future. We are all one, after all, and when Creator/God/Life Force is in our core, what more do we need?

I neither sense, nor do I feel, any darkness at all. It’s out there, I know that, and it has my permission to remain there. It no longer has any power over me and I am long overdue for a trip into my own future.

Editor's Note: As adolescents we were each vulnerable for years while we submerged our child self and grew our adult personality in its place. We trusted key adults to guide us through these years, during which we had the life-forming experience of first love. Now imagine yourself as a devoutly Catholic adolescent, completely seduced by your 35-year old priest, who eventually abandons you when the Church moves him to his next parish, leaving you wounded emotionally, sexually, and spiritually, and silenced because nobody talked about such things back then, and because everybody would have blamed (and shamed) you. Kay Goodnow has survived and decades after her experience, has become active in SNAP and Link-Up, organizations of those who have been abused by clergy. - Scooper

Of Pedophiles and Suicide Bombers

Catholicism and Islam in Crisis

As I write this an ad hoc council of American Catholic Bishops has just met in Dallas, TX, and passed a so-called zero-tolerance resolution concerning priests that have sexually abused their parishoners. By zero-tolerance the Bishops mean that sexual abusers may under some circumstances remain priests, but may no longer have contact with parishoners.

Excuse me, but that kind of bullshit is a lot more American than it is Catholic, or even Christian. It smacks of the recent Clintonian "continental drift" in American morality that seems almost automatically to excuse a man for not keeping his word. The vow of celibacy is a vow made to God as part of assuming a holy office, which is to be discharged in God's Name. The breaking of the vow is the breaking of the office. In particular, he who breaks his vow of celibacy in order to have sex with a minor rapes the child physically (a crime against the child's body which the State must prosecute), emotionally (a crime against the child's relationship with him/her self and with others), and spiritually (a crime against the child's relationship with God - which is ultimately a crime against God).

If I were hearing a priest's confession, and he were to admit that he had sexually abused a child during his priesthood, I would assign him this penance: He must go to the civil authorities and confess his crimes. Under appropriate supervision he must confess each crime before each victim together with the victim's parents. At his trial, he must confess his crimes before the court and demand the maximum penalty the law permits. In prison, he must continue as a priest to serve the spiritual needs of his fellow inmates. But when he leaves prison, he must leave the priesthood.

Now this is not to say that I agree with the Catholic position on priestly celibacy, or the non-ordination of women. But the rules are the rules. You either play by them or change them, but you don't subvert them and cover it up. It is the "community of subversion" that has formed within the American Catholic church that has brought on the current crisis. And it is deserved. You can save souls in a lot of ways, but as far as I know, you can't do it with your penis.

The crisis in Islam is no less shameful. There are Palestinian publications (on-line and off) that announce the death of a young man in a suicidal attack against random civilians (who almost always include children) as if it were a marriage — he has been "wedded to the dark-eyed" they say, referring to dark-eyed houris (ever young, ever virginal beings who will attend to the every need of one who arrives in heaven). More than one commentator has described the sales pitch used to recruit suicide bombers with the words " Heaven as whorehouse," which miss the mark, but not so widely that they should be ignored. The real whoredom here is that some people who call themselves Islamic clerics countenance the slaying of children, which from my reading of the Qur'an, is expressly forbidden.

And yet these clerical abusers of children are open about it, and have followings, and recruit more people to do more of the same. I make the comparison with sexually abusing priests, because if having sex with a child is abusing that child, so is killing the child, even if it is done through an intermediary. The glorification of suicide bombers is a kind of bullshit that is more tribal than Islamic. In particular, it is a self-justification by focusing on one's enemies' atrocities (both real and imagined) without adhering to the Moral Law as a whole. As far as I know, you can't save souls with your bomb, either.

I invite comments from anyone, especially Catholics and Muslims.

An Open Letter to Survivors of Clergy Abuse

contributed by Kay Goodnow

We are the ones we have been waiting for. — Oraibi, Arizona, Hopi Nation

 

Along with the rest of "us survivors," I have been following the story of the Pope's apology (even if it was just one paragraph) for the sexual and psychological abuse perpetrated against the innocent by the ordained (what I often refer to as ‘authority in organized denomination’). I have also been following the comments and correspondence between us that resulted from that apology.

Before I proceed with this epistle, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to those who put the recent Link-Up conference in Toronto together! For me, and this was my first conference, it was a rewarding experience and possibly the best investment in myself that I have ever made! I am what is known as a "sensitive" and I was a little afraid that what I might find at the conference would open old wounds, but just the opposite occurred. I found myself gaining strength and I rejoiced at the power, the energy that I felt in sharing friendship with those of you who were there. I both felt and saw the light that surrounded all of us and I believe that there just may have been the human equivalent of lightning bolts in some of those sessions. More than happy that I attended, I returned home with new insights, new courage and new hope.

I was in New York City when CNN presented a one-liner relative to this historical apology and I smiled at the television set and breathed the words "This is just the beginning, just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and it is good!"

Later that day I sat in Carnegie Hall, in a packed house, and I listened to a choir perform John Rutter’s Requiem. My oldest daughter was a part of this choir, which consisted of singers who had all attended Shawnee Mission South High School right here in Overland Park, Kansas. A strong part of my personal heritage is the ancient Latin of the church combined with the music, the spirit of God in song, if you will. I dearly love and secretly treasure her music. I know that the "church" can never take that away from me. Although both the composer and director are younger than I, the words were the same as they have been for centuries. Only the interpretation of those words has changed!
That day, that Sunday, two wonderful things happened to me; the apology by the Pope and the joy of that concert. As the words "Lux aeterna dona eis Domine" echoed through that magnificent recital hall my heart kept trying to stop beating as I experienced the Light that truly is God. Here was further verification that God is always present, always near at hand, always available. He was there. He heard that magnificent music and He smiled.

I felt myself accept the Pope’s apology. I felt peace, humility, courage and the empowering strength that comes from accepting the inevitable and making the brave decision to proceed along whatever path it is that I am to follow. I do not have to forgive those atrocities, but I do have to accept the apology. The Requiem had become a channel.

For what it’s worth, from me to you and just between us, what has happened has happened and there is absolutely nothing in this world that we can do to change that. Once we have been abused, life changes. I can no more go back to being an innocent 15-year-old than can any of you go back to before your damage was done. Yes, I agree, it should not have happened; not to me and not to you and not to anyone else and especially not in God’s name! But it did.

I have just read the editorial from the December 7, 2001 issue of the National Catholic Reporter dealing with the need for an "open and just procedure needed in Maciel case." My head and my heart, acting as one, said, "Well, d-u-h-h-h!"

I have just read the new set of norms from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. My head and my heart, acting as one, said, "This may be new to them, but to me it sounds just like all of their 'Hear, Speak and See No Evil' methods for avoiding with their serious internal problems!"
Some clergy are openly committing crimes against humanity. Abuse is one part of those crimes. And the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continues to both propagate and perpetuate the problem.

The 'committee' defined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is no doubt another attempt to keep the perpetrators and the facts hidden. Like the ostrich that buries it’s head in the sand to avoid confrontation, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sounds good, but it isn’t. That is unfortunate, but true. And granted, a token apology cannot take away the years and years of pain that each of us has experienced…

A very wise woman once told me "We are each responsible for our own spirituality." I have accepted that responsibility, with great pleasure. And I would like to submit to each of you, for your consideration, the following:

Maybe it’s time to start telling the truth to ourselves and our children and grandchildren: God is alive and well! He is always there for us! He is too big to be contained, defined, categorized or limited in any way. He existed before Christianity, before the birth of our planet and before the birth of time as we know it. It really doesn’t matter what we call Him… He loves us all, every single one of us!
Maybe it’s time to stop exposing our children and grandchildren to 'authority within organized denomination' while we hope that they never encounter a 'perp' or, if they do, that we can do something about it!

Maybe it’s time to stop enabling this 'authority' by denying access to what it is they want, REGARDLESS of their motivation!

For me, the message brought by Christ is valid. It is the vehicle that is wrong! It was the vehicle that invented the Trinity, pronounced babies sinful, proclaimed those who chose to think for themselves to be heretics. It was the vehicle that 'created' hoaxology ad nauseum. I believed it all, right out of the Baltimore Catechisms of the 1950's! I am now in a phase of berating myself for believing any of it, because it simply doesn't make any sense. Alas, it isn't even logical. They did a very, very good job of brainwashing me. It has taken a lot of years, oceans of water under the bridge, for me to get to where I am today and I certainly did not get here by myself! The Ancient Light that is the author of the universe had quite a lot to do with breaking those deceitful, self-deprecating tapes!

Certainly I believe that there are good people and good leaders in all of the forms of Deism that exist. Certainly I respect every other person and his or her own personal beliefs. Certainly I know that each of us is in a different stage of growth. Certainly I can identify with the rage, the fury or being slapped in the face and called "insignificant." The opposite of love is, after all, indifference. I know for a fact how very scary it is to stand before God and say "I give all of this nonsense back to You, do with me whatever it is You want."

I have what I call the "gift of perception." No doubt this is due in large part to the abuse and the ridicule I experienced from "God’s representative here on earth." I now believe that "authority within organized denomination" is diametrically the opposite to the real message of the Christ…
Some of you may be in crisis with your God identity. Some of you may not honestly know what you do believe. Some of you are caught in the throes of not being able to believe or accept that your church could do these things…

All of these are normal feelings, under the circumstances that have severed you from your churches. Please know that God is alive and well, very present and very real, very aware of the pain and the rage. He simply is not the God that we were taught! He walks around with us in our daily lives. He understands that we are who we are… Once used to this concept and living life in this way, it becomes increasingly difficult to find peace at a church service. At least it has for me!

I have decided to quit believing in somebody else's God. I have decided to invite organized religion to takes its Thou Shalt Not's and go elsewhere with them. Enough hypocrisy! Enough lies! Enough discrimination! Enough duplicity! Enough control! Enough final authority!

As someone at the convention stated with a smile, "I have excommunicated them from me!" I agree, but I have welcomed all people of all faiths into my life. My gift of discernment is like a beacon in a storm or a virus detector on a computer: It shouts "Warning! Warning!" and I walk away… Chances are that you have this gift too; you "feel, sense" that something isn't quite true about someone else. It is okay to protect yourself and it is okay to question! Once the information is obtained, it is okay to sift, sort, pitch, retain and validate. That's how growth and recovery happen. How marvelously freeing it is for me, but how painful was the process, and how slow!

I believe that we must continue to make abuse cases public. We must educate the world and we must be confident in knowing that we will make a difference in the future, each of us. We are, after all, stopping the cycle of abuse by being ourselves. We should be proud, stand tall, hold our heads high and celebrate!

Perhaps it's time to reread the message of Christ and interpret it on our own. If, after all, that message is valid then it is 'authority within organized denomination' that is the so-called anti-Christ!
I wish for all of you, during this season of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Solstice, all that is good! If anyone wants to talk, ever, at any time, please do not hesitate to contact me. There will be similarities between us, but no two of us are identical. Therein lies the strength, and light, that is God!

Rejoice in the birth of the Light!

Although this e-mail was started with the intent of communicating with those who attended the Link-Up Conference in Toronto last month, it is also intended for SNAP (Survivor's Network for those Abused by Priests) and all persons who have been abused or seduced by a trusted mentor; those who have experienced the very real (and awful) violation of fiduciary responsibility no matter what their religious expression (or lack of same) may be.

I have emailed a copy of this effort to the National Catholic Reporter with the sincere hope that publication will result in reaching those who have never come forward to tell their stories. — KG

When I Know Who I Am

contributed by Kay Goodnow

When I know who I am and believe in myself,

every breath of life is sacrament.

When I know who I am and believe in myself,

every human being is filled with God.

When I know who I am and believe in myself,

only things of beauty exist.

When I know who I am and believe in myself,

music speaks with the soft and gentle beauty that is silence.

When I know who I am and believe in myself,

words become positive and reinforcing.

When I know who I am and believe in myself,

feelings are as strong as God, who created them for me.

When I know who I am and believe in myself,

silence becomes the golden strength of hearing.

When I know who I am and believe in myself,

the sacrament of life is hearing the silence, and,

When I know who I am and believe in myself,

every breath of silence is the sacrament of life.

Since contributing this piece, Kay has come out as a survivor of clergy abuse. These affirmations are for all those who have been forced or seduced into doubting their own worth, judgment and experience.