Abstract
Reporters and lawyers played the earliest roles in raising awareness about clerical sexual abuse. The press investigated and revealed heinous stories, helping to support civil authorities that prosecuted clerical molesters wherever they tried to hide.
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Notes
Bill Frogameni, “Toledo Native Barbara Blaine Crusades against Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church,” Toledo City Paper, 29 April 2004, http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2004_01_06/2004_04_frog.
Jerimee Richir, “SNAP Mission Statement,” 2012, http://www.snapnetwork.org/mission_statement.
Patricia Rice, “Priest Accused of Abuse Was Given Parish Job,” Post-Dispatch, 8 April 2002, http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news3/2002_04_08_Rice_PriestAccused.
Peter McDonough, The Catholic Labyrinth: Power, Apathy and a Passion for Reform in the American Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 149.
David Clohessy, “A50A471 Deposition in Case # 1016CV29995,” 2 January 2012, p. 42, http://www.themediareport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CLOHESSY-DEPOSITION-010212.pdf.
David Clohessy v. The Honorable Ann J. Mesle, “Writ of Prohibition,” 19 July 2012, https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/snap/pages/1114/attachments/original/1343231724/Petition_for_Writ_July_19_2012.pdf?1343231724.
Laurie Goodstein, “Catholic Church Puts legal Pressure on Survivors’ Network,” The New York Times, 13 March 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/us/catholic-church-pressures-victims. The author attributes this statement to Marci Hamilton, a law professor at Yeshiva University, who is an advocate for clergy sex abuse victims.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Office of Media Relations. “Conference President Invites Continued Dialogue with ‘SNAP,’” 10 June 2002, http://old.usccb.org/comm/archives/2002/02-109.shtml.
David Clohessy, “Impact Statement,” given to the USCCB Meeting in Dallas, Texas, 13 June 2002, http://www.bishop-accountability.org/resources/resource-files/timeline/2002-06-13-Clohessy-ImpactStatement.htm.
Michael D’Antonio, Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2013).
Ashley Powers, “Secret Files Detail Clergy Abuse,” Los Angles Times, 24 May 2012, http://www.latimes.com/20112/may/24/local.
Barbara Blaine, “Why the Pope Must Fact Justice at The Hague,” The Guardian, 17 September 2011, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/ciefarmerica/2011/sep/17/pope--clergy-sex-abuse-hague.
Amnesty International, Annual Report, 2011, http://www.amnesty.org/en/annual-report2011.
Paul Fericano, “Bridge of Understanding,” Santa Barbara Independent, 12 August 2004, http://mysafenet.org/?q=node/47.
Daniel Lyons, “Paid to Picket,” Forbes, 15 September 2003, http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/0915/054.html.
Michelle Bauman, “SNAP Director Admits to Publishing False Information,” Catholic News Agency, 6 March 2012. Accessed at http://ww.catholicnewsagency.com/news/snap-director-admits-to-publishing
Laurie Goodstein. “Catholic Church Puts Legal Pressure on Survivors’ Network,” The New York Times, 12 March 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/us/catholic-church-pressures-victims.
Tricia Colleen Bruce, Faithful Revolution: How Voice of the Faithful is Changing the Church. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).
See: A. B. Carroll, K. J. Lipartito, J. E. Post, P. H. Werhane, and K. E. Goodpaster, Corporate Responsibility: The American Experience (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).
James E. Muller and Charles Kenney, Keep the Faith, Change the Church (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2011).
Michael Paulson, “Law Seeks to Curb Organizing by Laity,” The Boston Globe, 27 April 2002, p. A1.
Michael Paulson, “Bishop Bans Group from meetings at Parish,” The Boston Globe, 1 October 2002, p. A1.
James Carroll, “Let Church Reform Begin,” The Boston Globe, 16 September 2002, p. A15.
Deal Hudson, “When Wolves Dress Like Sheep: Close Look at Voice of the Faithful,” Crisis Magazine, 8 August 2002, http://www.staycatholic.com.
Greg Byrnes, “Some Attending Voice of the Faithful Meetings Find They Have No Voice,” 2003, http://www.staycatholic.com/no_voice_at_voice_of_the_faithful.htm.
Michael Paulson, “Catholic Group to Rate bishops,” The Boston Globe, 20 September 2002, p. A1.
Michael Paulson, “In His First Meeting with Voice of the Faithful, Law Seeks Answers,” The Boston Globe, 27 November 2002, p. B1.
Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody (New York: Penguin Books, 2008), p.148.
VOTF was concerned that the report did not address clericalism by name, that it lacked an analysis of the priestly culture, and that without a modification of it, clericalism would do “harm to victims and their families, to the members of faith communities, and to clergy.” See: Voice of the Faithful, “Conclusion about the John Jay College Report: ‘The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the US 1950–2010,’” 11 October 2011, p. 9, http://www.votf.org/Govt_reports/VOTF_Conclusions_Report.pdf.
Voice of the Faithful. Press Release. “Voice of the Faithful Urges Pope Francis to ‘Act Decisively’ Regarding Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse and His Message to Vatican Congregation.” 6 June 2013. http://votf.org/featured/18098.
Voice of the Faithful. “The Six Most Important Reforms VOTF Would Like to Discuss with His Advisors in October,” 24 September 2013, http://voicefaithful.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/the-six-most-important-reforms-voice-of-the-faithful-would-like-pope-francis-to-discuss-with-his-advisors-in-october/.
For a fuller discussion of the clash between civil and canon law in America, see: Jo Renee Formicola, “The Vatican, the American bishops, and the church-state Ramifications of Clerical Sexual Abuse,” Journal of Church and State 46 (Summer 2004): 479–502.
Monica Davey, “A Frenzied Pace for the Lawyer behind Suits against the Vatican,” The New York Times, 28 April 2010, p. A14.
Patrick Condon, “Jeff Anderson: One Man’s Crusade against the Catholic Church,” The Huffington Post, 29 March 2010, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/efff-anderson-one-mans-cr_n_516658.html.
FSIA does not define “commercial.” For a fuller discussion, see: Edan Burkett, “Victory for Clergy Sexual Abuse Victims: The Ninth Circuit Strips the Holy See of Foreign Sovereign Immunity in Doe v.Holy See,” BYU Law Review 2010, no. 1 (January 2010): 35–39.
Holy See v. John V. Doe, “Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae,” No. 09-1, May 2010, p. 9.
Vatican Radio Staff, “Holy See’s lawyer: Dismissed Lawsuit in US ‘Never Should Have Been Filed,’” Vatican Radio, 7 August 2013, http://en.radiovaticana.va/storico/2013/08/07/holy_sees_lawyer_dismissed_lawsuit_in_us_never_should_have_been/en1-717667.
In a significant number of lawsuits, clerics, bishops, and even US cardinals have been deposed and thousands of pages of documents have been subpoenaed for grand jury investigations, but none of these have reached as high as the Vatican. For further information about the use and abuse of subpoenas in sexual abuse cases, see Jo Renee Formicola, “The Further Legal Consequence of Catholic Clerical Sexual Abuse,” Journal of Church and State 49 (Summer 2007): 445–466.
Nicholas Kulish and Katrin Bennhold, “Pope Was Told Pedophile Priest Would Get Post,” The New York Times, 26 March 2010, p. A10.
Dan Gilgoff, “Vatican to Pursue New Legal Strategy in U. S Lawyer Says,” CNN, 17 May 2010, http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/7/vatican.abuse/index.html.
Rachel Donadio, “Vatican Protests after Belgian Police Drill into Tombs in Sex Abuse Inquiry,” New York Times, 26 June 2010, p. A4
Elisabetta Povoledo, “Bishop, 73, in Belgium Steps Down Over Abuse,” The New York Times, 24 April 2010, p. A4.
Stephen Castel and Nicholas Kulish “Belgian Police Raid Offices of Church in Abuse Case,” The New York Times, 25 June 2010, p. A6.
Official Communiqué of the Vatican. “Vatican, Belgian bishops on Raids of Church Offices: It was Not an Agreeable Experience,” 25 June 2010, http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/vatican-belgian-bishops-on-raids-of-church-offices.
Rachel Donadio, “Raid on Church in Belgium Was ‘Deplorable,’ Pope Says,” The New York Times, 28 June 2010, p. A4.
Pope Benedict XVI, “Benedict XVI’s Solidarity with Bishops of Belgium,” 27 June 2010, http://www.press.catholica.va/news.
Shawn Pogatchnik, “Irish Say Religious Groups in Abuse Case Hide Wealth,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 28 May 2009, p. B13.
Sarah Lyall, “Blaming Church, Ireland Detail Scourge of Abuse,” The New York Times, 21 May 2009, p. A1.
“Pope Expresses Personal Anguish and Horror over Priestly Sex Abuse,” 27 October 2006, Statement of Pope Benedict, 2006 accessed at http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=7271.
It finally accepted the resignation of Bishop James Moriarity of Kildare and Leighlin in April 2010. The Vatican did not accept the resignations of auxiliary bishops Eaomon Walsh and Bishop Ramond Field. They were assigned “revised responsibilities within the diocese,” according to the Associated Press. See the Associated Press, “Ireland: Vatican Rejects Resignations,” The New York Times, 12 August 2010, p. A14.
Pope Benedict XVI, “Text of the Pastoral Letter of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the Catholics of Ireland,” 19 March 2010, www.vatican.va/holy_father/Benedict xvi/letters/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20100319_church-ireland_en.html112.
Associated Press, “Ireland: Vatican Sending Team to Check Effectiveness of Its Response to Abuse,” The New York Times, 13 November 2010, p. A7.
For a further discussion of such real estate disputes and bankruptcies in the United States, see: Formicola, “The Further Consequences,” pp. 445–465. For example, the members of St. Stanislaus Kostak Church in St. Louis have been in a dispute with the Archdiocese of St. Louis over $8 million in assets. Fearing that the archdiocese might use them to settle sexual abuse settlements, the parish has withheld sending funds to the bishop. The parish has been told by the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura that the actions of St. Stanislaus’s lay board and its parish priest constitute a “schism,” with the automatic penalty of excommunication. For a fuller explanation, see: Malcom Gay, “Renegade Priest Leads a Split St. Louis Parish,” The New York Times, 14 August 2010, p. A10.
Melinda Henneberger, “Vatican to Hold Secret Trials of Priests in Pedophilia Cases,” The New York Times, 9 January 2002, p. A8.
Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, “Circular Letter to Assist Episcopal Conferences in Developing Guidelines for Dealing with Cases of Sexual Abuses of Minors Perpetrated by Clerics,” 3 May 2011, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con.
Rachel Donadio, “Pope Offers Apology, but No Punishment, for Clergy’s Abuse,” The New York Times, 21 March, 2010, p. A6.
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© 2014 Jo Renee Formicola
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Formicola, J.R. (2014). Pushback and Payback: The Laity and the Lawyers. In: Clerical Sexual Abuse. Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137381644_6
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