Sez Critics Molesters
By Kerry Burke and Adam Lisberg
New York Daily News
October 25, 2003
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/465119p-391255c.html
Edward Cardinal Egan says he's figured out whom to blame for a recent uprising against his leadership: pedophiles.
In a letter sent to all 650 priests in the New York Archdiocese, Egan said criticisms leveled against him in an anonymous letter, as well as by a prominent monsignor, largely come from disgruntled priests who molested children.
"At the core of the letter and the declaration in support of it by Msgr. Howard Calkins are stories that are being told by priests who have been found guilty of sexually abusing minors," Egan wrote in the letter, dated Friday.
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| Edward Cardinal Egan in April. |
"This situation cannot be allowed to continue," he wrote. "We cannot be left open to all manner of lies, leading to all manner of scandal and damage to the archdiocese and the archbishop from people who refuse to take responsibility for their actions."
Priests and other archdiocesan observers told the Daily News yesterday they were astounded at Egan's words and his tone, saying he was fanning flames of dissent that had cooled in the last week.
And they said Egan is mistaken if he thinks complaints about his leadership come from just a small core of angry abusers.
"This is a great disservice to the church. It doesn't help the cardinal's image at all," one New York priest said. "That first letter, anonymous as it was, really captured the feelings of priests out there - and I'm sorry that the cardinal doesn't want to hear it."
The anonymous letter called for priests to hold a no-confidence vote against Egan, saying morale in the archdiocese has plummeted because he has been aloof, arrogant and dishonest.
Calkins later told The News that most priests agreed with the letter, in part because priests accused of sexual misconduct felt like they had little chance to defend themselves.
Calkins apologized to Egan the next day and offered to resign as a vicar - an offer the cardinal is still mulling. Calkins did not return calls for comment.
Egan convened his advisory Priest Council last week. After a two-hour meeting, the aides emerged with a strong defense of him - seemingly defusing the issue. Egan said in the letter he plans to visit all 19 regional vicariates to talk about the issue next year.
"It seems to me he should have left well enough alone," another priest told The News. "The issue was really settled after the meeting."
Egan's letter also laid out a process for pedophile priests who are "reported to be speaking untruthfully" to apologize and publicly correct their statements - or face a panel of church officials for judgment.
"Confident that all cases of the sexual abuse of minors by priests that have been treated during my tenure have been handled properly, I have no doubt what the conclusion of the panel will be," Egan wrote. "The conclusion, however, will be theirs."
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