Marker Dedicated to Abuse Survivors, by Drew Kerr, Des Moines Register, April 23, 2007

Marker Dedicated to Abuse Survivors

By Drew Kerr
Des Moines Register
April 23, 2007

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070423/NEWS/704230326/1001

[See also a gallery of photographs from the dedication ceremony.]

Grand Mound, Ia. — Mike Hitch was silent for nearly four decades about the sexual abuse he endured as a boy in a Fort Madison church led by the Rev. James Janssen.

But Sunday he delivered an emotional speech in front of 100 people gathered at Sts. Philip & James Catholic Church in Grand Mound for the unveiling of a monument remembering the children Janssen allegedly sexually abused over decades as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. The monument serves as a reminder, victims say, of the continuing struggle against abuse in all forms.

Finding the courage to talk publicly about the abuse "took a lot of soul searching," said Hitch, who now lives in Broken Arrow, Okla., and is no longer a practicing Catholic. "It's not just something you can come out and tell, but it's a step you have to take to heal."

Clergy abuse survivors unveil a stone monument dedicated to victims Sunday at Sts. Philip & James Catholic Church in Grand Mound. From left are Mike Rocca of Rochester, Ia., Dan Green of Grand Mound, Mike Hitch of Broken Arrow, Okla., and David Waldorf of Burlington.\uFEFF Dozens of people gathered for the emotional ceremony.
Photo by HARRY BAUMERT/THE REGISTER

Hitch was never a member of the 175-family church in Grand Mound, a rural community located just west of the Quad Cities on U.S. Highway 30, but was drawn because of the strong support the parish members there have shown to abuse survivors.

Janssen finished his career as a priest at the church between 1980 and 1990. A group at the parish - Catholics for Spiritual Healing - has become a vocal supporter for the abuse survivors and their search for justice in the courts and within the church.

The Davenport Diocese agreed to $9 million in settlements on claims of more than three dozen abuse victims in 2004, and almost a year ago settled another lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by Janssen of about a dozen boys in six parishes over three decades.

Dan Green wipes away a tear after hearing an emotional speech by a fellow clergy abuse survivor.
Photo by HARRY BAUMERT/THE REGISTER

By filing bankruptcy in October, the diocese avoided paying out pending claims in other cases, including $1.5 million a jury awarded to a Davenport man a month earlier.

Janssen, the most frequently sued priest in the diocese, denied the abuse claims. He was placed on indefinite leave in 1990, retired in 1991 and was defrocked in 2004 after some of his victims spoke out.

A small group of vocal survivors joined Hitch during Sunday's observance, which included the release of 14 white doves and comments from the lawyer who represented the victims.

The 3-foot-high granite slab at the center of the ceremony was ordered as part of a 2004 settlement with the diocese. All parishes in the diocese are to make similar efforts to remember victims, although Grand Mound's efforts are described as rare and go far beyond those of their peers.

"This is something that is indeed significant," said the Rev. David Brownfield, the church's pastor since November. "We wanted to show the victims we were committed to changing the way business had been done in the past."

Some remain leery of the response from church leadership, however.

Steve Thiesen, the Iowa director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the monument does not replace the larger dialogue he says the Catholic Church is refusing to have.

"I'm very disappointed," said Thiesen, himself a survivor of childhood abuse by a nun. "The Church had this wonderful opportunity to do the right thing, address the abuse on the streets, in the schools, at home. But because they stonewalled, it affects every child being abused today. It makes it that much more difficult for them to come forward."

Attempts to reach the Davenport Diocese were unsuccessful.