Says Sundborg Had Access to 'Hell Files'
By Amy Rolph
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
January 14, 2009
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/396042_lawsuit15.html
Seattle University President Stephen Sundborg is named in a lawsuit alleging that Jesuit leaders covered up the crimes of priests who sexually abused at least 43 Native Alaskan children during the span of four decades.
The lawsuit, filed in Alaskan Superior Court in the city of Bethel, states that Sundborg had access to "Hell Files" — private church documents detailing things priests had done that were "not good" — when he was head of a Northwest order of Jesuits from 1990 to 1996.
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| Native Alaskan Rena Abouchuk, of Kelso, reads a statement Wednesday in front of Seattle University that says she was abused by priests as a child in Alaska Photo by Meryl Schenker |
At a news conference Wednesday, an attorney representing victims of abuse said Sundborg knew a Jesuit priest had sexually abused children, yet allowed that priest to serve in Alaska.
"Alaska was essentially used as a dumping ground for pedophile priests for decades," said Anchorage-based attorney Kenneth Roosa. "It was a pedophile's paradise."
Sundborg was working Wednesday, but declined through a spokesman to be interviewed. A statement from Sundborg was posted on SU's Web site that morning:
"The allegations brought against me are false. I firmly deny them. I want the victims and the entire community to know that. The complaint filed by the plaintiffs' lawyers represents an unprincipled and irresponsible attack on my reputation."
The statement continued: "Let me be clear — my commitment to justice and reconciliation for all victims remains steadfast. The sexual abuse by Catholic priests is one of the most shameful episodes in the history of our church. I will continue to work toward the goal of bringing healing to all victims."
The lawsuit says that from the 1950s to early 1990s, six priests or people they managed sexually abused — in some cases raped — Native Alaskan children.
Some of those victims attended Wednesday's news conference on a sidewalk bordering the Seattle University campus on 12th Avenue on Capitol Hill. Tearfully, they told reporters about how priests abused them when they were children in isolated Alaskan villages.
Most said the abuse was widespread — never involving only one child.
Flo Kenney said she kept silent for almost 60 years about abuse she suffered in the small mission village of Holy Cross — until just a few months ago. She said she was depressed in adolescence, largely because of a feeling that her heritage was being stripped away by harsh discipline at the Jesuit mission.
She was told to talk with the Father Supreme at the mission — a man who ended up bringing her to his home often.
"Supposedly he was there to comfort me — to help me out of my depression," Kenney said. "By the time I was 13, I had been sexually abused."
Rena Abouchuk, a Kelso resident who grew up in the Alaskan village of Saint Michael's, said a priest abused her and her brother — as well as six of her cousins who later committed suicide.
Wednesday, she read aloud a letter she wrote to the priest.
"You did so many evil things to young children. ... You lived your life like you did nothing wrong," she said.
She added: "You will one day have to answer to God."
John Manley, an attorney representing the victims, said his clients were aged 6 to 16 at the time of the alleged abuse. Forty-two plaintiffs now are in Alaska, and one in Washington.
Manley said it was not unusual for adults to come forward to complain of sexual abuse they suffered decades earlier.
"Most of the time, it comes in a delay," he said. "People ask, 'Why am I so messed up?' "
Emily Holt, an SU junior who is news editor at the student newspaper, said the campus community was shocked by allegations that Sundborg may have known about the abuse and kept quiet.
"A lot of students have the feeling that this might have very grave consequences," Holt said.
Also named in the lawsuit are the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, which includes Northwest states, and the Pioneer Education Society.
Two years ago, the Roman Catholic religious order agreed to pay $50 million to dozens of Alaska Natives who were sexually abused by priests. Roosa said this is the latest wave of suits filed on behalf of victims, and that more are likely to come.
P-I reporter Amy Rolph can be reached at 206-448-8223 or amyrolph@seattlepi.com
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