By Vanessa Ho
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
May 18, 2009
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/406280_Hunthausen18.html
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| Plaintiff's attorney Michael Pfau, right, presents former Seattle Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen with documents during a court proceeding in a lawsuit against the Seattle Archdiocese over child sex abuse by a priest in the 1970s. Photo by Joshua Trujillo |
One plaintiff in lawsuit settles for $600,000
Former Seattle Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen slowly made his way to the witness stand in a crowded courtroom Monday morning, where he denied knowing that a Spokane priest serving in his diocese 30 years ago was a serial child molester.
"(I had) feelings that were so sad that I knew nothing about it…" he said. "I still can't comprehend, I still don't know why…" he began to say, before an objection interrupted him.
The prelate's testimony offered a rare public window into how the Seattle Catholic Archdiocese has handled its long, secretive history of child sex abuse cases. A renowned figure who served from 1975 to 1991, Hunthausen testified that no one told him of the priest's past, and that he thought the priest was in Seattle to study at the University of Washington.
His testimony was part of an ongoing civil trial that originally involved two men abused by their parish priest in the late 70s. Before the proceedings began Monday, one of the plaintiffs settled with the archdiocese.
"For him, this case was always about the truth," said plaintiff's attorney Timothy Kosnoff, who said the settlement amount is $600,000. "He forced the Archdiocese to trial. He forced these church leaders to come in and explain themselves." The case had initially started with four plaintiffs and two settled before the trial.
The remaining plaintiff has alleged that Hunthausen and the Seattle Archdiocese knew -- or should have known -- that the priest was a predator. Filed in King County Superior Court, the case is the first sex-abuse claim against the Archdiocese to go to trial.
The priest in question, Patrick O'Donnell, testified last week that he molested at least 30 boys, including the plaintiff, during his 15-year priesthood.
Most of that time was spent in Spokane, where church leaders knew he was a sexual predator, as they bounced him among parishes and repeatedly sent him into treatment.
In 1976, the Spokane bishop learned that O'Donnell was molesting a 14-year-old boy and quickly sent him to Seattle for sexual-deviancy treatment. Someone arranged for O'Donnell to live at St. Paul's parish in Rainier Beach for two years, where the priest continued to assault boys, including the plaintiff.
Plaintiff's attorneys have suggested that Hunthausen likely knew of O'Donnell's past, because he had been close, lifelong friends with the Spokane bishop, Bernard Topel. Topel had been Hunthausen's spiritual advisor and professor at Carroll College in Helena, Mont. When Hunthausen became bishop of the Helena Diocese, Topel was one of his three consecrating bishops.
Topel died in the 1990s.
On Monday, Hunthausen testified that he couldn't recall having a conversation with Topel about O'Donnell, despite a notation from a priest personnel board record showing that the two bishops were going to discuss the priest's residence.
He said he was "emphatic" that the Spokane bishop never told him about O'Donnell's past.
"In other words, your best friend sent a pedophile to your diocese without telling you?" plaintiff's attorney Michael Pfau asked him, then added: Your spiritual advisor and friend of many decades sent you one of Spokane's worst child molesters?
"Yes, that's true. That's why it hurts so," replied Hunthausen, who walked into court in a black priest's suit and with the help of a cane, and spoke in a gentle voice.
Hunthausen said the way O'Donnell came to the archdiocese was unusual, because he did not have the customary recommendation letter from his supervising bishop. But because Hunthausen had been friends with the Spokane bishop, he said, he assumed the priest was "in good standing."
"It was a breach on my part…" he said. "I shouldn't have done that. I should have followed up on that."
Pfau sought to establish the faultiness of Hunthausen's memory, by bringing up another longtime, serial child molester, James McGreal, who was repeatedly returned to ministry despite his history. Initial complaints about McGreal surfaced around the same time O'Donnell came to Seattle.
"Do you have recollection of continuing to place Father McGreal in situations with parishes and schools after he molested children, or had been accused of molesting children?" Pfau asked Hunthausen.
"I never thought of it that way," Hunthausen testified, adding that he recalled placing the man into ministry after the assurances of a therapist. "But that's all I recall."
Pfau asked if he thought mistakes had been made regarding McGreal.
"Well, it's a question of whether it was a mistake, or the compulsion associated with the malady (McGreal) had," Hunthausen replied. He later testified that he had "taken responsibility" for the priest.
Regarding O'Donnell, Hunthausen testified that he never received any complaints about the priest while he was in Seattle.
"Was there any indication there was a cause for concern with O'Donnell and young boys?" Archdiocesan lawyer Michael Patterson asked him.
"None," he replied.
At one point, Hunthausen's testimony offered a short glimpse into his thinking during the 1970s. Like his former chancellor who testified last week, Hunthausen said he had believed that child sex abusers were treatable. He said the fact that their actions were criminal was not at the forefront of his thinking.
"I was working under the assumption at the time that this was more of homosexual behavior," he said. "I could not see the next step at the time."
"Is it your testimony that you did not understand the difference between a homosexual relationship and child molestation?" Pfau asked him.
"Of course I did," Hunthausen replied.
During Hunthausen's tenure in Seattle, he had been famous for his populist liberalism, in which he protested nuclear weapons by withholding half his income tax, prompting the IRS to garnish his wages. He let a gay Catholic group hold a special Mass at St. James Cathedral. And he stopped training deacons because of the Vatican's exclusion of women in that role.
His stances led to a two-year Vatican investigation in the early 80s, after which Catholic officials temporarily stripped Hunthausen of his authority in key areas.
Vanessa Ho can be reached at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattlepi.com.
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