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	Donald Wuerl Played Both Sides of the Fence – and Lost By Mike Ference Examiner July 20, 2009 http://www.examiner.com/x-12613-Pittsburgh-Independent-Examiner~y2009m7d20-Donald-Wuerl -played-both-sides-of-the-fence--and-lost On December 5, 1989, my son was the victim of gun shot blast to the back of his head. The gun was held just inches from his skull before the shooter pulled the trigger. The shooter then turned the gun on himself and successfully committed suicide. The prime witness in this event was now dead. Believe or not, that was not the worst of it. What would happen over the next few days, the next few months, the next few years and continue for almost two decades, tells the story of just how corrupt and uncivilized the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has become. Teenage suicides, sexual molestation, and attempted murders; these events were nothing more than inconvenience for the Pennsylvania power mongers who have been present during the exploitation of the political/judicial system – a system they continue to maintain for the benefit of a few well-placed and well-networked persons who do not have the common good in mind. After undergoing six or seven hours of emergency neuro-surgery, my son would be admitted to the intensive care unit and his vital signs would be closely monitored for the next several days. That night my wife would begin her 14-day vigil, almost never being more than a few feet from our son's bedside, the entire time. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Diocese would begin their 20-year vigil of covering up crimes by those pedophiles employed by the church, not only from the Pittsburgh Diocese, but from the Archdiocese of Boston as well. On the night of Adam's shooting, Serra Catholic High School Headmaster Sysol (now deceased) ventured into Presbyterian Hospital (now University of Pittsburgh Medical Center). Sysol would ask my wife if he could visit with our son. It was close to midnight and the toughest day ever for my son and our close-knit family. When Headmaster Sysol asked to visit with my son, my wife thought she would be going in with him. No such luck. Was Sysol on a mission? Was Sysol on a clandestine operation: find out what, if anything, Adam knew about the shooter who befriended Father John Wellinger a few years earlier, at St. Clare of Assisi Parish in Clairton. Sysol would apparently also be checking to see if my son, Adam, knew anything about Brother Kenneth Ghastin, a teacher from Serra High School who was accused of molesting two teenage brothers in 1974 while teaching at the now-defunct Christopher Columbus High School, a Catholic School in Boston's North End, according to an article in the Framingham Metro West Daily News. As far as any concern for my son, Sysol had none. He would question my son for almost three hours, relentlessly, asking the same questions from a kid still dazed by a shotgun blast to the head and still trying to recover from seven hours of intensive neuro-surgery. Let me repeat, at Serra Catholic High School, in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, during the days when my son was shot and another boy committed suicide, there was a Boston molester assigned there, having close access to the school's male youths. No one warned us of this. Instead, they covered up their mess. It wouldn't be until the mid-1990s, that the Archdiocese of Boston would finally reach a financial settlement with the family. The settlement would include a payment of $30,000 to one of the brothers. Sadly, according to the paper, one of the brothers who had a history of drug problems would die in 1994. Church files would call it a suicide. For now that's the rest of the story. But plenty of questions still need to be answered and will be. Did Donald Wuerl cooperate with the Archdiocese of Boston and permit known pedophiles to enter or remain in the Pittsburgh Diocese? If so, were other pedophiles admitted to Serra Catholic High School and other Catholic institutions? Was it Headmaster Sysol's job to keep an eye on Brother Ghastin and possibly other pedophile clergy from Boston? Knowing what we know now about the Archdiocese of Boston clergy abuse scandal, anything is possible. Little wonder that Father Ron Lengwin badgered the McKeesport Police to quash the case of the attempted murder of my son, with little investigative effort on the part of McKeesport police and no cooperation with Pennsylvania State Police. No wonder Serra Catholic High School administrators would not permit McKeesport police to investigate the crime scene; according to the police report, and even against Lengwin's judgment, as McKeesport police were not permitted on Serra Catholic High School property for over 24 hours. It becomes clear why the Pittsburgh Diocese went to such great lengths to cover up the crimes of not one pedophile but at least two – John Wellinger and Kenneth Ghastin. No wonder current St. Vincent Archabbot Douglas Nowicki would offer me a de facto bribe, in sending my son Adam to St. Vincent College. No wonder, Cardinal Bernard Law would visit that same Latrobe institution before his final and most shameful departure for Rome. A call to Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport, PA today resulted in the principal refusing to give his last name and almost begging for advice on how to handle this latest development. I advised the man to do the right thing. He did not know how to respond or what I even meant. So much for the training and all the zero-tolerance policies; especially, when it comes to clergy sex abuse, not to mention, yet another suicide victim. I hope to talk to Barbara Thorp from the Archdiocese of Boston as soon as possible. Likewise, New York Franciscan administrators, Father Patrick Boyle and Father Robert Campagna seem prepared to cooperate and provide the necessary information needed to finally get to the truth. For now, the Franciscan Brother Kenneth Ghastin who taught at Serra Catholic is the same Franciscan Brother Kenneth Ghastin whose appears in a list of Boston archdiocese predators/molesters. Anyone with additional information to this story or similar events please feel free to send a message to my email address is Ference@icubed.com or drop a dime at 412-233-5491. Reporting live from Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle – where the confluence of the Sicilian mob and Democratic Party meet to form the deMOBocrats.
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