NECN
September 4, 2009
http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/09/04/Court-to-decide-whether-clergy/1252095203.html
[with video]
Brian Burnell, Hartford, Conn. - The battle over documents detailing sexual abuse by priests in the Bridgeport, Connecticut, Roman Catholic Diocese will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The diocese wants the papers to remain sealed, but victims want them aired in public.
The diocese settled 23 lawsuits connected to priests sexually abusing children back in 2001. These documents were part of those suits and detail what went on and how the church handled, or didn't handle, the issue.
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Sharon See was sexually abused by Rev. Raymond Pcolka when she was a child. She filed suit against the Bridgeport, Connecticut Roman Catholic Diocese in 1993. Her suit with 22 others was settled in 2001. Some 12-thousand pages of documents were sealed by the court before the settlement. They include depositions by victims telling their stories and detail how the diocese, specifically then Bishop Edward Eagan, handled pedophile priests. Victims claim he moved abusive priests from parish to parish and tried to cover up the problem. 4 newspapers want the papers released. The diocese does not and has asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a state supreme court ruling ordering the opening of the files.
Sharon See, Abuse Survivor: (1:34:35) Eagan handled things inappropriately and as in anyone who handles something inappropriately I think he needs to be able to answer for his behavior. And I don't think that the faithful of the Diocese of Bridgeport
or the general public really know what Cardinal Eagan's role in this was.
Eagan became Cardinal of New York before retiring. Bishop William Lori took over and is overseeing the fight to keep these records secret.
Bishop Lori is not granting interviews on this and a spokesman for the diocese, Joseph McAleer, directed us to the diocese website where the bishop is keeping the faithful informed.
The diocese has said the first amendment protects the confidentiality of internal documents. In a letter to the Catholic faithful on the website Bishop Lori writes, "...aside from our compelling constitutional claim, pre-trial documents are kept private for good reason, as these documents often include inaccurate, incomplete or irrelevant information." The Diocese is also pleading its case with an editorial in The Connecticut Post by Chancellor of the Diocese Nancy Mathews. Sharon read it and says Mathews seems to be saying the release of documents could open old wounds for the victims.
Sharon See, Abuse Survivor: She has no right to speak for me and what hurts me is the fact that the diocese continues to hide and the diocese continues to want to keep under wraps what they did and how they handled things in the past. What would help me and would help everyone to move forward is if it was disclosed and everybody knew what happened and it was all out in the open and then everyone can start to heal.
The Supreme Court will issue a decision by the end of the month.
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