BishopAccountability.org
	Sex Abuse Victims Call Fairbanks Diocese Reorganization Plan a “second Rape” By Elsie Boudreau The Diocese of Fairbanks and Sexual Abuse October 29, 2009 http://secondrape.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/sex-abuse-victims-call-fairbanks-diocese-reorganization-plan-a-second-rape/ It is unacceptable and devastating that the lives of our Native children are worth so little in the eyes of Bishop Kettler and the Fairbanks Diocese. Their minimum offer of $5500 to children who were raped, sodomized, deprived of cultural integrity, robbed of language rights, separated from families, and basically treated as second class citizens is nothing more than a second rape. Diocese officials knew that they were sending predator pedophiles into our villages where children were so trusting and were shown by example to respect those wearing the white collar. Officials knew that these men raped innocent boys and girls by the hundreds, but allowed them to continue serving as “Christ on earth.” And all the while, officials have denied the abuse, told victims to keep quiet, and refused to pay for services to help them. Bishop Kettler declared bankruptcy last year rather than be exposed in more than 200 possibly scandalous and damning sex abuse trials that would show the full scope and scale of the abuse and the cover-up by church officials. Every step of the way, diocese officials have used legal tactics and half-truths to avoid being pastoral, doing the right thing, and acting in a Christian manner. This offer of $5500 is so meaningless, that it will not even pay for a year’s worth of therapy and the expenses that the victims incur to simply have access to services. This reorganization plan is a slap in the face to a proud and dignified people. We, as Native people, can no longer tolerate being treated as second class citizens. We need to band together in unity and insist justice be done. Diocese officials should be ashamed, and we hope that the courts reject the plan in order for our people to ascribe to the level of humanness we know and deserve. Elsie Boudreau LMSW is a Alaska Native survivor of clergy sexual abuse, social worker and advocate for victims.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.