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	Setting the Record Straight: an Interview with Murphy Trial Judge Fr. Thomas Brundage Vatican Radio March 31, 2010 http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=368736 UNITED STATES -- The judge who presided over the Church Court that was trying Fr. Lawrence Murphy on charges he abused deaf boys in the confessional, Fr. Thomas Brundage, has written an article in the archdiocesan newspaper of Anchorage, Alaska, where he is currently stationed. The article is critical of the New York Times' reporting of the Fr Murphy case, and seeks to set the record straight. Chris Altieri reached Fr. Brundage by phone this (Wednesday) morning and asked him about the trial, which began in the mid 1990's on the explicit authorization of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which the man who would become Pope Benedict XVI was head at the time. Fr. Brundage: From 1996 until 1998, the trial lasted about eighteen (18) months, and concluded with Fr. Murphy's death. Chris Altieri: - And at any time during that trial, did you have any pressure whatsoever from Rome to abey the proceedings, to suspend them, to push this under the rug - anything like that? Fr. Brundage: No, never. If anything it was just the opposite. Rome waived the statute of limitations in this case. We were dealing with extremely complex canonical issues, because during that time, canon law was going through a lot of evolutions, [and so] I had to make private and public discussions with Roman officials trying to figure out how to try a case like this – and as I say, you know, I had meetings with Church officials in Rome, meetings with Church officials in Washington, DC, and I had complete assistance, and never once was I told to – to stop the case or to do anything less than to proceed to its conclusion. Unfortunately, Fr. Murphy's death concluded the case. Chris Altieri: We had a period of crisis, a period of soul searching, or reflection, and now, we're in the period of reform. Where along that spectrum, along that timeline, where and what, in your opinion is the role of then-Cardinal Ratzinger and [now] Pope Benedict? To say it simply: is he [Pope Benedict XVI] part of the problem, or part of the solution? Fr. Brundage: He was part of the solution. He has probably been the most pro-active major religious figure with regard to trying to deal with the sexual abuse of children, in terms of preventing it, in terms of repairing as much as you can after the fact, and finding justice for the victims. There's a very noticeable change after 2001. Prior to that date, most cases of sexual abuse on appeal went to the Roman Rota, and the cases tended just to stay there a long period of time, and often did not seem to get resolved. After 2001, the cases were sent to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) – and it was almost an immediate, night-and-day difference. The cases were handled fast[ly] and fair[ly], with the rights of everybody respected. And, as Pope – no pope has done as much as Benedict has done in terms of publicly talking about the shame that has come to the Church because of this, the filth of the whole issue of abusing a child, especially by a priest, and I think, historically, he will go down as being an extraordinarily powerful figure helping the Church to recover from this. Chris Altieri: What do you think of the reporting that has been done on this by the Times that broke the story and by the other outlets that picked it up? Fr Brundage: I have to admit to being a little bit outraged, particularly by the New York Times and the Associated Press. In the online version of the NYT, they felt free to quote me from a document that they got off the internet – and I finally found the document, and I looked at the document and the quotes that were supposedly from me, and the handwriting was beautiful. My handwriting is awful. In fact, it's hard to even read my handwriting – and so I was a bit outraged that they would not have had the journalistic sense to at least try to contact the source of a quote like that. They also are well aware, having the case file in hand, of my role in the case, and it was just unbelievable to me, given the role that I had, that nobody had even attempted to contact me.
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