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	Pope's Admission Welcomed, but Victims Want More Than Words By Morning Call Morning Call June 16, 2010 http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_mc-allentown-pope-sex-scandal.7272400may16,0,6137372.story For decades, the Vatican has deflected blame for what has become a global sex scandal by Catholic clergy, and even former Allentown Bishop Edward P. Cullen once said the news coverage of the issue was more difficult to deal with than the offending priests or the victims they molested. That drumbeat only grew louder the past three months as bishops worldwide have referred to the fallout as a "media campaign," "anti-Catholic hatred" and "petty gossip." Last week, Pope Benedict XVI said "enough." No more shooting the messenger. It's our fault and no one else's. According to theologians and experts, that is the effect of the pope's statement Tuesday that the church's sex scandal problem does not "come from outside enemies, but is born of sin within the church." The questions that remain are: Does the pope's new stance comfort victims and will the church follow his word with action? "In one clear statement, he has shut down 25 years of finger-pointing," John Allen Jr., a journalist for the independent National Catholic Reporter, said last week from Fatima, Portugal, where he was covering the pope's tour. "He's saying, 'It's our mess, stop making excuses.' He's changed the conversation." Cullen, Allentown Bishop John O. Barres and Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Regali were not made available to comment. Matt Kerr, spokesman for the Allentown Diocese, said because the pope speaks for the universal church, there would be nothing local bishops could add to his comments. The Catholic Church has been dogged for decades by allegations of harboring clergy who sexually abused children. The scandal exploded in 2002 with revelations of widespread abuse within the Archdiocese of Boston. Since then, the Catholic Church has spent more than $2 billion settling lawsuits filed by thousands of victims in dioceses where thousands of priests and other clergy were shuffled from parish to parish instead of being criminally charged. Eleven from the Allentown Diocese were targeted in civil lawsuits claiming abuse. But even as the church attempted to deal with the mess, some of its highest officials deflected blame. For example, asked by the church-run AD Times newspaper in 2003 what the most difficult aspect of the scandal was for him to handle, Cullen cited the media over the "priest perpetrators" who, he said, "suffer a serious psychiatric condition, which had to be taken into consideration." "Actually, it was dealing with the media, especially The Morning Call," he said. "They kept the story in the forefront of the local news by continuously repeating and restating old news in a hammering and battering fashion. Unfortunately, I think this approach sowed seeds of a deep mistrust of the paper in the hearts of the Catholic community." By the end of 2002, eight priests in the five-county Allentown Diocese had been removed or had resigned over allegations of abuse. That year, Cullen joined bishops nationwide in installing sweeping measures to protect children, including instituting background checks for clergy and others working and volunteering in the diocese of 272,000 Catholics, setting up a panel to review allegations of sexual abuse and pledging to file criminal charges against any suspected abuser. The diocese also offered counseling to victims. Cullen predicted then that "this horrific crisis will present an unprecedented renewal." The scandal has gone global in recent months with allegations that bishops in Germany and Ireland were still ignoring abuse within their churches. With the recent allegations came more deflecting by many, including a Vatican aide who called it a "media campaign," a Vatican cardinal who blamed the New York Times for biased reporting, and another who referred to the media coverage on the issue as "petty gossip." It wasn't the first time some of the church's highest figures attempted to shift blame for the sex scandals. However, it was the first time Pope Benedict rose up to put a stop to it, said Larry Chapp, professor of theology at DeSales University in Center Valley. "He sent a very clear message that enough is enough," Chapp said. "Stop pointing fingers and clean up your houses." That's significant because it's in direct conflict to how his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, handled the issue, he said. Chapp is convinced that John Paul II so revered the priesthood that he simply could not comprehend that the abuse being reported was true. As a result, he not only turned a blind eye to abusive priests who were simply given counseling and moved to another parish, but he actually promoted known pedophiles, said Allen, of the National Catholic Reporter. But has what experts are calling a stunning admission by Pope Benedict, who has a clear record of condemning the abuse, resonated with the victims he's pledged to help? "Well, it helps a little, because I feel like maybe someone finally believes us," said Stewart Ortega, a Harleysville man who says he remains tortured by the memory of being molested by a priest while he was an altar boy at an Allentown church. "But I'd also like to see the pope take an active role at preventing this from ever happening again." Juliann Bortz, local coordinator for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, welcomes Pope Benedict's words. But after years of hearing the church avoid the problem, she says she wants more. "I want to believe this time is different, I really do," said Bortz, who said she was abused by a teacher when she attended Allentown Central Catholic High School. "But I'm going to have to see action." Bortz wants that action to be the wholesale release of the names and whereabouts of all clergy believed to have abused children. Attorney Kenneth Mittman of Wyomissing, Berks County, has represented 140 victims in suits against the church in the dioceses of Allentown, Philadelphia and Scranton. For him, action means not only bringing charges against the offending clergy, but also against the bishops who condoned moving them from parish to parish. Mittman said if Pope Benedict wants to take real action, he'll rid the church of the known offenders and stop fighting a request to be deposed for lawsuits filed against the Vatican by victims in Kentucky. "Accept responsibility, hold those who did it accountable and compensate the victims," Mittman said. "We've had enough words." Yet, for victims like Ortega, no amount of repair by the church is going to be enough. It's been 29 years since Ortega said he was sexually abused by his parish priest, but he says the pain only seems to worsen with time. "It just never goes away," Ortega said. "Sometimes I feel there's no hope. It never goes away." Contact: matthew.assad@mcall.com
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