BishopAccountability.org
	Why I Started the Emily & Rosemary Fund Voice of the Faithful August 10 2010 http://votf.org/14221 Lynette Petruska was the first female chaplain at Gannon University, a Catholic diocesan university in Erie PA. Appointed in 1999, Ms. Petruska lost her position in 2003 after working to expose clergy sexual misconduct. This is her story as presented in a speech at the press conference where Voice of the Faithful announced her generous gift establishing the Emily & Rosemary Fund for Women in the Church. I am proud to announce today the creation of the Emily and Rosemary Fund for Women in the Church, a fund that will offer financial support for women in the Roman Catholic Church who lose their jobs because of injustice or discrimination. I do it to support the women who continue to face gender bias and discrimination in our Church. I do it also to honor two strong women, my grandmothers. They were an inspiration to me as I faced my own battles, a story I would like to share with you today. In 1999, I was named the first female chaplain of Gannon University. I was proud to have broken this gender barrier and worked tirelessly to serve the students, faculty, and staff at the University. I knew that as a woman precluded from sacramental ministry because of the gender biases of my church, I would have to work harder to be accepted in my new role. Those gender biases are even more apparent today with the Roman Catholic Church recently declaring that participation in the ordination of women is as grave a crime as pedophilia. When I was selected for the chaplain’s position, I made it clear to then Gannon President, Msgr. David Rubino, that I would not be used only to be swept aside later when a man became available to fill the position. Msgr. Rubino told me that as long as I did my job well, I would remain University Chaplain. I took my position and pastoral duties as University Chaplain seriously, which brought me into conflict with the administration and church hierarchy. Ultimately, I was demoted from the President’s Staff, the vice president level of leadership, because I was a woman and had the audacity to challenge Bishop Trautman’s cover-up of priest sexual misconduct at Gannon University. Therefore, I am here today because I want Catholics who see, suffer, or suspect sexual misconduct in the Church to speak out and make the Church safer for everyone, and I want other women who do this to know that they are not alone. The effort to remove me began shortly after the sudden and unexpected “resignation” of Msgr. Rubino, after I assisted in bringing a sexual harassment complaint against him to the attention of Bishop Trautman and Msgr. Rubino's affair with a subordinate became known. Shortly after Msgr. Rubino’s “resignation,” I was told by acting University President, Dr. Thomas Ostrowski, that he had attended a meeting with Bishop Trautman and Fr. Nicholas Rouch (Gannon Vice President of Mission and Ministry) at which he was told to remove me as University Chaplain. Dr. Ostrowski refused. In the fall of 2003, I was demoted from the President’s Staff. I repeatedly told Dr. Garibaldi (by then University president) and Fr. Rouch that I would not cooperate in their illegal discrimination against me. Their response was to threaten me with discipline. Out of respect for my former religious community, I resigned from the University to avoid being fired, even though it was not my personal preference to walk away from a ministry I loved, people I cared about, and a fight against injustice. I warned Gannon University that if it did not buy me out of my contract, I would sue because of the way it had discriminated against me. In arrogance, Gannon University refused to do the right thing: it mistakenly believed it was above the law. As many of you already know, I did sue Gannon University, Bishop Trautman, Msgr. Rubino, and Dr. Garibaldi because they discriminated against me and because they retaliated against me as a woman who tried to stop priest sexual misconduct and its cover-up at Gannon. I am pleased to announce that my lawsuit was resolved to my satisfaction after Bishop Trautman’s deposition was scheduled. What Bishop Trautman should have known when my lawsuit was resolved was that my efforts to put an end to his cover-up of priest sexual misconduct were not over. They were only beginning. As a result of my experience, I am here today to offer financial support for women in the Roman Catholic Church who lose their jobs because of injustice or discrimination. I am proud to announce the creation of the Emily and Rosemary Fund for Women in the Church. When I was leaving my religious community, two students approached me very concerned that I had no job or money. That conversation made me realize how lucky I was that I had another profession to return to and that others who work in the church are not as fortunate. Therefore, the Emily and Rosemary Fund has been created to support women who lose their employment in the Roman Catholic Church as the result of injustice or discrimination, which sadly happens all too often. It will also be used to support women working to bring about justice and equality in that Church. Emily and Rosemary are my grandmothers. Both were forced to work outside the homes at a time when it was less common for women to do so, because of the untimely deaths of their husbands. Both had a love for family and church that continues to inspire and influence my family. I make this gift today in their memory and in the memory of all women who have struggled because discrimination and injustice are all too common in the churches that they love. There are so many people that I need to thank who were part of bringing about this day. I cannot name them all by name, but I want to thank my family, friends, and members of my former religious community, who have inspired and challenged me. Special thanks to Tom Ostrowski for having the courage and integrity to tell me the truth because he believed it was the right thing to do even though this and other acts of integrity cost him the opportunity to be president of Gannon. Dr. Ostrowski embodies the Catholic values central to a Gannon education. Thanks to the students at Gannon, who taught me so much while I worked with them, and who supported me when I struggled with the unjust way I was treated. I want to particularly thank then Student Government President, Mike Nuttal, who challenged the University’s Board of Trustees to recognize that what the administration was doing was wrong, even though he was belittled by other members of the Board for his efforts. Thanks to the faculty and staff who supported me publicly and privately when I left, knowing that what had happened was unjust but equally knowing that they were powerless to stop it. Thanks to my lawyers, AnnDrea Benson, Chet Pleban and Marci Hamilton, who graciously took on the cause of challenging the injustice of discrimination in the churches because they believed, as did now-deceased Judge Edward Becker, that “employment discrimination unconnected to religious belief, religious doctrine, or the internal regulations of a church is simply the exercise of intolerance, not the free exercise of religion.” I especially thank Voice of the Faithful for their efforts to reform the Roman Catholic Church since the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in the United States in 2002. I applaud their efforts “to provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit, through which the faithful can actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church.” I also thank Voice of the Faithful for agreeing to accept and administer the Emily and Rosemary Fund so that other women victimized by the Roman Catholic hierarchy or working to bring justice and equality to the church will know that they are not alone. Finally, thanks to those who share the vision of the Emily and Rosemary Fund and who have graciously agreed to serve on the grants committee: AnnDrea Benson, Sr. Anne McCarthy, Mary Freeman, Sheila Connors Grove, and Svea Fraser. In closing, it is my hope that the creation of the Emily and Rosemary Fund will encourage other who see, suffer, or suspect sexual misconduct to speak up to make the Church safer for everyone. To those considering blowing the whistle on sexual misconduct in the Church, I want to say that doing so is worth the risk. Despite losses and difficulties, I have never regretted the choice I made. I have created the Emily and Rosemary Fund in the hope that it will help you know that you are not alone. I ask Catholics to spread the word about and to support the Emily and Rosemary Fund to empower other women to stand up to the injustices of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and I challenge this Diocese and others to spread the word about the Fund. Finally, I challenge Bishop Trautman to put an end to the cover-up of priest sexual misconduct in the Diocese of Erie. Priests who abuse their positions of trust to sexually exploit vulnerable adults must be removed from the priesthood, the same as pedophile priests were removed from the priesthood after the clergy child sexual abuse scandal became known. Bishop Trautman, I am watching, and I am waiting. If you fail to protect the Catholic faithful, I will be back.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.