BishopAccountability.org
	Giving a Voice to the Voiceless By Erin E. Harrison The Patch November 8, 2010 http://fairfield.patch.com/articles/giving-a-voice-to-the-voiceless A taboo subject that hits close to home will be the focus of a reenactment this weekend, based on actual testimony from clergy sexual abuse cases that took place in the Diocese of Bridgeport over a period of several decades. Voice of the Faithful in the Diocese of Bridgeport will present a captivating dramatic presentation, "Bless Me, Father, For I Have Sinned!" on Nov. 13 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Norwalk Concert Hall in Norwalk City Hall, 125 East Avenue, Norwalk. Although many of these cases are decades old, lawsuits continue to plague the diocese with more abuses coming out of the dark. A former Fairfield man claims in a lawsuit filed in September against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport that he was sexually abused by a priest at a Fairfield church in the early 1970s. Eric Sauers, who currently lives in Iowa, states in his lawsuit filed in Bridgeport Superior Court, that he was abused by the Rev. Walter Philip Coleman while he was an altar boy at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Fairfield. He claims the abuse began when he was 10 years old. "Bless Me, Father, For I Have Sinned!" is a panel discussion that will include Terry McKiernan of BishopAccontability.org and Barbara Blaine, founder of the Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). The dramatic presentation draws from approximately 11,000 of 12,600 pages of previously sealed court documents known as the "Rosado files," which relate to the abuse of power and sexual abuse of children by clergy in the Diocese of Bridgeport, where more than $37 million of settlements has been paid to claimants. The lawsuits of sexual abuse were brought in 1993 against several priests, including Raymond Pcolka, Martin Federici, Charles Carr and Laurence Brett, who are featured in the play. Aside from the introductory and narrative elements, the words of "Bless Me, Father, For I Have Sinned!" are taken directly from depositions, affidavits and letters from bishops, monsignors, abusers, victims and their families. The purpose of the play is to educate the faithful and the general public about the atrocities that occurred in the Catholic Church by those holding the most sacred positions and the blatant betrayal of the victims and the people of the church, but also of brother priests who, by and large, live their ordination promises and serve the people of God. "Bless Me, Father, For I Have Sinned!" gives a voice to the voiceless and to the scores of children who were molested, and often times, disbelieved when they told those in authority about priestly abuse. Tickets may be purchased for $20 at www.votfbpt.org or at the door.?
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