BishopAccountability.org
	Conclusive Evidence Discovered of the Catholic Church’s History of Protecting Priests Who Were Child Abusers Seth H. Langston January 24, 2011 http://sethlangsonlaw.com/blog/conclusive-evidence-discovered-of-the-catholic-church%E2%80%99s-history-of-protecting-priests-who-were-child-abusers.html Last week, two letters that were written by the Vatican and which instructed Bishops not to cooperate with civil authorities investigating child abuse by priests finally saw the light of day. There are undoubtedly more such letters but these go a long way in documenting how the Catholic Church has long been dedicated to protecting its own, instead of protecting and helping victims of priest abuse. The first letter, which got much media attention, was a letter signed by Archbishop Luciano Storero, who was Pope John Paul II’s envoy to Ireland. Archbishop Storero wrote to the Irish Catholic hierarchy that “the situation of ‘mandatory reporting’ gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and a canonical nature.” This was in response to adopted child protection policies of a commission of Irish Bishops that included an obligation to report abuse allegations to the police. The second letter, which has gotten much less media attention, was written in January, 1984 by the Vatican to the Bishop of Tucson, Arizona. As in the letter to Irish Bishops, the Vatican warned Bishop Moreno of Tucson against cooperating with civil authorities and instructed him to protect child abusing priests. The following passage was in that letter: “ The files of a Bishop concerning his priests are altogether private; their forced acquisition by civil authority would be an intolerable attack upon the free exercise of religion in the United States; and we have no doubt that both Federal courts and public opinion would sustain us in this position. Your Excellency should therefore make known immediately and with clarity that no priest’s files will be sent to any lawyer or judge whatever. … We should be clear and resolute, for failure in this regard might initiate a movement toward a most unfavorable precedent in law and-no less importantly-frighten and upset not a few priests whose files are perhaps less than flattering.” [A complete copy of this letter] These letters lead inevitably to the question: How many times did Bishops across the country obstruct justice on behalf of child molesters and to protect themselves from having to pay monetary damages to victims? Is there any reason to believe that Bishops in both North and South Carolina failed to follow the mandates of the Vatican? Professor Marci Hamilton, who is one of the leading authorities on child sexual abuse and the Catholic Church, just wrote an excellent article on the Catholic Churches history of protecting child abuse. I encourage everyone to read it. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/01/the_tangled_web_tightens_for_the_vatican.html Fortunately, there is no criminal Statute of Limitations in North Carolina for felonies involving child abuse so victims can still come forward and press charges. Moreover, North Carolina victims may still be able to pursue claims for monetary compensation from the Priest and his Diocese for fraudulently concealing their knowledge that the priest was a child abuser, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. Seth Langson, Attorney at Law, Practice devoted exclusively to representing victims of sex abuse across North Carolina. Free consultations.
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