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	Decision to Laud Bishop Spurs Outcry By E. J. Montini Arizona Republic November 19, 2011 http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2011/11/19/20111119decision-laud-bishop-montini.html David Clohessy got a telephone call at his office in St. Louis on Wednesday from an overwrought man in Phoenix. He told Clohessy that as a boy he had been molested here by a Catholic priest. "He was crying, wondering how the folks at the (Catholic Community Foundation) could be so callous," Clohessy said. "The decision to honor Bishop O'Brien is opening up some old wounds. It could do real harm." Clohessy is referring to a column I wrote last week outlining the Catholic Community Foundation's decision to honor Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, who used to run the diocese in Phoenix. Each year, the foundation puts on a fancy fundraising ball called the Crozier Gala. This year, it decided to select as its "faith" honoree Bishop O'Brien, a man who signed an agreement with former Maricopa County Prosecutor Rick Romley in which he admitted that he had shuffled suspected pedophile priests from parish to parish as a way of protecting them, and who later was prosecuted for striking and killing a man with his car and fleeing the scene. "It's unbelievable," said Clohessy, who for 22 years has been the director of St. Louis-based SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "These decisions about who you honor don't get made in the blink of an eye," he said. "Multiple people sat around and not one of them thought of the effect on the already wounded. Or thought about the chilling effect it might have on those who have not yet spoken up. Or thought at all." He may be correct. Vince Watson, the father of a boy abused during O'Brien's tenure, told me for last week's column, "With all of the wonderful, well-meaning and dedicated servants of the Lord, couldn't the church come up with better than this shell of a man?" One reader who responded to that column thought Watson's assessment was too harsh. "What about forgiveness?" he asked. SNAP's Clohessy told me, "Forgiveness is good. It's healthy. We encourage people to forgive. But there is a difference between a private choice and a public action. This is a public action. An honor. It's one thing to hold no malice in your heart and a whole other thing to elevate someone and honor them as a model or shining example. That's just wrong." What of those who say that O'Brien also did some good things? I asked. "That's the argument so many of us heard when we reported our predators to church officials," Clohessy said. "They would tell us, 'Well, Father So-and-so has done such good work. You don't want to hurt the church, do you?' It's sick." I've heard from a lot of outraged Catholics concerning the decision of the foundation to honor O'Brien. I also heard from a number of victims. One wrote, "As a survivor of both molestation and rape from ages of 6 to 10 it does seriously mess up your head. Every time I hear of someone like O'Brien I cringe and wish that I could do something for these kids. ... I lived behind a veil of alcohol and drugs. Only God knows why I am still on this earth." Another wrote, "After reading your article, my conclusion is that NOTHING HAS CHANGED ... Bishop O'Brien may have done a lot of good but he also caused many families a lot of grief. I know because my family has suffered because a priest warped my outlook on life. I have worn the shoes of the abused and I know firsthand what it is like." Carl Mawhinney, another victim, called to ask, "Can I just add my name, my outrage? I was in the news for five years over this. It's not right." The foundation told me it was honoring O'Brien because he founded the organization, which has generated millions of dollars to help others. More than a few people pointed out that former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who is accused of abusing eight boys, created a foundation that also has done good. Should he be honored? The best suggestion I received came from a woman named Sue. If only she were a member of the Catholic foundation's board. She wrote: "Wouldn't it be lovely if Thomas O'Brien could actually be humble, as Christ was? He could decline the honor at the Crozier Gala, asking the committee instead to honor a family representing real faith -- like one who has survived the ordeal of priestly (abuse), followed by a bishop's blindness, and actually remained steadfast in their religious beliefs. Now THEY would be faith heroes." Contact: ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com
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