SNAP Wi Letter to Archbishop Listecki on Unsealing Weakland, Sklba Depositions; Mass of Atonement

SNAP Wisconsin
March 30, 2012

http://03409bc.netsolhost.com/snapwisconsin/2012/03/30/snap-wi-letter-to-archbishop-listecki-on-unsealing-weakland-sklba-depositions-mass-of-atonement/

Re: Mass of Atonement and motion to release court depositions of Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Bishop Richard Sklba

This letter is sent as an expression of our desire for justice. It is a desire we victims of childhood sexual violence by clergy share, with Christ, who also suffered the fate of so many nameless and forgotten children. In our own archdiocese, according to attorneys representing 350 of the 570 victim claimants in Federal Bankruptcy Court, at least 8,000 individual acts of child sex abuse have occurred in the archdiocese committed by 100 alleged offenders not included on the church’s “official” 2004 list of 43 priests with credible reports of child sex abuse.

So, it is fitting that we join with you today, at least those of us who still consider ourselves Catholic, in a shared prayer for justice and, specifically, to support and encourage you on the difficult and liberating path of atonement, repentance, and conversion from the sins of sexual abuse by clergy and the cover up of those crimes by church officials.

Specifically, we are asking you, as a fellow brother in Christ, to demonstrate as your first step to genuine atonement, to instruct your lawyers to drop your opposition to a motion, scheduled to be argued before Judge Susan V. Kelly in U.S. Bankruptcy Court next week, in which we victims, on behalf of the public, are seeking the immediate release of the recent court depositions of your predecessors Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Bishop Richard Sklba. Catholics have a right to know why you put the church into Chapter 11 bankruptcy; the testimony in these depositions, which concern the cover up of sex crimes by dozens of clergy for decades, will help give us the answers.

This would go a long way towards sending a signal that you are going to stop pursuing an unprecedented aggressive legal strategy against victims, such as when you attempted to throw out over 95% of the victims who had filed claims in court after urging them to come forward. And there are other disturbing recent developments: During the past two weeks, at least one archdiocesan priest was removed from his parish for child sex abuse reports, two offenders released from the priesthood discovered in jobs working with children and families, and a pedophile cleric, over the objection of victims and others, was buried by the archdiocese in full priestly vestments.

But there may be an even more important reason to release these depositions (Mark 14:66-68; John 18:15-18; Matthew 26:71-75).

For us, the violence we suffered was engineered and concealed by priests and bishops who claim to speak authoritatively in Christ’s name, are in direct succession to the apostles, and who demand full moral guardianship over society. If you and your predecessors claim to have this kind of authority over the care of souls, then you must assume the full responsibility that goes with it. Because of this, your expression of atonement and that of your predecessors must be genuine, bold, and unafraid.

St. Peter, the Gospel tells us, three times directly denied knowledge of Jesus as Jesus was being sent away to his execution. Yet, Peter, who “wept bitterly” upon realizing his cowardice is, mysteriously, the first successor in authority to Christ, the Chair of St. Peter in Rome around which the entire church gathers. That should give you hope that no matter what you or your predecessors are still denying or hiding from the people of God about the sexual abuse of children it is never too late to convert from these acts, acknowledge the betrayal, and weep as Peter did for not standing up for the truth. Only after openly admitting his failings and turning back to the truth could Peter assume the leadership Christ entrusted to him. Where Saint Peter once sat now the Pope sits: is this not a constant reminder that any one of us is capable of turning away from the truth and yet we can always find our way back to it.

Sincerely,

Peter Isely

SNAP Midwest Director

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

SNAPnetwork.org

Contact: peterisely@yahoo.com

414.429.7259

John Pilmaier

SNAP Wisconsin Director

SNAPwisconsin.com

Contact: pilmaier@milwpc.com

414.336.8575

Mike Sneesby

SNAP Milwaukee Co-Director

Contact: mikesnees@aol.com

414.915.4374