Sexual Abuse Victims Call for Saginaw Diocese Bishop's "Transparency" in Philadelphia Sex Abuse Case
By Justin Engel
Two victims of sexual abuse now advocating for children’s rights this afternoon delivered a letter asking for answers from the Most Bishop Joseph Cistone, whose name recently was linked to a planned clergy sexual abuse-based lawsuit in Philadelphia. Cistone, the diocese's leader, earlier this year was not named in any criminal indictments, but lawyers say he and others will be named in a civil case brought on by a former altar boy who claimed sexual abuse at a Philadelphia diocese in 1992, media reports indicate. Lawyers claim Cistone, who was appointed as the Saginaw diocese’s leader in 2009, helped oversee the shredding of documents relating to the alleged abuse. Kathy McCreedy, a Midland resident and member of Protecting Michigan’s Children, and Brad G. Sylvester, an Auburn man who belongs to Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), at 1 p.m. today gave the letter — intended for Cistone — to Sister Judith Mary O’Brien, vice chancellor of the Diocese of Saginaw. The letter calls on Cistone both to show more transparency regarding the Philadelphia case and to advocate against statute of limitation laws that both McCreedy and Sylvester says protects sexual predators from past abuse. The letter also questions whether the Diocese of Saginaw will pay for Cistone’s attorney fees in any potential civil case “We want accountability from the bishop,” said Sylvester, a 44-year-old who says he was abused as an 8-year-old attending St. Valentine at Beaver in Kawkawlin. “We want to make sure something like this never happens again.” O’Brien said Cistone was not at the diocese’s Saginaw Township campus today but that she planned to deliver it to him soon. She spoke briefly with Sylvester and McCreedy in the diocese lobby, offering a prayer to both. McCreedy said she also was a victim of sexual abuse, although her abuse was not linked to the Catholic church. But when clergy sexual abuse scandals began making international headlines a decade ago, she split from the church for “ethical reasons,” she said. McCreedy called Cistone’s silence regarding the Philadelphia clergy case “heartbreaking.” Attorneys during a criminal trial this year claimed Archdiocese of Philadelphia administrators shredded documents naming 35 priests accused of sexual abuse while allowing one priest to remain in active ministry with the Northeast Philadelphia parish, where a 10-year-old altar boy was abused. Msgr. William J. Lynn is serving three to six years in state prison after a Common Pleas Court jury in June found him guilty of endangering children when he was secretary for clergy under Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua. Lawyers claim Bevilacqua in 1994 ordered the destruction of the documents and Cistone witnessed the shredding while serving as a church official in the Philadelphia area. A Philadelphia attorney, Slade McLaughlin, who says he will pursue a lawsuit against Cistone, earlier this week likened the bishop's role in the case to that of a “kingpin." A diocese spokesperson has said Cistone would not comment on pending litigation. “I want the bishop to become a leader,” McCreedy said. “We want him to say, ‘It’s time to stop fighting the statute of limitations.’ I put this as my mission because I love the church. “A lot of us left the church, but we love the church.” Contact: jengel1@mlive.com
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