MN- Twin Cities church authorities attack victim's mom; SNAP responds

By David Clohessy
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
February 25, 2014

http://www.snapnetwork.org/mn_twin_cities_church_authorities_attack_victim_s_mom_snap_responds

St. Paul Catholic officials are basically defending their wrongdoing by blaming the mother of a child sex abuse victim. Shame on them.

Bishop Piché and Bishop Cozzens should fire the lawyer who made this attack and the church official who approved it. 

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/246985491.html

There has long been an enormous gap between what Catholic officials say in public and what Catholic officials do in court. The only silver lining here is that, because this mom is bravely speaking out, the continuing callousness of Twin Cities Catholic officials has been exposed. 

The Star Tribune reports that, in a Feb. 7 court filing, church officials said that the mother “was aware of the time one of her boys was spending with (now convicted predator Fr. Curtis) Wehmeyer” and that “she knew that such interaction was contrary to established Archdiocese policy.”

Does it get much more despicable than blaming a mom because her son was sexually assaulted by a priest, an allegedly trustworthy, holy and celibate man of God? 

And remember: this isn't an “off-the-cuff” insensitive remark by a low level church employee who was caught off-guard by an aggressive reporter who jumped out of the bushes. This is a carefully-crafted legal document that was no doubt thoroughly discussed and vetted by several high ranking church officials and church lawyers.

Again, shame on every archdiocesan staffer who played a role – large or small - in this mean-spirited attack. And shame now on every archdiocesan and parish staffer who does nothing in light of this attack. 

Bishop Piché and Bishop Cozzens, through one of their public relations staff, claim that the attack is in “an early filing, written before any legal fact-finding in the case.”

So? If anything, that makes it worse, not better. 

One might be able to understand such inexcusable cruelty LATE in a case, if church officials are really desperate and no settlement seems possible (But even then, frankly, it's hard to imagine how men who profess to be caring shepherds could possibly justify blaming a mom for her child's victimization by a shrewd and cunning predator priest.) 

And maybe one might be able to understand such inexcusable cruelty if FACTS emerged that warranted it. But to do so before “any fact-finding” makes it even more cruel. 

But the bottom line is that when you attack the mom of a child sex abuse victim, it doesn't matter when it happens or on what it is based. It is simply wrong. It is vicious to rub even more salt into the already-deep and still fresh wounds of a family whose children were sexually assaulted by a cleric. 

But the cruelty of archdiocesan staff doesn't stop there. They have also delayed paying for therapy for the same family. And the boy's mom says she's “so exasperated” by how church officials are treating her family.

Bishop Piché and Bishop Cozzens claim, again through a public relations staffer, that “any delinquencies were due to a temporary staffing change in the chancery office.”

Sorry, we don't buy that.

Time and time again, when Twin Cities Catholic officials are found acting irresponsibly, they claim it's some misunderstanding, miscue or mistake. But those claims have long worn thin.

There's an easy fix here. Twin Cities Catholic officials could just make public a list of other expenses that allegedly 'fell through the cracks' during an alleged staff transition. If there are many of them, then we'll apologize for our skepticism and then parishioners and the public will know that church officials were not retaliating against this brave, wounded family.