Adam’s Ribs Strike Back !!! Women Vs. Pope

By Jerry Slevin
Christian Catholicism
December 19, 2014

http://christiancatholicism.com/adams-ribs-strike-back-women-vs-pope-francis/

Pope Francis likes to quip about women as Adam’s ribs, a demeaning allusion to the Genesis myth about Eve’s origin. Two modern “Adam’s ribs”, more like Joan of Arc types, and some American Sisters, are striking back at the “Argentinian Adam”. There is some overdue justice here, as Pope Francis often seems to treat women still mostly as moronic breeding machines. Ironically, then, that it is courageous women like the brave whistle blowing canon lawyer and former Minneapolis Archdiocesan chancellor, Jennifer Haselberger, and Minnesota Public Radio’s (MPR) tenacious reporter, Madeleine Baran, that are functioning as modern Joan of Arc’s to lance the papal veil, or the Wizard of Oz’s curtain, pick your metaphor.

For Haselberger’s extraordinary affidavit that she recently refers to in new comments ”after my affidavit was released in July of 2014 “, please click on this link to read it — you will be stunned! This affidavit is one of the most searing single statements ever by a Catholic Church insider and canon lawyer, alleging a widespread cover-up of clergy sex misconduct in the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis. She has made the most detailed claims yet, as a former insider no less, accusing archbishops and their top staff of lying to the public and of ignoring the U.S. bishops’ pledge to have no tolerance of priests who abuse.

And Madeleine Baran and her MPR team were just praised lavishly by Columbia University’s School of Journalism for MPR’s exhaustive coverage of the Minneapolis scandal that has earned them the very prestigious duPont Award with the following description:

MPR News: “Betrayed by Silence”

A heartbreaking, exhaustive investigation of sexual abuse and cover up in the Twin Cities Catholic Church

MPR News’ yearlong investigation exposed how leaders of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis continued to cover up abuse of children by priests, despite decades of assurances that the Catholic Church was safe. Reporters found that bishops provided secret payments to pedophiles, hid the names of abusers, failed to notify police of alleged sex crimes and didn’t warn parishioners of priests’ sexual misconduct. The report included everything from interactive databases of allegations against priests and where they served, and a display of internal church documents, to police records, court records, and victim settlement documents all showing extensive cover ups. MPR’s reporting has led to numerous actions to protect the public such as the opening of a criminal investigation of the archdiocese itself, resignations, forced retirements, leaves of absences, firings, and the release of names of abusive priests. The investigative team overcame the challenges rife in reporting this type of story: understanding the church’s complex structure and legal system; verifying old events and claims; the lack of documents available digitally; and the insular, private world of the priesthood.

Madeleine Baran, lead reporter; Sasha Aslanian, Mike Cronin, Tom Scheck, and Laura Yuen, reporters/producers; Jennifer Simonson, Amanda Snyder, Jeff Thompson, photographers; Eric Ringham, copy editor; Meg Martin, web editor; Will Lager, web producer; Mike Edgerly, Jon Gordon, Regina McCombs, and Bill Wareham, editors; Chris Worthington, project editor.

Visit the website. Follow on Twitter: @mprnews.

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Pope Francis disappointingly reminds me at times of “Mr. Infallibility” himself, Pope Pius IX, who seemingly failed to realize in September 1870 that his Papal States kingdom was over until he saw Italian nationalist, Garibaldi’s troops climbing the Vatican’s walls. They were not there to kiss the papal ring! Is Pope Francis waiting for prosecutors to follow the path of Garibaldi’s troops?

Apparently, the pope’s right wing US advisers, including Mary Anne Glendon, George Weigel, Carl Anderson, Robert Sirico, prominent US Christian fundamentalists, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), et al. may not be letting Pope Francis look out his window towards Minneapolis. That in my expectation will be Francis’ Waterloo, sooner rather than later. Even President Obama is running out of places to hide from publicly addressing the shameful role there of his Chief of Staff’s brother, Fr. Kevin McDonough.

President Obama and Pope Francis appear to on a collision course in Minneapolis — forget Havana! There, as mentioned, a former longtime top Archdiocesan aide, Fr. Kevin McDonough, and his Archbisop Nienstedt, face legal woes, including some that relate to US Federal crimes, that seem to be increasing.

Fr. Kevin McDonough is the close brother to Obama’s Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough. Denis earlier highlighted his families’ Catholic faith before Catholic bishops’ audiences in political settings. Fr. Kevin last year even gave a MPR radio interview about their close relationship when Obama promoted Denis to Chief of Staff. Denis and Obama, however, have seemingly laid low on this subject publicly since the Minneapolis scandal has exploded with Fr. McDonough in the hot seat. Why are the media not raising this issue more often? For Denis McDonough’s earlier remarks and Fr. Kevin’s MPR interview, please see:

[whitehouse.gov]

[mprnews.org]

Pope Francis is also facing serious current challenges from US Sisters’ and their numerous supporters’ reactions to the Vatican’s misogynistic inquisitions of American Sisters; one just ended abruptly and another is ongoing. Interestingly, path breaking investigative reporter, Jason Berry, has recently reported reliable evidence that the man behind the investigation of the American Sisters was the infamous Boston Cardinal Law. Berry stated: “Cardinal Rode, in an interview with this writer in his Vatican apartment two years ago, said that the call to investigate had come from Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned as Boston archbishop in 2002 amid the abuse crisis, and soon found redemption in Rome as pastor of a great basilica. The other prelate behind the call, said Rode, was Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore.” Please see Berry’s excellent and informative analysis in “How American nuns prevailed over the Vatican” at:

[globalpost.com]

For a superb brief analysis of key reactions to the Vatican’s new report on the American Sisters, especially the reactions of some prominent American sisters, please see Bill Lindsey’s brief Bilgrimage.com discussion at:

[bilgrimage.blogspot.com]

And please see also, Mary Hunt’s incisive discussion entitled, “American Nuns and the Vatican: More Pain Than Promise” at:

[religiondispatches.org]

And finally, see also the wise Eugene Kennedy’s take on the Vatican’s inquisition of the American Sisters at:

[ncronline.org]

Given these relentless and escalating challenges, it is incomprehensible to me as an experienced international lawyer why Pope Francis, evidently a “hands on” and savvy Jesuit pope, is mishandling so badly the priest abuse scandal. He appears to expect obedience and loyalty from all, as Cardinal Burke seems to have recently learned painfully. But Francis, now in his 79th year, is only one person and a very old one at that. He needs assistance from “independent doers”, not just “loyal followers”. Very disappointingly, he has now bypassed Fr. Thomas Doyle, O.P., as described more below, the world’s top expert on the Catholic priest child abuse scandal. Fr. Doyle has been omitted from Francis’ endlessly evolving but rarely meeting “cherry picked” anti-abuse commission panel. This is despite Doyle’s public request for inclusion and their shared and significant history with Cardinal Pio Laghi decades ago.

This, in my view, will likely turn out to be a huge papal mistake. Pope Francis should have known by now that, in order to clean up the continuing child abuse mess and to regain worldwide Catholics’ rapidly diminishing trust, he urgently needs commission members who have clearly proven to be BOTH professionally experienced AND independently courageous, like Tom Doyle has. He is a rare combination in my view after my decades of practicing as an international lawyer.

Francis’ overlooking of Doyle sends a very bad signal about Pope Francis’ real intentions with the long delayed commission. The commission is now scheduled to meet together for its FIRST “all hands” organizational meeting in February, likely to be orchestrated by Fr. Robert Oliver, the commission’s chief of staff and the Vatican’s former top prosecutor. Oliver reportedly initially learned the ropes on the priest child abuse scandal under Boston’s infamous Cardinal Law, hardly a positive reference. Law, like Oliver, is in Rome, while the purported commission head, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, is in Boston and likes to communicate with the Vatican by fax!

This first anti-abuse commission meeting, an organizational meeting no less, comes (1) almost 30 years after Fr. Doyle forwarded his first major report on the priest child abuse abuse scandal to, among others, Cardinals Law, Krol and Laghi and to Pope John Paul II, (2) almost 2 years since Francis became Pope, and (3) over a year since Cardinal O’Malley announced the commission under pressure from condemnations of the Vatican from UN committees. What’s the rush guys? I know — it hurts only “kids”, these celibates must be thinking, no?.

In 2006, the Boston Globe reported that O’Malley indicated that administrative management is not his forte. Bishop Accountability has reported well on O’Malley’s and Oliver’s earlier shortcomings on addressing some suspected Boston priest abusers. This slow moving commission certainly made O’Malley’s limited management skills quite evident. Oliver and O’Malley will be assisted in the US by the sole US member, a former New Zealander who has worked for O’Malley in three dioceses. She also stood up strongly for O’Malley in the same 2006 Boston Globe article about O’Malley’s poor handling of the termination of an alleged sexual harassing hospital executive.

So there you appear to have it. Pope Francis’ key team to clean up the scandal, at least in Boston, in the place where it first exploded a dozen years ago, is a old Boston team, perhaps with even occasional whispered advice from Cardinal Law in Rome. Amazing, just amazing! Is Pope Francis really serious?

Some of Pope Francis’ other new commission members’ prior records also appear to me generally to come up short on either independence from the hierarchy or relevant professional experience. While the two abuse survivor members named, Peter Saunders and Marie Collins, from the UK and Ireland, respectively, both seem quite strong on courage and compassion, they seem much weaker on practical experience with navigating through cunning bureaucracies like at the Vatican.

Many of the other named commission members seem to have varying degrees of professional experience, but appear also to have thin records of earlier standing up courageously to Catholic officials in their respective countries on abuse issues. Moreover, other than Marie Collins earlier in an Associated Press interview, none of them, to my knowledge, seem to have objected publicly about the commission’s glacial pace. The key issues are largely known and the better solutions are at this point almost obvious, at least to Tom Doyle. What is needed on the commission are members with the combined courage and experience to press the Vatican to act effectively and promptly, as Tom Doyle most likely would. Old “friends” are nice, but this is demanding work that will require independence as well as experience.

Why were each of these commission members picked anyways? What are the terms of their retention? Are they being paid directly or indirectly? Will they be indemnified if sued, or even investigated by the likes of the International Criminal Court prosecutor, a distinct possibility at some point, it appears to me? Will we ever really know? Of course, Catholics can only infer from the haphazard and scant information available publicly or issued from an often secretive Vatican media machine that also likes to spin abuse issues often. For example. the New Zealander with a long history working under Cardinal O’Malley is, per the Vatican, a “US commission member”. Yet, a Filipino professor who reportedly teaches at the conservative Christian Regent University in Virginia is the “Philippines’ member”, the sole Asian member. What gives? Meanwhile, many of the “Francismania” mesmerized media outlets seem too often still to buy almost whatever the Vatican press office sells about this slow walking commission. Do any of them have children, for God’s sake!

Meanwhile, Pope Francis, with his limited prior international relations experience, is exhibiting his papal fallibility with some miscues involving some major powers, especially Germany, the USA, Russia, China and the UK. For over 1,500 years popes have often skillfully played off major powers against each other to advance papal interests, sometimes just to survive. Pope Francis faces both serious financial challenges and legal risks, especially related to the abuse scandal, so he understandably needs to try to seek optimal major power backing, especially if he continues with this ineffective approach to the abuse scandal.

In Germany, for example, Pope Francis’ bishops are reportedly moving forward with favorable public actions toward remarried divorced Catholics and those in same sex relationships, apparently to protect the $6+ billion German government annual subsidy arrangements with Catholic bishops there that Pius XII in 1933 had firmed up with Hitler. For the German situation and a US conservative reporter’s concerned reaction to it, please see:

[ncregister.com]

US conservative Catholics appear upset with these German moves, as the conservatives seek seemingly to generate endless “anti-gay marriage fodder” to help elect right wing US politicians and to please their “low tax” billionaire donors, as happened last month with right wing US Republicans’ capture of the US Senate majority. They appear to have had Francis’ shrewd help, such as his frequent remarks about “gay marriage” and the “devil”, etc., that fundamentalist Christians relayed through their captive TV, radio and social media outlets and by Francis’ many other indications as well.

Indeed, Betty Clermont, the thorough and well regarded researcher and author of “The Neo-Catholics”, just commented at Bilgrimage.com as follows: ” I receive a daily email from the Vatican News Service, including the pope’s audiences. He meets in private with {George}Weigel, {Carl} Anderson, {Robert} Sirico, et al {reportedly prominent right-wing US political advocates, among other roles}- never with U.S. Democrats. The pope has had multiple meetings, and a “marriage” conference, with U.S. evangelicals – not so with the Anglican communion or other mainstream Protestant churches. The pope is not “listening” to all points of view because they are not invited to talk with him. Nor – given his background, his appointments, the changes inside the Vatican – does Bergoglio have any intention of doing so.”

President Obama and Pope Francis, while now doing the tango over Cuba, both are likely well aware that these two powerful leaders appear to on a collision course in Minneapolis. There, a former longtime top Archdiocesan aide, Fr. Kevin McDonough, and his Archbisop Nienstedt, face legal woes that seem to be increasing. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Public Radio news team under Madeleine Baran just won the prestigious duPont Award, similar to a Pulitzer Prize, for their outstanding reporting on the Catholic Church abuse scandals there.

Fr. Mcdonough is the close brother to Obama’s Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough. Denis even referred to him in 2012 before Catholic audiences. Denis and Obama have seemingly laid low on this subject publicly since the Minneapolis scandal exploded with Fr. McDonough in the hot seat. Why are the media not raising this issue more often?

Pope Francis appears to know quite well the classic political ploy for avoiding a tough problem — gradually give it over to a large committee of “predictable supporters” to drag out interminably. Francis is seemingly doing this now with his new anti-abuse commission to address the ongoing scandal of priest predators and their unaccountable bishops, the most serious papal challenge since the loss in 1870 of the Papal States, if not the Reformation itself.

Of course, Pope Paul VI did this with the futile birth control commission in the 1960’s — four years to research and write the commission’s report approving of the birth control pill and two more years for Paul to ponder before he, in effect, totally disregarded the report. Moreover the multi-year “study of the sins on the US Sisters” that has just been finalized to some very serious criticism is a further example of an ineffective committee’s efforts.

When it really matters to popes, clearly they can move quickly, as Francis has done since his election to protect the Vatican’s wealth, including its huge interest in the the more than $6 billion per annum German government subsidy to the Catholic Church. Francis dumped the extravagant Bling Bishop almost instantly, by Vatican standards, and now is working hard, it seems, to help keep more divorced and remarried German Catholics from leaving with their and their families’ valuable automatic subsidy payments.

But abused children, well? They neither make donations nor vote, so they go to the back of the papal line, it appears. Pope Francis had a chance to show over the past 21 months that he was really different on protecting children than his predecessors, Benedict and John Paul II had been, but he has failed so far. His new so-called abuse commission appears to consist of mostly “loyal supporters”. Please see the Boston diocesan description of the new members — many with extensive ties to the Church’s earlier flawed child protection efforts in their local countries. Some of them could, in effect, even be reviewing earlier cover-ups that they may have had some prior connection to. Please see:

[thebostonpilot.com]

Pope Francis has missed so far the critical opportunity to name to the anti-abuse commission Father Thomas Doyle, O.P., who had volunteered to serve on the commission. For some insight to Doyle’s remarkable approach, please see his essay at:

[christiancatholicism.com]

Fr. Doyle is a Dominican priest with a doctorate in canon law and five separate master’s degrees. He sacrificed a rising career under Cardinal Laghi at the USA’s Vatican Embassy to become an outspoken advocate for Catholic Church priest sexual abuse victims. Since 1984, when he first became involved with the issue of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy while serving at the Embassy, he has become an expert in the canonical and pastoral dimensions of this problem—working directly with victims, their families, accused priests, bishops, and other high-ranking Church officials.

Doyle has interviewed over 2,000 victims of clerical sexual abuse in the USA alone, and has been the only priest to testify in court in over 200 cases as to the legal liability of the Church. He has developed policies and procedures for dealing with cases of sexual abuse by the clergy for dioceses and religious orders in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

As an expert in this area, Doyle has delivered lectures and seminars for clergy and lay groups throughout the U.S. In 1989 he appeared as an expert witness before the legislature of Pennsylvania concerning that State’s child protective legislation. As an Air Force major stationed in Germany, and who also served as a military chaplain in Iraq, he holds 16 military awards and decorations for distinguished service.

Doyle currently serves as a consultant/court expert in clerical abuse cases throughout the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Israel and the United Kingdom. The Voice of the Faithful honored Doyle with their first Priest of Integrity Award in 2002. In recognition of his advocacy work for the victims of clerical sexual abuse, he has also received the Cavallo Award for Moral Courage (1992) and the Isaac Hecker Award from the Paulist Fathers (2003). In June of 2003 Doyle was also issued an official commendation from the Dominican Fathers for his “prophetic work in drawing attention to clergy sexual abuse and for advocating the rights of victims and abusers.”

Doyle is the author of several books, including “Meeting the Problem of Sexual Abuse Among the Clergy in a Responsible Way” with Michael Peterson, M.D. and F. Ray Mouton (St. Luke Institute, 1985), and is a co-author of “Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church’s 2,000 Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse ” (2006).

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Articulate and reflective Catholic commentators have been quick to react to Francis’ commission efforts, or lack thereof, at the National Catholic Reporter’s website. For example, NCR Commentator Mokantx observed: “So here we are, 12+ years since the Boston Globe brought this mess to the public. And only NOW is the Vatican getting around to a commission. They still haven’t met. We hear words about accountability for bishops, but so far, it’s only words. A bishop convicted in secular court of a failure to report remains in place. But we have words. Alas, we measure time here in units called decades. I think it time for the Cardinals and bishops who run this church, to understand that by NOT moving more quickly, powerful messages are being sent. That may not be their intent, or again, it may be their precise intent. Timing would likely not be that big a deal if we were dealing with the exploration of green pebbles from a certain riverbed somewhere. Alas, we’re talking about human life here.So while I’m glad some progress is being made, it’s getting harder and harder to care, or to have faith that anything of real value will come from this latest round of words from the church. At what point, does the church begin to act? …”

NCR Commentator Sarah observed: “The Pope established the special commission last December, and now he adds more people a year later. Did it do anything in the past year? It just seems like some kind of symbolic gesture. I wish the Pope would get serious about children and expand this commission to include all crimes committed against children by the Catholic Church. That would include the 300,000 stolen babies in Spain, many of whom ended up in illegal adoptions and child trafficking. And then there’s also the stolen children in Ireland sold to Americans, the babies who died in Irish orphanages, the mass baby graves, and also the children who ended up as slaves in laundries. If you add these to the tens of thousands of children used for sexual gratification by priests around the world, you really have a huge database of crimes committed against children. I know it’s unpleasant to contemplate, and many Catholics have no idea that all of these things occurred in the 20th Century. But they did. And I think the world has to deal with it. This special commission, which apparently hasn’t done anything so far, doesn’t even come close to being any kind of rational examination of these crimes. Other than that, I like this Pope. I just wish his religion had the guts to stand up for children instead of using them for all kinds of criminal behavior.”

NCR Commentator Michael observed: ” {The US/New Zealand member} … joins the other members of the Boston archdiocese triumvirate on the Pope’s Commission…………..Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley and Msgr. Robert Oliver. I think that competent, experienced, compassionate and decisive advocates such as Thomas Doyle, Richard Sipe, Sister Maureen Paul Turlish, Gerald Slevin, etc. are still waiting for the call from the Vatican to join the Commission. Truth be told, the Boston archdiocese does not have all of the answers (but maybe just one perspective).”

hrh observed: “More passengers on the train to nowhere. Smoke and mirrors to distract, This “commission” has done nothing in its year-and-a-half of existence, and Sean is keeping it right on schedule, doncha think?”