Catholic Church lobbying hard against child sex abuse bill

By Bill White
Morning Call
June 8, 2016

http://www.mcall.com/opinion/white/mc-bw-catholic-church-20160608-column.html

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput has encouraged Catholic pastors, while at church services, to read or distribute materials in opposition to a state House bill that, among other things, would eliminate the statute of limitations to file criminal charges in child sexual abuse cases. Photo by Riccardo De Luca

Go to the Philadelphia Archdiocese website, and you'll immediately be confronted by a pop-up:

"Click here to send a message to your legislator opposing HB 1947."

We are in the midst of a broad Catholic Church lobbying campaign to squash House Bill 1947, which passed the House in April and would eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal cases of child sexual abuse and extend the statute for civil cases until the victim reaches age 50, retroactively, from the present age 30.

This latest effort to persuade Catholics to pressure legislators comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares for a hearing Monday on the bill's constitutionality and gets nearer to a promised vote.

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput and others have been encouraging Catholic pastors to read or distribute lobbying materials at their church services. This spring, I criticized a similar effort by Allentown Bishop John Barres, whose letter opposing HB 1947 was inserted into church bulletins to the dismay of some local parishioners.

One of Chaput's letters and other lobbying materials also are being distributed to parents of parochial schoolchildren, which prompted this email response from Gretchen Dahlkemper of South Philadelphia:

"I am horrified, disgusted, and sick to my stomach that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia instructed its principals to send the below information to the parents who have chosen to send our children to receive a Catholic education. I send my 7-year-old boy each day to the school expecting the principal and the teachers to protect him and guide him — not to shield the pedophiles that were for decades abusing boys, just like my 7-year-old, with the protection and systematic collusion of the Catholic Church.

"… The email below has opened my eyes to the fact that the systematic cover-up of the Church continues today and that Archbishop Chaput is continuing the Catholic tradition of putting pedophiles before our children."

She told me she contacted other parents in her son's class to make sure they understand what Chaput is doing. "It is not OK to do that to people who put trust in their faith leaders," she said.

"I don't think many of the people in the pews are buying what they're selling," said John Salveson, president of the Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse.

I followed an email exchange a couple of weeks ago involving a meeting in a suburban Philadelphia seminary at which the church planned to discuss the threat posed by the bill — "Please help protect our local Church," was the heading — and then tape a commercial, at least according to pre-event promotions. "We need your help to film a short group scene representing the Catholic Church alive in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia," the invitation read. "Following our filming we will have a Holy Hour with Bishop Senior, presiding, to pray for this matter and the strength of our Church." The accompanying flier said, "Be an extra in our commercial."

Word spread quickly among advocacy groups. About a dozen protesters turned out, standing outside with signs. Taping of the group scene was scrapped, according to accounts from those who went inside. They said it was lightly attended.

"A complete, total flop for Chaput and the Archdiocese," Salveson wrote in an email afterward.

Philadelphia Archdiocese Communications Director Kenneth Gavin told me the event was largely to be focused on prayer, not a presentation or a commercial.

"Neither the Archdiocese nor the Seminary paid to have an advertisement or PSA created," he wrote in an email. "A volunteer came forward recently with a concept to develop a video illustrating the commitment of the Church, the good works of her ministries and how they are jeopardized by this bill. Nothing has been created at this point. As such, there's no indication as to what the use of such a video might be. But it's very encouraging to see Catholics willing to come forward and look for creative ways to share the real, factual information that's conspicuously absent so far in the majority of public and media discussion."

When I pointed out that the promotional material I saw didn't match his description of the event, he responded, "The flier was not worded or approved by my office. It was very poor word choice and put together by the volunteer I referenced."

I won't re-argue all the claims made in the course of this most recent blitz, except to point out the focus has been on scaring Catholics by exaggerating the likely impact on the church and, in some cases, falsely suggesting that only they and other private institutions are being targeted.

Check my blog Thursday for some of the specific communications, along with an excellent Facebook post by state Rep. Nick Miccarelli, R-Delaware, a Catholic who found himself targeted by a grossly misleading church bulletin note at St. Rose of Lima church. I particularly liked the way he ended his Facebook message.

"Frankly," he wrote, "I would much rather be chastised from the altar than to be damned for not allowing justice to be done."