FARGO (ND)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Posted by David Clohessy on May 29, 2012
Today, the Vatican has announced that the bishop of the Diocese of Fargo, ND will be promoted to fill the role of archbishop in the Diocese of Denver which has been vacant since Archbishop Charles Chaput moved to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
For now-Archbishop Samuel Aquila, this is a homecoming in many ways. We hope that, as he returns to Denver and takes over the archdiocese, he works diligently and tirelessly to help end the clergy sex abuse and cover-up crisis. However, in the past Aquila has failed to act responsibly to protect kids.
In 2009, it was revealed that three monsignors, after receiving a credible accusation of abuse, refused to share the information with anyone outside the diocesan hierarchy. The diocese first heard the accusation against Fr. Gregory Patejko in 1994, and paid a settlement to the Patejko’s victim that same year. Yet it wasn’t until 15 years later that the allegation was made public, and even then only because the victim grew tired of the diocese’s silence and went to the media himself.
Aquila’s silence in this matter only served to help the Diocese of Fargo avoid public embarrassment, and actually worked against victims by allowing others who may have been abused by Patejko to continue suffering in silence. We don’t know how many other allegations may have been kept under wraps in the same way, but we suspect that this was not the only case.
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