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	Catholic Groups Call for Cardinal George to Resign By Alan Suderman CBS 2 April 12, 2006 http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_102194557.html (Medill News Service) CHICAGO Two conservative Roman Catholic groups joined their liberal counterparts on Wednesday in calling for Cardinal Francis George to resign. Michael Tario of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Prevention of Clergy Sex Abuse, and Paul Picchietti of the Roman Catholic Faithful lambasted George as being unresponsive to parishioners' concerns about sexual misconduct by priests. They made their allegations at a press conference held outside the Archdioceses of Chicago's offices at 155 E. Superior. "It just doesn't seem like our leadership is willing or able to do anything about it," said Picchietti, whose group condemns homosexuality and non-traditional Latin masses. Tario, who said he represents several hundred of Chicago-area conservative Catholic business men and women, echoed Picchietti's concern about the archdiocese's leader. "We can no longer trust this man, Cardinal George, to protect our children," Tario said. They joined liberal Catholic groups like Voice of the Faithful who called for George to step down as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Call to Action, the country's largest Catholic reform group, which on Monday called for George's resignation if he is unwilling to push for stricter monitoring of how his diocese obeys new church laws regarding sex abuse by clergy. Both groups are angry that the bishops conference recently found -- that based on the archdiocese's own information -- the Chicago-area diocese was in "full compliance" with church law about clergy sex abuse allegations. Tario said revelations that Cardinal George failure to remove the Rev. Daniel McCormack after he knew about the McCormack's past sexual misconduct and the upcoming religious significance of the Easter weekend led his group to call for the resignation. McCormack is currently being charged with fondling three children while he served at St. Agatha parish on the city's West Side. Tario asked all Catholics to withhold donations to the church during the Easter weekend because he believes the money will be misspent on payoffs to keep victims of priest sex abuse silent. Roman Catholic Faithful founder Stephen Brady said the week's religious significance was also a factor in his group's decision to publicly call for George's resignation. "What better time to clean house?" He asked. Formed in 1994, the RCF considers itself one of the largest conservative Catholic groups nationwide with a newsletter-membership list of 20,000, according to Brady. The group strictly adheres to church teachings and is often in disagreement with the liberal groups' views on a wide array of social issues, Brady said, but is willing to put aside those differences "when it serves the public good." Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests national director David Clohessy, whose group organized Wednesday's press conference, said he welcomes the support of the conservative groups. "We don't necessarily agree with them on a whole host of issues," he said, "but we will gladly accept the help of any organization that seeks Cardinal George's resignation." SNAP began calling for Cardinal George's resignation last month, the first time the organization has done so on a nation-wide level since its inception in 1989. Clohessy said it was George's particularly egregious behavior that led his group to call for his resignation. "He's repeatedly kept credibly-accused priests in the ministry and deceived his flock about it," Clohessy said. George was unavailable for comment about the new groups calling for his resignation, but has recently admitted wrongdoing and asked his parishioners to pray for him.
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