2 with Letter for Bishop Blair Denied Catholic Center Entry
By David Yonke
Toledo Blade
April 14, 2006
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060414/NEWS10/60414040
Two members of SNAP, the advocacy group for victims of clergy sexual abuse, became embroiled in an emotional showdown with a Toledo diocesan official yesterday when they were barred from church property while trying to deliver a letter to Bishop Leonard Blair.
Claudia Vercellotti and Jon Schoonmaker, co-coordinators of the local Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, were blocked at the Catholic Center's sidewalk by Patty Stein, building manager.
After a long and smoldering standoff, the SNAP representatives handed Ms. Stein a letter urging Bishop Blair to forbid the Rev. Gerald Robinson from wearing clerical garb during his murder trial, slated to begin Monday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
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| Jon Schoonmaker and Claudia Vercellotti want the Rev. Gerald Robinson forbidden from wearing clerical garb at his trial. (THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY) |
The SNAP officials said in the letter they "fear that allowing Father Robinson to dress in clerical garb may unduly bias the proceedings" and "inappropriately influence the jury."
Father Robinson, who turns 68 today, was placed on a leave of absence shortly after he was arrested in April, 2004, and charged in the 1980 slaying of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl. He retired without any announcement in June, 2004.
Bishop Blair's actions bar the Toledo priest from celebrating Mass for anyone but himself and from performing any other sacraments, said Sally Oberski, director of communications for the diocese.
Ms. Vercellotti asked the bishop to use as his guideline provisions in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, adopted by U.S. bishops in Dallas in 2002, that grant bishops the authority to remove priests from ministry if they face credible allegations of sexual abuse against minors.
Those provisions include prohibiting the priest from wearing clerical garb and presenting himself as a priest in public.
But a Catholic scholar said yesterday the charter is specifically addressing cases of sexual abuse of minors and cannot be applied in a broader sense to other offenses, even murder.
"Bishop Blair has done all that he can do, and the Dallas charter cannot be applied in this situation," said Richard Gaillardetz, professor of Catholic studies at the University of Toledo.
The only other canon law statutes allowing a bishop to forbid a priest from wearing a clerical collar apply in cases where the bishop has asked that the priest be laicized.
SNAP's letter also asked Bishop Blair to remove a photo of the Rev. Joseph Schmelzer from the Web site of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Van Wert, Ohio. Father Schmelzer was barred from public ministry in January, 2003, after Mr. Schoonmaker alleged he was sexually abused as a teenager by the priest. Father Schmelzer has filed an appeal of his case with the Vatican.
The SNAP officials' attempt to hand-deliver their letter to Bishop Blair led to a brusque confrontation during which Ms. Vercellotti tearfully asserted to Ms. Stein that she has been a Catholic all her life and was being singled out only because she speaks up for victims of clerical sexual abuse.
Ms. Stein stood patiently but impassively, reciting her statements coldly and impersonally.
"Are you banning me from church property," Ms. Vercellotti asked repeatedly. The first half dozen times, Ms. Stein dodged the question, but eventually she responded, "Yes, I am."
Ms. Oberski said later it was "an administrative decision" to keep an entourage of news cameras away from the building.
"Some of our clients come into the building on very sensitive issues and when cameras are following them into the lobby, it subjects our clients to a breach of confidentiality," she said.
Contact David Yonke at: dyonke@theblade.com or 419-724-6154.
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