BishopAccountability.org
	'Tragedies like These Should Never Happen' By Rita Savard Lowell Sun May 30, 2006 http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_3880367 LOWELL -- Dozens of bodies squeezing into the pews of St. Michael's fan themselves with paper prayer books. In the stifling heat, they wait for Cardinal Sean O'Malley to lead them in a Novena to the Holy Spirit, a plea for forgiveness for the sins committed by pedophile priests and the bishops who hid the truth. Out on the sidewalk, another congregation has gathered. It carries its own message for O'Malley: "Justice before prayers." Since the Cardinal began his pilgrimage for repentance and hope on Thursday, the protesters have followed. Some have been sexually abused by priests, others know victims, and some are just outraged by what they call a "dysfunctional system" that has yet to be held accountable for its actions. When John Harris arrives with a sign marked, "Dirty Hands Cannot Heal," a couple of men holding up posters of their own say hello. No matter what brought them to St. Michael's, their purpose on the sidewalk unites them. Harris, of Norwood, was molested by Rev. Paul Shanley in Milton, at a center where the priest mentored trouble youth. Harris received a letter inviting him to attend one of the healing Masses. "I was insulted by it," Harris said. "It gives the impression that they have the capability to heal, and they do not. O'Malley's hands are just as dirty as others who shuffled pedophile priests." Holding a white poster listing the names of six priests who worked or lived at St. Michael's, Mike Gustin of Westford said he knows "plenty of people" who were sexually abused by priests. "I see what this has done to them. It's something that stays with them for their entire lives," said Gustin. "We're trying to protect children in the future." A few feet away from Gustin, his wife, Liz, hands out flyers asking for support in urging O'Malley to publicly support pending legislation to repeal the criminal and civil statute of limitations, and to publish a list of all priests who have been paid a settlement by the church or who have had a credible claim made against them. "I believe there are priests out there still abusing children," Gustin said. So does Bob Hoatson, a former priest who was suspended by Newark, N.J., Archbishop John J. Myers in December following a lawsuit Hoatson filed about his own sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. His gray Ford, covered in bright orange signs, reads, "Restore victims to health before praying for them." Hoatson said the allegations made by hundreds of survivors have not surprised him. "The pope is accountable to the pope, and there are thousands of bishops in the world who are supposed to be accountable to the pope, who is just one man," Hoatson said. "They can all do what they want, and they have done what they want and it has resulted in the mass abuse of children." According to David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), his phone lines still ring daily with people who say they were abused by priests. For Ken Scott of Boston, the pictures he carries of victims who have died deliver the message. "All of our efforts here are for the children," Scott said. "Tragedies like these should never happen again."
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