BishopAccountability.org
	Cardinal Comes to Atone By Russ Olivo Woonsocket Call June 2, 2006 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16727012 &BRD=1712&PAG=461&dept_id=24361&rfi=6 BELLINGHAM -- Atonement for the crimes of the past is the order of the day as Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley's healing tour rolls into St. Blaise Church tonight, but the Boston prelate's plea for forgiveness still rings hollow for some victims of clergy sexual abuse. Ann Hagen Webb, coordinator of the New England chapter of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), has been following the tour with other victims to protest the cardinal's efforts to reach out as a triumph of symbol over substance. Dubbed the "Pilgrimage of Repentance and Hope," O'Malley's pastoral swing through nine churches with especially egregious histories of clergy-perpetrated sex abuse is "a good first step," said Webb. But the church has still made no progress in supporting an end to the statute of limitations for sex crimes or helped in outing priests accused of sexual assault who haven't yet been identified. "These are the two most important issues to us in the survivor community," said Webb. "The healing tour is a lot of symbolism, but Cardinal O'Malley should put some substance in it." Launched May 25 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, the tour arrives at St. Blaise, 1158 South Main St., at 7 p.m. The next-to-last stop for O'Malley before the pilgrimage ends, St. Blaise has been swamped with telephone calls for information, according to the pastor, Rev. Michael Kearney. Kearney doesn't blame Webb and other survivors for their skepticism about the sincerity of the church's efforts to reclaim their loyalty. After all, he says, the church mishandled the problem of sexually abusive priests for many years, and it will take a long time to prove the church has really changed. "I wouldn't be surprised if people felt that way," he said. "The history of the whole thing for the last 50 years is the church let them down." Rebuilding trust will take a prolonged, consistent effort to be successful, said Kearney. As for St. Blaise hosting a stop for the cardinal at the onset of this long journey toward renewed trust, Kearney said, "I wish we never had to do this at all." But if there is a role for St. Blaise in the healing process, Kearney says he is "honored" to provide it. St. Blaise has no history of sexually abusive priests, but in August 2004 the parish absorbed nearby Assumption Church, one of more than 80 parishes shuttered by the Boston diocese in a consolidation move. Five priests assigned to Assumption Church between 1966 and 1988 were accused of sexual misconduct, including mostly recently the Rev. Paul R. Desilets. After several years on the lam in Canada, Desilets, at the age of 81, was extradited to Worcester County authorities last year to answer charges of molesting 18 young boys at Assumption Church. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in jail. Bellingham Detective Sgt. Richard Perry got to know many of the Assumption victims when he investigated Desilets, and he is openly dubious about O'Malley's ability to win them over. "I don't know if it's going to be a good thing for them," said Perry. "A lot of them are still pretty upset about the way the whole thing was handled." Other names from Assumption's roster of abusive priests include the Revs. Lionel Ouellette, Charles Aubut, Richard Matte and Robert Morrissette, according to the SNAP database. Announcing the healing tour recently, the Archdiocese of Boston called it "an opportunity for survivors, clergy, parishioners and members of the broader community to pray together for healing and renewal." The services include an acknowledgement of "sins and crimes," plus a ceremonial show of forgiveness to clergymen whose actions -- or lack of them -- gravely harmed the children whose care had been entrusted to them, the archdiocese said. "The sexual abuse crisis has caused intense suffering for survivors and their families and has been a source of shame and sorrow for our entire church community," O'Malley said in a statement. "The sexual crimes against children by priests and the church's initial failure to respond have fractured the essential spiritual connection necessary for the bonds of faith to flourish." Several of Assumption's victims have spoken out in the past, but whether they will enter St. Blaise Church to reach for the olive branch O'Malley is extending remains to be seen. Many survivors are "freaked out" by the prospect of re-entering a church, and they may ignore the written invitations sent to them by the archdiocese to attend the healing services, according to Webb. A former Rhode Island resident, Webb, 52, was in kindergarten when a priest at West Warwick's Sacred Heart parish began sexually abusing her for the next decade. In particular, said Webb, O'Malley's timing makes the gesture of conciliation seem disingenuous. It comes fast on the heels of the resignation of Dr. Robert Haddad, president and CEO of the Caritas Christi Health Care System, a diocese-controlled hospital network. As Haddad faced numerous allegations of hugging and kissing female staff members, O'Malley was criticized for moving too slowly to remove the medical chief. When Haddad finally did resign last week, Webb said, it was "with a golden handshake of $1 million, a kid-glove send-off" that set the wrong tone for the pilgrimage. "It just feels kind of insincere," she said. "It's just a couple of days before the whole thing started and he's doing essentially the same thing. He's turning a blind eye toward sexual harassment." The best thing the church can do for survivors now is help prevent future abuse by ex-clergy members and make it easier to go after offenders in court, said Webb. The church can do that by supporting an end to the statute of limitations for sex offenses and by divulging the names and addresses of all priests who have faced "credible accusations" of sexual assault. Through rigorous cross-referencing of newspaper stories and other records, over 200 abusive priests have been identified, but SNAP estimates about half as many are still roaming about freely. "Nobody's watching them," she said. "They're living in your communities and mine, and they are a danger to society."
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