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	Hoping to Take Away the Honor By Barb Ickes Quad-City Times [Davenport IA] September 21, 2006 http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/09/21/opinion/columnists/barb_ickes/doc451226a8db681472960451.txt Mark Powell doesn't want money. All he ever wanted was "to be whole again." The 46-year-old Chicago native works as a hospital chaplain in the Indianapolis area. Although he once was a seminary student at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, he left the Catholic Church several years ago and now is a Protestant minister. But he has something more to do in Davenport. When Powell was a 17-year-old student at St. Ambrose, he said, he was sexually abused by Father Bill Wiebler, a priest at the time at Our Lady of Lourdes in Bettendorf. Wiebler has since been defrocked by the church after numerous allegations of sex abuse. Powell said he went to Bishop Gerald O'Keefe, head of the Davenport Diocese at the time, to report the abuse. "I was told to keep things quiet," he said. "I'm aware personally of O'Keefe's involvement in keeping such things quiet." And now Powell is asking that O'Keefe's name be removed from the library at St. Ambrose. "The actions of Bishop O'Keefe let down the entire Diocese of Davenport," he said Wednesday. "I don't think that should be honored." Almost 10 years ago, Bishop William Franklin, current bishop of the Davenport Diocese, dedicated the college's new $8.5 million library, which was named for the retired O'Keefe. He died in 2000. It would be two more years before the sex scandal in the Catholic Church would break in Boston. When that happened, Powell did what many Catholics have done. He began to face his past. In December 2002, he made contact with the Davenport Diocese. "I told them, 'I don't want to sue you guys,'" he said. "I expect to get counseling. "I want to be whole again. I didn't want their money." Almost four years later, Powell said, he can declare the counseling a success. He would find further peace, he believes, in the renaming of the O'Keefe Library. "I live with it (the abuse) every day," he said. "I will for the rest of my life. "It's part of my history. The reality is that these abuses occurred systematically and were covered up by the bishops. "That was the sin — that was the crime. They put predators with children." While Powell does not accuse O'Keefe directly of abusing children, he said he is certain the bishop was an accomplice. He enabled the priests to continue to go after little boys and young men, even though he was aware of the children's suffering. He had not yet spoken directly with St. Ambrose officials when college President Ed Rogalski said that he would welcome a meeting with the alum. "Mr. Powell is an Ambrosian, a graduate of our university, and I would welcome the opportunity to sit down and talk with him," he said. "Certainly, St. Ambrose and the Davenport Diocese have a shared history and an ongoing association, but the two are separate organizations and operate independently. "As such, the names of campus buildings are St. Ambrose's responsibility." Powell was so encouraged Wednesday by Rogalski's response that he almost immediately made a phone call to Davenport. Afterward, he reported in an e-mail: "I just got off the phone with President Ed Rogalski. He was gracious and compassionate. Our 10-minute conversation ended with the promise that he would take the matter next month to the Board of Directors. "I truly believe this small action is a big sign to me and other survivors that the Diocese and the University have stood with the victims of clergy sex abuse." Rogalski confirmed that he intends to take the matter to the board. Powell said the college president also asked whether any of the sexual abuse occurred on the St. Ambrose campus. Powell answered that it did not. "St. Ambrose was to me a safe haven," he said. "That's how it should be for young people." And a library should be a place of hushed silence. But not like this. Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com.
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