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	Bernardin Biographer, Author Clash By Matt C. Abbott Renew America September 25, 2006 http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/060925 From a recent news release: Former priest and Loyola Professor Emeritus Eugene C. Kennedy broke the silence surrounding Randy Engel's controversial book The Rite of Sodomy — Homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church with a scathing commentary for Religion News Service on August 31, 2006. Engel says that Kennedy's attack on her book, which documents 100 years of intergenerational homosexuality and pederasty in the American Catholic hierarchy, was specifically aimed at her disclosure of the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin's role in securing a stronghold for the homosexual collective within the Catholic Church in the U.S. Says Engel: "In the original version of Kennedy's commentary, 'Abbott more like Costello in attacks on Bernardin,' Kennedy mistakenly gave the impression that columnist Matt C. Abbott is the author of The Rite of Sodomy. This error was later remedied in a revised commentary after RNS confirmed that Abbott's column featured a lengthy excerpt from my book. "It is unfortunate that Kennedy puts himself in the untenable position of condemning a book he has never read. For example, he would be hard pressed to find any justification for the charge that I blame homosexuals 'for all the ills of society.' What I do claim is that the homosexual collective to date has successfully infiltrated, colonized and metastasized the Catholic priesthood and religious orders in the U.S. "Indeed, the main focus of my 1312-page book is the identification of homosexual prelates in the American Catholic church (AmChurch), starting at the turn of the 20th century with William Cardinal O'Connell and Francis Cardinal Spellman, and ending with Bernardin and other American prelates." Engel continues: "The ongoing sex abuse scandal in AmChurch, which includes the systematic cover-up by members of the hierarchy of criminal acts committed by Catholic priests and religious who prey on young boys, takes on new meaning when viewed within the context of a long-existing network of homosexual bishops and cardinals. "Bernardin's role in accelerating the rise of the homosexual collective in AmChurch cannot be overstated. He was instrumental in giving the collective a strategic foothold in the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference (later renamed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) in Washington, D.C., beginning with the bureau's founding in 1966 and 1967." Engel notes that Kennedy charged her with linking Bernardin "in some way to the 1984 murder of a church organist in Chicago," to which Engel responds: "Actually, it was the cardinal who linked himself, indirectly, to the police investigation of the murder of Frank Pellegrini, a defecting member of the Chicago clergy homosexual/pederast ring known as the Boys' Club, when he (Bernardin) showed up at the murdered man's house on the evening Pellegrini's body was discovered. The cardinal said he did not know the victim. "News of the existence of the Boys' Club is not new. In the paperback version of Father Andrew Greeley's non-fiction book Furthermore! Memories of a Parish Priest, published in 1999, the priest-writer made reference to the same ring and implied that it was capable of criminal actions to protect its own." Also according to Engel, Bernardin's involvement in the homosexual network that operated out of Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona, Minn. — another aspect to which Kennedy objected in his commentary — was less well known. Says Engel: "Had Kennedy taken the time to read The Rite of Sodomy, he would have seen that the groundwork for these charges was carefully laid out in Chapter 14, which precedes my chapter on Bernardin. "Regarding the charges against Bernardin made by Steven Cook in 1993, the observation of writer-therapist Richard Sipe comes to mind. According to Sipe, 'Cook never retracted his allegations of abuse (against Bernardin) by anyone's account other than Bernardin's.' As to my charge that Bernardin made a well-laundered pay-off to Cook in the seven-figure range, I stand behind that charge: Cook did not recant. He settled." She concludes: "Kennedy was Bernardin's long-time friend and biographer, and a well known supporter of pseudo-Catholic pro-homosexual groups like Dignity and New Ways Ministry. He dismissed my charges against Bernardin as 'hilarious' and 'illogical' — but, sadly, he appears to be the only one laughing." Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic columnist. He can be reached at mattcabbott@gmail.com.
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