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	Prelate's Service Draws Protests Denver's Archbishop, Speaking in Harrisburg, Is Called a Foe of Measures Backed by Abuse Victims By David O'Reilly Philadelphia Inquirer October 4, 2006 http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/15672153.htm Harrisburg - Advocates for tougher sex abuse laws picketed the Diocese of Harrisburg's annual "Red Mass" for jurists and lawmakers yesterday, protesting its homilist as a strident foe of legislation that child sex abuse victims are seeking. The homilist, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, "is a hero to the bishops but not to us," said Paul Keller, who drove from Boston to carry photos of young abuse victims outside St. Lawrence Chapel near the statehouse. Three other demonstrators - including two from Philadelphia - handed out literature arguing that Chaput was hostile to victims and their advocates. In April, Chaput led a strident but successful campaign to thwart Colorado legislation that would have given adult victims of child sex abuse a one-year "window" of opportunity to sue their abusers. Chaput had repeatedly denounced advocates of the Colorado legislation as "anti-Catholic," saying it targeted the Catholic Church because it did not extend to abusers in secular institutions. "We see him as the spokesman of the opposition to any legislative changes, and maintenance of the status quo," said Bud Bretschneider of Philadelphia, former president of the Catholic reform group Voice of the Faithful. "I think they [the bishops] want to do same thing here." But the leafleting efforts won little apparent sympathy from the Mass-goers. Several accepted the literature with warm smiles as they entered the church, thinking it was programs for the Red Mass service, and returned it angrily - or put it on the steps - when they read about Chaput's "bare-knuckled opposition" to the proposed change in Colorado's statute of limitation. "I think it's not appropriate," one woman said. "I guess we're not getting to some of them," joked Marianna Sorenson, a former Philadelphia assistant district attorney who was among those handing out the anti-Chaput literature. She was a lead author of last year's blistering report on clergy sex abuse and coverups in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. That report also urged the General Assembly to pass a comprehensive package of sex abuse-related legislation. Chaput and Bishop Kenneth Rhoades of the Diocese of Harrisburg made no mention of the sex abuse victims or the proposed legislation. Rather, Rhoades spoke briefly of Tuesday's assault on a one-room Lancaster County schoolhouse. "Let us remember our brothers and sisters in the Amish community... ," Rhoades said. "We pray for an end to all violence in our society." In his homily, Chaput urged Catholic jurists and lawmakers to incorporate Catholic moral teaching in their work. "Stuffing your Catholic faith in a closet isn't good manners," he told them. "It's cowardice." What America needs, Chaput said, "is holy men and women who love God's holy word more than they love their own careers." He urged them to stand against laws that would allow abortion, embryonic stem cell research, assisted suicide, and related life issues. Taking its name from the red vestments that the priests and bishops wear, the Red Mass dates to 14th-century England, when judges would attend a special Mass at the start of the new judicial season, asking the Holy Spirit to guide their decisions. The Diocese of Harrisburg began conducting annual Red Masses in 1989. The event is sponsored by the St. Thomas More Society of Central Pennsylvania, a society of Catholic lawyers. Interviewed after the Mass, Chaput said his choice as homilist in a Harrisburg church five blocks from the statehouse just as lawmakers are considering a dozen abuse-related bills had "nothing to do" with his aggressive denunciation of the statute window in Colorado. "I was asked to come here a year ago," he said. Chaput also defended his characterization of that Colorado legislation as anti-Catholic. "It was directed at the Catholic Church, but not at public schools. If that's not anti-Catholic, what is it?" he asked, standing on a sidewalk outside the chapel. "The church has to have a spine in situations like this," he said. He also disputed allegations that he opposed all legislation sought by sex abuse victims, saying the Colorado Catholic Conference had endorsed legislation lifting the civil statute of limitations on future acts of child abuse. Contact staff writer David O'Reilly at 215-854-5723 or doreilly@phillynews.com.
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