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Is Catholic Church Doing Enough to Combat Abuse?
Saint Cecilia Catholic Church
Catholic Church officials in San Francisco said this week that they are investigating new allegations of child abuse by a local priest, but one support group for victims is not convinced the church is taking ownership of the problem.
KTVU reported Monday that Father Daniel Keohane, a 58-year-old priest at Saint Cecilia Parish, has been placed on indefinite leave pending a church investigation into whether he sexually abused a 17-year-old girl in the 1970s.
In an interview with KTVU, Maurice Healy, spokesman for the archdiocese of San Francisco, said the church had been working to determine the precise age of the girl at the time of the alleged abuse.
“It’s misbehavior if the girl was 18,” Healy said. “It’s abuse if she was 17.”
That distinction doesn’t sit well with Tim Lennon, an abuse survivor who leads the San Francisco chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.
“The question is that priests and people in authority use their status to take advantage of people,” Lennon told The Bay Citizen. “If they’re 18 or 14, or in my case 12, that’s immaterial. It's abuse.”
Lennon said that his own abuse was the result of the power imbalance between priests and children.
“When I was abused, when I was raped, I kept thinking, why is God doing this, why is God doing this?” Lennon said. “I couldn’t separate the person from the image of God.”
In an effort to reach out to survivors of abuse, the church has been meeting with victims and other concerned groups in recent months.
“There have been five meetings in seven months, and so far nothing has happened,” Lennon said.
Next month, SNAP and others will meet with church officials twice to present a four-fold plan to prevent further abuse and support survivors. SNAP will ask the church to disclose and distribute the identities of priests who have been sued, convicted or credibly accused of abusing young people, offer counseling to victims, reveal to church members the long-suspected practice of covering up incidents of abuse and work to abolish the statute of limitations around child abuse.
“We have many people that are in dire need and are suffering tremendously from post-traumatic stress or different types of coping mechanisms like drinking and drugs, relationship problems and trust problems,” Lennon said. “The church needs to step up by helping them with therapy, drug rehabilitation or job training.”
Correction: The KTVU story referenced in this post incorrectly transcribed Maurice Healy's quote. He did not say, in reference to the alleged abuse, "It's a misdemeanor if she's 18." The quote has been corrected here.
Trey Bundy writes about youth for The Bay Citizen. He worked for 10 years as a residential treatment counselor with children from backgrounds of abuse and neglect. In 2009, he won the national William Randolph ...
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Judy Block-Jones
We urge anyone who has knowledge or may have been harmed by Father Daniel Keohane, to contact police, not church officials. Sex crimes, however old, should be investigated by the independent professionals in law enforcement, not the biased amateurs in church offices.
It is never to late to speak up and lift the pain of abuse from your shoulders, which is not even yours to carry. It was not your fault.
Keep in mind your silence only hurts, but by speaking up there is a chance for healing, exposing the truth, and therefore protecting others.
Also, know that you are not alone, and there is help and healing.
Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, 636-433-2511
snapjudy@gmail.com
"Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests"
http://www.snapnetwork.org/
Melanie Sakoda
The Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal won't be over until the bishops and their henchman, who endangered innocent children by recycling predators, are prosecuted for their inaction. Kids will not be safe until highly placed heads find themselves on the chopping block.
Melanie Jula Sakoda
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)
SNAP East Bay Director
http://www.snapnetwork.org/
melanie@pokrov.org
925-708-6175
Toll Free Phone: 1-877-SNAPHEALS (1-877-762-7432)
Alexandra Roberts
Melanie, I'm attending the meeting of survivors with Bay Area bishops on April 16th, and you can be assured that I will be bringing this matter up to them at that time. I am tired of the sexually discriminatory approach in prioritization of abuse cases, quite apart from the abuse. If the victim had been male, I am almost positive this case would have been settled, long ago. Too often, the response of priests (and others) to sexual abuse of girls and women is more congratulatory than outraged. Or I have literally heard defenders of male victims say of priests' abuse of girls and women, "A least that proves they're not gay." And nevermind the damage done to female victims.
Frank Lostaunau
If you believe for a second that Maurice Healy and Archbishop Neiderham are concerned about the rape of innocent children and vulnerable adults, wake up!
Their job is to make a of mockery of anybody that cares about the safety of children and halting the sexual abuse of children/vulnerable adults by Catholic clergy.
As for Barbara Elordi, remember she works for the SF Archdiocese.
They're all good Nazi's.
Yours truly,
chili talirunili & pudlo pudlat, mini doxies, & frank lostaunau, snapster!
Frank Lostaunau
correction: don't count on the Archbishop or Maurice to do anything to protect children & vulnerable adults. I would be surprised to learn that there are dozens of other perps hiding under the wings of george, maurice and barbara.
Frank Lostaunau
correction: wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Archbishop is hiding other perps in SF.
Alexandra Roberts
This is outrageous! I believe this hairsplitting debate over age of female victim is completely inappropriate. For one thing, a legal precedent was set, several years ago, for (potential) prosecution of priests within the State of California for sexual abuse of adults. Check out following article that references case of John Bollard, a consenting age Jesuit seminarian who successfully sued The California Province of Jesuits for sexual harassment.
http://vaticancrimesarchive.blogspot.com/2009/10/catholic-officials-settled-case-but.html
All people, regardless of gender or age, should be able to receive pastoral care and counsel from priests in accordance with both canon and civil laws. Canon law has clear prohibitions against "concubinage" and civil laws that apply to therapeutic professionals and employers should in turn apply to clerics.
Finally, I know of too many cases of priests and other clerics having "groomed" underage teenage victims for eventual sexual conquest within days of the girls or boys having turned age of legal consent. We send clerics the wrong message when we allow them to get away with bending laws to suit their unholy predilictions.