Buy girl scout cookies, lots of them

Maureen Fiedler, SL
National Catholic Reporter
February 25, 2016

Some days I wonder if some bishops have enough work to keep them busy. Of course, there are enough egregious actions in the public square that truly deserve a religious critique.

But who does one bishop target? The Girl Scouts! Yup, you read it correctly: Girl Scouts! That is what Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis did recently. He wrote a letter to the archdiocese warning about the dangers lurking behind the Girl Scout organization and telling parishes not to host meetings of their troops.

Why isn't he speaking out against Donald Trump's bigotry? Or rallying people to have the U.S. accept more refugees from the Middle East? Or working for immigration reform? Or against income inequality? Or maybe emulating Pope Francis' concern for the poor?

But no, he thinks that the real culprit is the Girl Scouts. He mentioned that they have connections with groups like Amnesty International (which promotes human rights around the globe), the Coalition for Adolescent Girls (which champions the education and welfare of adolescent girls worldwide) and Oxfam (which is working to end poverty worldwide). Sounds to me like he might want to consult with Pope Francis about his priorities.

Carlson also says that the Girl Scouts put forward women like Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan as role models (prominent feminists who champion the rights of women). Personally, I think they make great role models for young women in the ongoing quest for gender equality.

And apparently, some groups that favor a woman's right to choose either abortion or birth control contribute to the Girl Scouts. And you know what? I'll bet that some cookie buyers are pro-choice too! And you have to watch out for those cookie buyers!

So, how should Catholics in St. Louis and nationally respond? Buy Girl Scout cookies! Buy lots of them! Make this their best year ever!

Advocates seek Vatican inquiry of Newark, NJ archbishop

Rachel Zoll
Associated Press
July 29, 2015

Priests, nuns and canon lawyers who advocate for molestation victims urged Pope Francis on Wednesday to use the new Vatican tribunal he formed on negligent bishops to investigate the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, who has long been accused of sheltering abusive priests.

The plea comes as Francis prepares for his first visit to the U.S. in September, a trip which will take place against the backdrop of the broad unfinished business of the molestation scandal. The crisis erupted in 2002 with the case of one pedophile priest in the Archdiocese of Boston before spreading nationwide, then engulfing the Roman Catholic Church.

The advocates, who call themselves the Catholic Whistleblowers, said they will present evidence to the Vatican that Archbishop John Myers has been persistently hostile toward people who come forward with abuse allegations, and had left guilty clerics in parishes in the Newark archdiocese and in his previous post as bishop of Peoria, Illinois. Myers has repeatedly defended his record, noting that he has removed many guilty priests, but he has been dogged by revelations about cases bungled on his watch in both states.

"When Pope Francis last month announced the new tribunal, instantly — within 24 hours — we were saying, 'Myers has to be one,'" said the Rev. James Connell, a canon lawyer and retired priest from Milwaukee, who is part of the whistleblower group. "It's a place to start."

Three American dioceses — Gallup, New Mexico, Milwaukee and St. Paul and Minneapolis — are in bankruptcy court trying to limit settlements with victims and preserve church assets; the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is being prosecuted on charges of failing to protect children from a now-convicted priest, and the Diocese of Honolulu is facing a raft of new claims after Hawaii lawmakers temporarily abolished time limits on lawsuits over child sex abuse.

Francesco Cesareo, president of Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, and head of the National Review Board, a panel formed by the U.S. bishops to monitor child safety in dioceses, said accountability for bishops is the most pressing issue for restoring trust, after revelations that church leaders for decades had moved guilty clerics from parish to parish without warning parents or alerting police.

Hundreds of accused clergymen have been barred from serving as priests under the reforms the U.S. bishops enacted following intense public pressure in 2002, but there has been no direct penalty for bishops who covered up allegations and kept the clerics on the job.

A few prelates have stepped down. Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, Missouri, resigned last April, three years after he was convicted of failure to report suspected child abuse by a now-imprisoned priest. Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis also resigned this year — just days after the Vatican announced the new tribunal and after prosecutors filed child endangerment charges against the archdiocese. Nienstedt said he wanted to give the archdiocese a "new beginning." Nienstedt is also accused of misconduct with adults. He said he left his post with "a clear conscience."

"The problem is that every time a new incident emerges, it erodes the good work that the bishops have done," Cesareo said in a phone interview.

In Newark, Jim Goodness, a spokesman for Myers, said the archbishop has been "very aggressive" in pursuing abuse claims and has removed 19 accused priests from ministry since he was installed in Newark in 2002.

But the archbishop came under heavy criticism in 2013 after news reports that now defrocked priest Michael Fugee, who had been accused of groping a teenage boy, attended youth retreats and heard confessions from minors despite an agreement with prosecutors and an archdiocesan official barring him from contact with minors. The archdiocese also had privately allowed another priest who had been removed over molestation claims to live in the rectory of a church with a school and youth groups.

In Peoria, Larry and Helen Rainforth, whose son Lance was among 13 people who received settlements from that diocese over abuse by former priest Norman Goodman, said Myers threatened people who came forward with libel lawsuits and excommunication.

Within about two months of taking over from Myers in Illinois, Bishop Daniel Jenky ousted several accused priests, a development that Connell and others point to as evidence of Myers' negligence. (Goodness said he did not have information about specific claims from Peoria.)

The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said it was "premature" to comment on what cases would be considered by the tribunal, which he said has not yet been organized.

Francis' decision last month to form the tribunal was his biggest step yet toward tackling that issue. The pope has said he takes personal responsibility for the "evil" of priests who raped children. He formed an advisory commission on protecting young people led by Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley and including abuse victims. A year ago, he met with European victims at the Vatican, begging for their forgiveness.

Nothing on the official Vatican itinerary for the pope's U.S. trip starting Sept. 22 indicates Francis plans to address the issue. Still, he is widely expected to do so in some forum.

In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI, on his only trip to the U.S. as pontiff, held an unannounced private meeting with a few victims in the chapel of the papal embassy in Washington. The extraordinary gathering, revealed only after it was over, had been organized by O'Malley. Don Clemmer, a spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said of any meeting of Francis and American victims, "we would not be able to confirm such an event until it had already taken place."

Francis will end his three-city tour in Philadelphia, where a 2011 grand jury investigation threw the archdiocese into turmoil. The panel alleged about three-dozen offending priests were still working in the archdiocese. The then archbishop, Cardinal Justin Rigali, retired a few months later.

In 2012, Monsignor William Lynn, who had overseen Philadelphia clergy for about a dozen years ending in 2004, was convicted of felony child endangerment for covering up abuse claims. In an awkward moment for organizers of Francis' trip, after the Vatican announced he would visit a prison in Philadelphia, it was learned that Lynn was housed there. He has since been moved.

Bernie McDaid, now 59, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, was among victims at the 2008 meeting with Benedict, which McDaid said had made him "hopeful" that the Vatican was ready to acknowledge the scope of the problem. But he said now, such a meeting with Francis would serve no purpose, because it would be symbolic and not substantive.

"It's already been done," said McDaid, who argued church leaders continue to treat victims poorly. "They want to say, 'This is over.'"

McDaid said he'd be more encouraged if the pope came to Boston and told the church, "We still have a long way to go."

New details given in Minn. priest sex abuse case

KSDK (St. Louis)
July 9, 2014

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - New secrets are spilling out about a priest sex abuse case out of Minnesota. A series of confidential documents became public Wednesday, and St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson's name is in the paper trail.

The documents involve a de-frocked Minnesota priest, and they date back to the '80s and '90s when Archbishop Carlson was serving in Minnesota. For a time, he was among those in charge of the man accused of repeatedly abusing kids, whose name is Joseph Wajda.

"I have never abused anybody. I deny all these allegations. They're false, they're ridiculous," Wajda told a KARE 11 reporter, our sister station in Minnesota, in December.

According to the documents released Wednesday, Wajda repeatedly denied allegations that he forced kids to get naked and brushed against them inappropriately, among other accusations. His repeated denial is recorded throughout the documents, including in a memo from Archbishop Carlson in 1987.

The paper trail shows Carlson was among those who questioned Wajda after learning about some of the accusations in 1981.

Jump to nine years later, in 1989, when an accusation of abuse had been reported to police by a different priest, Father Kevin McDonough.

In a memo, McDonough noted the detective in the case "… like Father O'Connell and I, second guessed our decision not to bring this information to the police back in January, 1989, when we had specific evidence of […] inappropriate activity on the part of Father Wajda."

Months later, Carlson was helping decide where to place Wajda. He wrote, "I am convinced that the (REDACTED) case will go to court and there will be some publicity associated with that…" He goes on to say Wajda should serve as co-pastor at his next parish stating, "I would oppose Joe Wajda being placed at Blessed Sacrament alone in the responsibility as Administrator or Pastor."

Before Wajda was placed at Blessed Sacrament, a different parish rejected him. A parishioner from that church later wrote to the Archbishop at the time, John Roach, that he was afraid the Archdiocese was mishandling the situation.

The documents were released as part of evidence in a lawsuit involving a different former Minnesota priest, Thomas Adamson.

The St. Louis Archdiocese has released a statement in response to the information surrounding this case, stating, "The pending case, which is in St. Paul-Minneapolis, alleges abuse in the Archdiocese of St Paul-Minneapolis decades ago by a former priest. Neither the Archdiocese of St. Louis nor Archbishop Carlson are parties to the lawsuit. Archbishop Carlson was a priest of that archdiocese at the time of the alleged occurrences, and had given testimony several times many years ago about the same allegedly abusive former priest. All media inquiries about this Minnesota case should be directed to the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis encourages all persons with reports of misconduct with a minor involving a member of the clergy or other church personnel to contact Deacon Phil Hengen, Director of Child and Youth Protection, at 314.792.7704, the Missouri Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 800.392.3738, or law enforcement officials."

Secret St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese documents on former priest Joseph Wajda released today

press release
Jeff Anderson & Associates
July 9, 2014

(St. Paul, MN) – Secret priest file documents produced under court order by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on former priest and accused child molester Joseph Wajda have been released publicly. The Archdiocese produced the documents as part of a civil lawsuit, Doe 1 vs. the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Diocese of Winona and Thomas Adamson. Adamson is a former priest who is alleged to have sexually abused Doe 1 in the 1970s.

The Wajda documents show how current Archbishop of St. Louis Robert Carlson, while serving in roles including chancellor and auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in the 1970s-1990s, along with other Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis officials, mishandled and minimized child sexual abuse allegations against Wajda. Their actions enabled Wajda to continue to serve as a priest, which put children in danger.

In addition, in 1981, Wajda reported to Carlson that Adamson was engaging in sexual misconduct with a youth, according to the documents.

A summary of the Wajda documents, a Wajda timeline, and several of the approximately 3,200 pages of Wajda documents released by the Archdiocese pursuant to the court order are available on our homepage under News and Events at www.andersonadvocates.com. The entire Wajda file produced by the Archdiocese is available upon request. The original Doe 1 complaint and additional information can be found on our website at www.andersonadvocates.com.

Archbishop Carlson responds to sex abuse deposition controversy

Valerie Schremp Hahn
St. Louis Post Dispatch
June 13, 2014

ST. LOUIS • St. Louis Archbishop Robert J. Carlson issued a statement and video Friday about comments he made in a deposition last month about whether sexual abuse of children by priests was a crime.

“In the deposition last month, I misunderstood a series of questions that were presented to me,” he said. “I wish to clarify that situation now. I fully understand, and have understood for my entire adult life, as I stated in other sections of this same deposition, sexual abuse is a grave evil and a criminal offense.”

The reports of his comments during the deposition sparked outrage among some in the community and prompted a small protest outside the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis on Wednesday.

“I understand this situation has caused concern and frustration for many people, and for that I apologize,” Carlson said. He encouraged anyone who had suffered abuse to contact police and the archdiocese.

Friday marked the third time in a week the archdiocese has offered responses to the statements offered by Carlson in the deposition.

.............

Carlson responded that he “did not remember” 193 times to questions posed to him during the deposition.

The controversy stemmed from the archbishop’s response to a line of questioning about his grasp of child sex abuse laws.

............

“Archbishop, you knew it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a kid?” Anderson asks.

“I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not. I understand today it’s a crime,” Carlson replies.

read entire article at St. Louis Post Dispatch

Editorial: Archbishop Carlson has some troubling memory lapses

Editorial Board
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

June 10, 2014


“And Pilate asked him, ‘Art thou the King of the Jews?’ And he answering said unto him, ‘I can’t remember.’ ” Of course that’s not what the second verse of the 15th chapter of Mark’s gospel actually says. Jesus, on trial for his life before Pontius Pilate, replies, “Thou sayest it.”

He didn’t deny it, he didn’t admit it, he certainly didn’t go all Watergate on him and say, “At this point in time, I have no present recollection of what may or may not have happened.”

Now contrast that with how St. Louis Archbishop Robert J. Carlson responded in a deposition on May 23. He was answering — more precisely, not answering — questions posed by attorney Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., who represents a victim in a priest-abuse case that took place in 1984. Archbishop Carlson then was an auxiliary bishop in the St. Paul archdiocese. He held the title of chancellor to then-Archbishop John R. Roach.

Mr. Anderson asked the archbishop if at the time, he knew it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a child.

“I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not,” Archbishop Carlson replied. “I understand today it is a crime.”

In 1984, then-Bishop Carlson was 39 years old. It defies belief that a sophisticated, well-educated man in the United States could get to be 39 years old without knowing that it’s against the law for adults to have sex with children.

As reported by Lilly Fowler at stltoday.com on Monday and in Tuesday’s Post-Dispatch, on 193 occasions during the course of the May 23 deposition, Archbishop Carlson claimed not to remember the answers to Mr. Anderson’s questions.

Minnesota Public Radio reported that during last month’s deposition, the archbishop told Mr. Anderson, “You’re asking me to tell you under oath what I did 32 or 30 years ago, and it would be impossible for me to do that with any accuracy, especially when you have documents that would spell that out.”

Mr. Anderson released several of those documents, indicating that in the mid-1980s, then-Bishop Carlson was keenly familiar with the laws involving sexual abuse of minors, including fine points like the statute of limitations. In a July 1984 memo to Archbishop Roach, then-Bishop Carlson reported having questioned a suspect priest; the priest “agreed” that he was probably facing a charge of a “first-degree criminal sexual contact.”

In a 1986 document released by Mr. Anderson, then-Bishop Loras J. Watters of Winona, Minn., recalls then-Bishop Carlson giving him a tip for answering questions during depositions: “He said the best thing you can say is, ‘I don’t remember.’ ”

Archbishop Carlson told Mr. Anderson he had no memory of using that phrase. Most likely his advice to Bishop Watters would have been to consult his lawyer, he said.

Slippery language like this normally is employed by lawyered-up mobsters, politicians or Wall Street fraudsters. It is not the sort of thing that you associate with a shepherd of the flock of Christ.

There are several possibilities here. One, Archbishop Carlson really can’t remember, in which case he should resign and seek treatment for Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia.

Two, Archbishop Carlson has been coached-up to his eyeballs on the laws governing perjury. You perjure yourself in a sworn deposition if you knowingly lie. But if you say you can’t remember, and there’s no paper trail or evidence to the contrary, proving perjury is tough.

Three, because there’s money at stake, he’s deliberately misleading the court, to say nothing of his flock, unworried about the ruinous moral example that he’s setting. Not remembering a few things from 1984 is understandable. But 193?

As a policy, this editorial page does not comment on matters of religious teaching or practice, except when it touches on the public sphere. We have applauded the archbishop’s moral leadership on the subject of Medicaid expansion in Missouri and the state’s obligation to the poor. We have been less enthusiastic about his arguments against the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act.

Either way, he has utterly squandered his credibility.

In John’s account of Jesus’ trial, Jesus tells Pilate, “Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”

And Pilate says, “What is truth?”

It’s a good question, your excellency.