Pope Francis shakes up Catholic church

Deutsche Welle
July 24, 2013

Brazil - Many Catholics hope Pope Francis will strengthen laymen and women in church, who have been taking on responsibilities of priests in some rural areas. That might trigger a revolution, experts say.

The Catholic Church in Latin America has a way of dealing with contradictions: Instead of discussing whether women should be allowed to be ordained to the priesthood or debating the celibate, laymen go ahead and create precedents in their religious communities. They've come up with new forms of church services - services without a priest. Hopes are high during this year's World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro that Pope Francis will give more power to ordinary people in the church: the laypersons. That would ultimately change the Catholic Church.

Erwin Kräutler, bishop of the diocese Xingu in the Brazilian Amazon region, steers clear of tricky subjects such as women priests and celibate. Kräutler, an Austrian native who came to the Amazon region some 40 years ago, takes a more pragmatic approach: "I have 28 priests for 700,000 people in an area that's about the size of Germany," he said. "We started to ask ourselves: How can we enable people in the jungle, wherever they are, to take part in the Holy Communion?"

No priest around

Many laypersons have already come up with their own solution: they simply hold church services without the support of the clerics. They pray together, break the bread, administer wine, and care little about Catholic regulations, which specify that only priests are allowed to administer the sacrament of the Holy Communion.

"Lays take over responsibility, and the church moves forward. And even without pastors and priests, it works well," Sister Lucilene Antonio, who supports small religious communities within the Amazon region, said. "I have seen women who have done Services of the Word and broke the bread afterwards."

Appreciation for lays originates in what's called the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings run by Pope John XXIII that brought the Catholic Church into modern times. Among the participants were Pope John Paul II when he was still called Karol Jozef Wojtyla, as well as Pope Francis' predecessor Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), who recently stepped down. Back then, Benedict XVI had been pushing for a "less clerical church."

"We all are the church"

Brazilian Luiz Paulo Horta, an expert on the Vatican, is convinced that Pope Francis is going to push for the priesthood of all believers. "He knows it's absolutely crucial that lays participate [in the church]," Horta said. "Francis wants the people at grass-roots level to revive the church."

What makes sense and could rather be seen as something not even worth mentioning from an outsider's perspective is a huge deal for the Catholic world, Horta said, calling it a revolution. "We all are the church. If we don't acknowledge the fact, nothing will happen," he said. "I think Francis has called on the people to start a rebellion."

Latin Americans call for reforms

Rebellion and revolution - that's nothing new for Latin America: In the 1960s and 70s, Latin American liberation theologians such as Gustavo Gutierrez and Oscar Romero inspired clergymen and believers all over the world. One of them was Ludwig Gerhard Müller, who now heads the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Pope Francis seems to rely on Latin America's drive for theologian modernization and on his predecessors' approval. He will meet with the board of the Latin American Conference of Catholic Bishops CELAM after the Youth Day closing ceremony on Sunday (28.07.2013). CELAM has been vigorously pushing for change in the past decades.

Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff firmly believes Latin America will trigger future reforms that are going to change the Catholic Church. "Our church doesn't reflect the European mother church anymore; it has its own origins, its own traditions, heroes, martyrs, prophets and personas such as the famous former bishop of Recife, Dom Helder Camara, or our very own saint, Oscar Romero," Boff said. "These churches will breathe new life into Christianity."

Monsignor Leo Cushley unveiled as new archbishop

Stephen McGinty
The Scotsman
July 24, 2013

MONSIGNOR Leo Cushley has been named new Archbishop of St Andrews & Edinburgh, replacing Cardinal Keith O’Brien who resigned in disgrace after admitting inappropriate behaviour with a number of priests.

Monsignor Cushley, a priest from the Motherwell diocese, is currently working in the Vatican with its secretariat of state, the Vatican’s foreign office.

..........

Cushley is believed to have been chosen on account of his “outsider” status and skills in diplomacy and conflict resolution, following service in troublespots during the civil wars in Burundi and Rwanda. He is also known to be a trusted aide and confidante of Pope Francis.

The new Archbishop will today deliver his first message to the Archdiocese which has been shocked by the scandal surrounding Cardinal O’Brien who was revealed to have had a number of inappropriate relationships with priests and seminarians.

The Cardinal’s behaviour was revealed in February and led to him pulling out of the conclave to elect the new Pope, the first time a cardinal had been unable to attend a conclave due to a personal scandal.

Cardinal O’Brien had attempted to return to the Archdiocese where he had previously planned to retire but was instead ordered to go on a penitential retreat and is currently thought to be in a monastry in Europe.

In a statement Mgr Cushley said: “I am humbled that our Holy Father Pope Francis has nominated me for such an important task here in our ancient capital. I know it’s a delicate moment and that there is a lot to be done, but with God’s grace and the kind support of the clergy and people of Edinburgh, I will work cheerfully and willingly with all the energy I can muster.”

........

Full story at the Scotsman

Right wing 'generally not happy with Pope Francis'

John L. Allen, Jr.
National Catholic Reporter
July 24, 2013

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia is renowned for speaking plainly, which in part means he's often willing to say things out loud that others in his position may sense but are hesitant to acknowledge.

During an interview in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, for instance, Chaput bluntly tackled three questions about Pope Francis, his early record, and his current trip to Brazil:

• The 68-year-old Capuchin conceded that last night's mob scene with the papal motorcade was a "frightening moment," hinting that perhaps Francis could listen a bit more to handlers charged with his safety and saying, "There has to be some distance between the crowds and the Holy Father."

• Chaput acknowledged that members of the right wing of the Catholic church "generally have not been really happy" with some aspects of Francis' early months and said the pope will have to find a way "to care for them, too."

• Chaput defended Francis on concerns in some circles that he's been silent on abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia, saying, "I can't imagine he won't be as pro-life and pro-traditional marriage as any of the other popes." He insisted the bishop of Rome "has to talk about those things."

read full article at National Catholic Reporter

Schüller in Philadelphia: 'Where has obedience got us?'

Patricia Lefevere
National Catholic Reporter
July 22, 2013

Philadelphia - At best, the Catholic church has five to six years before the shortage of clergy members plays itself out in unknown ways in Europe and North America. This is the so-called "Catholic Tipping Point" foreseen by Austrian Fr. Helmut Schüller, one of the most vocal advocates for new models of leadership in the church. The remarks came in an extended interview with NCR before his Friday evening address at Chestnut Hill College here. Schüller and approximately 400 Austrian priests -- about 10 percent of the nation's total Catholic clergy -- launched the Austrian Priests' Initiative in 2006 following worry and discussions about who would care for their parishes when there were not enough priests to take over after they retire. In 2011, they issued an "Appeal to Disobedience" in which they pledged, among other things, not to celebrate multiple Sunday Masses. The movement seeks to open the priesthood to each person suited for the office, including women and married men.

Schüller, 60, said the word "disobedience" upsets many people, but he showed no sign of finding a less troublesome word. "Where has obedience got us?" he asked, reviewing his own priesthood of 36 years. "I feel the church often misuses obedience to keep people down."

In an afternoon meeting with 20 priests of the Philadelphia archdiocese at Chestnut Hill College, the Austrian cleric said he found "a lot of sympathy" and "very supportive" comments from local priests. Some, he said, shared experiences similar to his in Vienna and told Schüller how their work had, at times, brought them into conflict with church authorities.

He pointed to growing frustrations among priests who are asked to pastor three or four cluster parishes. "There is the tension of having to do the same thing continually and not having sufficient time to get to know parishioners," he said, adding that he thought the idea of such a ministry impeded men from joining the priesthood. "My hope is that these potential candidates will not leave the church but will become engaged lay leaders."

Schüller said he became a priest to take care of the faithful. "I wanted to visit them, to know where they worked and who their parents are and what's important to them," he said. Such knowledge is virtually impossible in today's Austria and in large parts of Europe and some of the United States because of staff shortages, he said.

"Our priests today are like little bishops," he said. "They drive up, get out of the car, wave, offer Mass, hear confessions, get back in the car, wave, give a blessing and are off to the next parish."

In the evening, Schüller spoke to approximately 350 people at Chestnut Hill, the third leg of his 15-city U.S. tour. The rented hall on the Catholic campus was full, leaving about 100 attendees to occupy whatever space they could find.

Chestnut Hill, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia, may be the only Catholic venue that Schüller's handlers found for his lecture tour. (Most of Schüller's upcoming talks are to be held at Protestant churches.) Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, who had banned the priest from archdiocesan property, and reportedly said it was "regrettable" that the college rented space to the priest's organizers -- the Philadelphia-area chapters of Voice of the Faithful, Women's Ordination Conference, and Call to Action.

In his interview with NCR, Schüller recalled a friendly meeting with Chaput when he was bishop of Rapid City, S.D., and Schüller was a tourist to the state. He told his applauding audience that his shutout from Catholic venues in Boston and Philadelphia, both ordered by Capuchin bishops, meant the bishops were "forbidding you to listen to me. What does the bishop think of his people -- that they're not competent to hear me?"

The priest spoke of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and the "rediscovery of the dignity of the baptized" and said this teaching was "foundational" to respecting the rights of all the People of God. He also highlighted the tension that has prevailed for half a century among church leaders "who are afraid of the laity, fearing they will bring bad thinking into the church from their secular lifestyles."

Schüller said the word "laity" as used by some church leaders implies "incompetence," as if there is "hierarchy" and "lowerarchy" in the church. Schüller said he sees recognition of the fundamental rights of all Christians not as a means to democratize the church, but rather as "the church fulfilling its own teaching."

He said he does not believe women should be ordained because of a lack of male priests but because "Scripture shows us that men and women are together the image of God in this world. The image of God is incomplete if only represented by one gender."

Recalling his years as director of Caritas Austria, the priest said when he traveled, he saw that women were doing 80 percent of the organizing and work while men often led projects and headed committees.

"Women don't have appropriate positions in society, and yet they are carrying the burden in daily life," he said. "It becomes more and more dangerous for the rights of women all over the world if the church does not recognize their universal equal rights."

Schüller urged his audience to work toward the nomination of local bishops, "maybe even managing to elect them one day."

Some audience members asked Schüller why he had not been censured, pointing to the excommunication of Maryknoll Fr. Roy Bourgeois and the silencing and threatened excommunication of Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery in Dublin for favoring women's ordination.

Schüller said, "The Austrian bishops did nothing to censure us because they know we have widespread support among priests and laity" -- more than 70 percent, according to a recent poll.

He also said public opinion and the press played a role in his life and the life of bishops.

"I may not have spoken out in an earlier age," Schüller said. He said bishops want good public relations, so some bishops are less strict with those voicing dissenting opinions. But because the sex abuse crisis has brought reporters to the chancery and parish door, "they know they can't hide things anymore," he said.

"You just wait; you will be censured," predicted Barbara Zeman, a Roman Catholic Womanpriest who drove 14 hours from Chicago to hear Schüller speak Friday. She is one of 50 women priests who will attend a retreat in Philadelphia later this week.

"Why accept censure?" Schüller replied. He urged Catholics to pray and not to be afraid, to cooperate with other reform and renewal groups and to make public all communications, be they from Rome, the diocese or elsewhere.

As an example, Schüller described Flannery's Dublin press conference in January, which Schüller and clerics from across Europe attended. Flannery, a founder of Ireland's Association of Catholic Priests, brought 1,000 signatures of support from his fellow priests -- about 25 percent of Ireland's Catholic clergy -- who disagreed with his ban from publishing and all priestly ministry, a ban the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued in 2012.

"The [Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith] doesn't know what to do," Schüller said, adding that Flannery gave to the press all communications between himself and Rome, his superiors and the Irish bishops.

"The old system of silencing someone used to make them disappear," Schüller said. "That's no longer true."

Although the evening at Chestnut Hill began with a disclaimer from Schüller -- "I can only give the answers for which I have the words" -- the priest found the language to respond to a host of questions, even translating in his head some passages of Lumen Gentium and other Vatican II documents.

Joseph Butler of Philadelphia rose to say he was too old to wait for change and might be dead when Schüller's "tipping point" is reached. Butler said he left the priesthood six years after ordination because his pastor was resistant to the reforms of Vatican II.

"The institutional church is not going to change; we have to find our own way," Butler told those gathered.

Rather than be discouraged, Charles McMahon of Voice of the Faithful suggested to a handful of listeners after Schüller's question time ended that the procedures for the nomination and election of bishops "best begin immediately."

McMahon, a University of Pennsylvania professor emeritus, said Americans are proud of their heritage. He urged them to look at the reforms that gave the United States its independence and established its representative government, achievements that occurred as a result of the two Continental Congresses held in 1774 and 1775-76.

"As the colonists learned, talking about the problem of taxation without representation and sending petitions to George III was an exercise in futility," McMahon said. He said American Catholics should add an action plan to the efforts of the various reform movements that have already begun to petition Rome for permission to elect their bishops.

The renewal process will require organization and education of the electorate, he said, but the willingness for change already exists. "There is no time to waste."

Archbishop angry over Catholic church's lack of concern for abused children

Paddy Clancy
Irish Voice
July 21, 2013

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Dr. Diarmuid Martin has hit out at the church’s lack of concern for children abused by priests.

He was responding to a just-published report which was severely critical of three previous archbishops of Dublin including Cardinal Desmond Connell.

The report, Chapter 20 of the investigation by Judge Yvonne Murphy into abuses in the Dublin Archdiocese, was released for publication by the High Court on Friday although the rest of the judge’s findings were published in November 2009.

Chapter 20 was censored from the initial publication pending trial of defrocked priest Patrick McCabe.

The chapter, when finally published last week, found there was “shocking” Garda (police) “connivance” with the church authorities when one serious complaint was stifled, there was failure to investigate another, and McCabe was allowed by his superiors to leave the country.

Martin, hitting out at the lack of concern for children abused by priests, said Chapter 20’s criticisms of the church showed “there was concern for everybody except the child.”

“The priest was looked after, people were kept quiet, and many of those children weren’t even spoken to. There is no way in which the church of Jesus Christ should have treated children in that way.”

Former priest McCabe, now 77, was jailed for 18 months last October for a number of abuses against schoolboys, one aged only nine.

The Murphy Report found he was able to flee to the U.S. after Garda connivance with church authorities. He was arrested in the U.S. in August 2010 and extradited to Ireland in June 2011.

Before he fled to the U.S. McCabe served in several dioceses in Dublin between 1971 and 1983. He worked in the Santa Rosa diocese in California between 1983 and 1986. His faculties as a priest were withdrawn in 1987 and he was laicised in 1988.

He left a psychiatric hospital in February 1988. The Irish bishops allowed him to return to the U.S. Judge Murphy, in one of her most damning indictments in her report, summarized, “They, in effect, set him loose on the unsuspecting population of Stockton, California.”

Martin said, “For those abused by Patrick McCabe, the wait for truth has been a long one.”


Read original article at Irish Central

Arrested Vatican prelate acted as private banker

Philip Pullella and Massimiliano Di Giorgio
Reuters
July 21, 2013

ROME, July 21 (Reuters) - A senior Catholic prelate arrested last month used his influence at the Vatican to provide private, illegal financial services for rich friends, Italian investigators say in a judicial document.

They say Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, who is the target of two Italian investigations and had accounts at the Vatican bank, engaged in "totally private, illegal activity which was also aimed at serving outsiders".

Scarano was arrested in Rome on June 28 along with a self-styled financier and a member of Italy's secret services and formally accused of taking part in a plot to smuggle 20 million euros ($26.28 million) into Italy from Switzerland.

Reuters has obtained the 28-page document in which magistrates in Rome had asked a judge to order his arrest.

Scarano's lawyer, Silverio Sica, denied the accusations it contains. "They don't have any evidence to prove all of this," he said on Sunday. "These are just suspicions".

Pope Francis, who has made cleaning up the Vatican a goal of his papacy, has set up a commission of inquiry to reform its bank. On Friday he announced he was forming another commission of lay experts to help him overhaul the Holy See's economic and administrative departments.

Account holders at the Vatican bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) and which has been plagued by scandal for decades, are obliged not to let them be used, even indirectly, by third parties.

The IOR has long been in the spotlight for failing to meet international standards intended to combat tax evasion and the disguising of illegal sources of income.

Its stated purpose is to provide financial services for religious orders of priests and nuns, Holy See officials and Vatican employees.

Scarano, a former banker who became a priest at the relatively late age of 35, worked as a senior accountant in the Vatican's central financial administration office, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, or APSA.

In the document, the magistrates say Scarano, who worked at APSA for 22 years, offered his friends "a series of services ... in the area of financial transactions, in particular when there was a need or a request for them to remain secret".

They say the prelate carried out "a series of illegal activities by unscrupulously using his network of contacts in different areas, including businessmen, clergy who looked the other way, secret service agents and Vatican bank (IOR)personnel".

The IOR's director and deputy director, who are under investigation by Italian magistrates, resigned on July 1, three days after Scarano's arrest. On July 12, the Vatican froze Scarano's accounts in the IOR and said its own investigation could extend to other persons.

In an interrogation after his arrest, a transcript of which was obtained from legal sources and whose contents were confirmed by Sica, Scarano says he was to have received 1.5 million euros as a loan to pay off a business debt connected to one of the real estate companies he had a stake in.

SALERNO INVESTIGATION

Scarano has had two requests to move from jail into house arrest turned down. He is also under a separate money laundering investigation by magistrates in his hometown of Salerno, where he is accused of withdrawing 560,000 euros in cash from his account at IOR and giving small amounts to friends in exchange for 61 cheques drawn on Italian banks, according to court documents.

He later cashed the cheques, which ranged from 2,000 euros to 20,000 euros, in what magistrates say was an attempt to mask the origin of the money. His lawyers say that money came from donations to build a home for the elderly.

Magistrates say Scarano used that money to pay off a mortgage on his luxury apartment, filled with expensive works of art. Scarano's lawyers say he intended to sell the apartment at a profit in order to help build a home for the terminally ill.

In the document, magistrates say Scarano received 20,000 euros each month from Cesare D'Amico, a member of a wealthy shipping family in Salerno. The payments, which came from foreign bank accounts, were marked "for works of charity" but the magistrates say Scarano used them "for totally personal ends".

It says that in a tapped telephone conversation Scarano says that he and D'Amico had a joint account at the IOR. But in the interrogation after his arrest, Scarano said he had lied during that telephone conversation and that there was no joint account.

D'Amico's lawyer, Vincenzo Crupi, also denied that his client had a joint account with Scarano at the IOR.

Crupi told Reuters the D'Amico family was "very religious" and had made many donations to Scarano over the years, particularly to a fund to help the elderly in Salerno. He denied that the 20 million euros that Scarano is accused of plotting to smuggle into Italy belonged to the D'Amico family. ($1 = 0.7611 euros) (editing by David Stamp)

What the (Milwaukee) church documents reveal

Karen Hertzog
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
July 20, 2013

When the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese recently released secret documents linked to how the church dealt with sexual abuse of children by priests, the headlines focused on former Archbishop Timothy Dolan's plans to pay abusers to leave the priesthood and to move $57 million into cemetery funds to protect the money "from any legal claim or liability."

But those aren't the only stories revealed in some 6,000 pages of documents the church had kept confidential for decades. The documents also shed light on issues pedophile priests were dealing with both before and after they abused children. They include letters to priests from archbishops who failed to face the issue of child abuse head on. And they reveal the anguish of the victims and the victims' parents.

The documents, which were released July 1 as part of the church's bankruptcy case, reveal the human side of the scandal.

Some of the priests said they had been sexually abused as children. The victims were often insecure and searching for guidance. And archbishops, in addition to trying to protect the church, felt a pastoral responsibility to priests who were abusers.

Only a few of the accused priests were criminally charged; many denied they did anything wrong. Most left the priesthood with severance pay or were allowed to retire with a pension, health benefits and a place to live. Of the dozen priests included in this story, three are still alive but have been stripped of their priestly ministry: Franklyn Becker, Michael Krejci and Thomas Trepanier, according to archdiocese records.

This story is based on a close review of the pedophile priest files, which include candid letters exchanged between accused priests and archbishops; sexual abuse intake reports; psychological assessments; letters from archbishops to the Vatican seeking counsel or formal action against priests; and letters from victims and their parents.

The pedophile priests

The documents show that many of the priests did not consider themselves criminals, but victims. Some were addicted to alcohol or pornography. They did good work in the church and helped many people. But they also had a dark side they either struggled to control or did not acknowledge.

Many did not express guilt or remorse; they couldn't understand why they were treated severely after they had accepted counseling and done everything the archdiocese asked of them. Some acknowledged conflicted sexual orientation, loneliness, self-loathing, an inability to form healthy adult relationships. Psychologists concluded that at least one priest's emotional development was stunted.

Father Eugene Kreuzer confessed to members of an unidentified parish in an undated letter:

"...There were allegations of my sexual abuse of minors some 30 years ago in a different parish. I express remorse and repent of these actions. However, for the good of thecommunity I have decided that my continued presence at the parish is not helpful. I have been fully cooperative with the restrictions placed upon me. I do not exercise anyministry and am living out my life in a spirit of prayer and penance.This is a strong and loving parish community and I know you will respond to thisannouncement in the manner that is most appropriate, by praying for all those involved...."

Father Andrew Doyle sought a financial settlement in a letter to then-Archbishop Rembert Weakland:

" ...you had indicated that you would grant me an unspecified amount of money as a severance. Because I have regular bills and a house payment, I ask that if it becomes necessary for a release from my orders, at that time you would consider an amount of $30,000 ... I have tried to cooperate with the Archdiocese...I regret any pain I have caused you; I also have been in much myself."

A letter from then-Archbishop Dolan to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the Vatican offered his impressions of Father Franklyn Becker, who Dolan said refused to voluntarily give up his ministry rights as a sign of repentance:

"Father Becker has admitted that a number of these acts of sexual assault occurred... While he attempts to present a defense based on cooperation and need for sustenance, in interviews with him, there is little display of repentance. His sorrow is not over what effect his immoral and abusive behaviors had on others, so much as it is remorse that he has lost a sense of status..."

Several priests were referred for intensive treatment of alcoholism and psycho-sexual issues. Atreatment progress report for Father Michael Krejci concluded, among other things:

"...Normal inhibiting mechanisms, such as guilt or remorse, do not appear to impede Michael's problematic sexual behavior..."

Church officials

Each archbishop had his own way of addressing accused priests.

Archbishop William Cousins wrote terse, formal letters to inform priests they were being transferred, which occurred frequently and quietly during his tenure from 1959 to 1977. Cousins did not document much, reflecting a time when sex abuse accusations against priests were not openly discussed.

Weakland, archbishop from 1977 to 2002, consistently expressed concern for the priests' well-being and told them he was doing what was best for them and the church. He also exchanged letters with victims, acknowledging the bad effects of what had happened and encouraging them to forgive because "forgiveness brings spiritual growth."

Weakland resigned in 2002 amid revelations that he had used church money to pay a $450,000 settlement to a man with whom he had had a sexual relationship years earlier.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, whose tenure from 2002 to 2007 coincided with a change in direction by the Vatican in dealing with sex abuse cases, wrote stern letters to priests about their actions, while expressing concern for their well-being. In his letters to victims, Dolan apologized for their pain and offered them counseling services.

One internal exchange at the archdiocese was especially frank. This excerpt of a 2006 letter from Archdiocese Chancellor Barbara Anne Cusack to Dolan was about Father Michael Benham:

"Although Michael has apparently expressed remorse to you, I have not seen that remorse translate into action. The victim in this case requested a token amount of money as a gesture of recognition of the harm he had caused; Michael has consistently and adamantly refused to do so...This was not a one-time incident of indiscretion.

"There have to be consequences to actions. I do not doubt that an all-merciful God has forgiven Michael but an all-just God will also probably require some purgation for these actions...Michael's life of solitude is made possible because we are paying his subsidy and could be doing so for the next 10 years until he is eligible for pension...I am not sure how we can justify this as 'good stewardship' of the resources people have entrusted to us... How do I honestly look a victim-survivor in the face in mediation and say we are acting consistently with Pope John Paul II's statement that 'there is no place in the priesthood for those who would harm a child?'"

A letter Dolan wrote in December 2002 to parishioners at an unspecified church about Father Thomas Trepanier acknowledged the need for accountability.

"We forgive those priests who have been guilty of this crime and sin, once they admit it — as most do, painfully and admirably — ask for mercy and repent. We know God forgives them; we must forgive them too; and I hope they can forgive themselves.

"Forgiveness, however, does not eliminate the need for those accused to take responsibility, to be held accountable for their behavior."

One month before Dolan wrote to parishioners about forgiveness for Trepanier, he wrote to Trepanier:

"...While we await clearer resolution from the Holy See and the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, I just wanted you to know that I have not forgotten about you, and that you have my love, concern, and prayerful solidarity..."

Dolan added a handwritten note in the margin: "Thanks for the green tea! I'll be in touch soon."

Seven years earlier, in 1995, a letter from Weakland to Father Eldred Lesniewski reflected a much different tone:

"...Every time you appear in public this way at the altar, Eldred, you risk stirring up people who have brought allegations. The network of such victims is enormous and very aggressive. You risk much unfortunate bad publicity against yourself, the priesthood and the Diocese..."

The victims

They were altar boys. Kids in need of a friend or a counselor. Boys and girls who for whatever reason caught the eye of the priest at school or in church. Perhaps the priest initially made them feel special with gifts or extra attention — a sleepover or a vacation on a Caribbean cruise. One priest invited boys to go up north on a camping trip in a hearse.

A man who said he was molested as a boy by Father Lawrence Murphy at St. John's School for the Deaf finally confronted the priest decades later in a letter copied to Archbishop Weakland and Pope John Paul II:.

"...I cannot keep our secret about your life as a terrible molester at our school...You made us hate the Catholic church because we couldn't understand how you could be such a hypocrite of a priest who taught us about God while you were the secret molester...

"I would lie awake every night shaking in fear that this would be a night you would touch me ...Jesus on the cross on the wall saw you coming every night to molest us. He must have been shocked and grieved every time. I hope he cried like we did, because we were innocent children... The depth of your destruction is like a deep, dark, bottomless pit that has no end...The very least you could do is be sorry, but you aren't...

"God lets no one into heaven who is not deeply, truly, and shamefully sorry for his sins — in your case, atrocities...My shame and my dirty secret are back where they belong, with you, their creator."

The mother of one of Father Franklyn Becker's victims wrote to Weakland in 1994, after accusations about pedophile priests began being reported by newspapers. Her son was abused by Becker at the Holy Family parish in Whitefish Bay in the 1970s, she said.

"As I later found out, this priest had a record in his previous parish and after leaving Whitefish Bay, continued on his merry way in parish after parish, both here and out of state....

"At the time that his offense against my son occurred, I was (redacted) very vulnerable and very committed to seeing that my children be educated in Catholic schools. That's how he came to know my sons; we took him into our hearts and into our family...

"At no time did it ever occur to me to sue the Archdiocese or the priest... Money could never heal the scars left by one priest's indiscretion. However, Archbishop Weakland, don't for a minute smugly think that the only cases of clergy abuse out there are the ones that sue/or run to the media. All I really wanted over the past years was an acknowledgment by you and the Archdiocese that this problem existed and the seriousness of it....

"In addition to a deep sense of guilt for allowing, or even encouraging this to happen to my son some years ago, I have in the past few years experienced a loss of faith, an indifference to the church I was brought up in and now a real bitterness that this particular priest had been 'rewarded' with early retirement for a lifetime of botched assignments due to his fondness for the altar boys."

Father George Nuedling gained sympathy from in-the-dark parishioners one day for an injury he sustained after molesting a victim, according to this letter the victim wrote to the archdiocese:

"...I fought as hard as I could for what seemed an eternity, and fortunately when he lost his grip on me I was able to run away. He tried to give chase but must have pulled something in his calf or hamstring area and fell to the ground (Jesus must have been with me).

"The next day in church it just galled me to hear other parishioners express their concern over Father Nuedling's 'bad limp' and how it must have hurt...I just wonder how many other little boys this evil man harmed?"

Father George Etzel sent a Christmas card in 1992 to a victim, who by then was an adult. "I'm sad and sorry, and I wonder why," he wrote.

The victim responded: "Thank you for the card and thoughts at Christmas... By the tone of your note...I see that you are also reflecting on your past life...and you know exactly what I am talking about.As I stated earlier, it is a time for forgiveness and hope. I forgive you for the things you have done to me. I hope you can make peace with your god..."

When it was time for his first confession, a 9-year-old victim thought he could anonymously tell a trusted adult about Father Siegfried Widera. But something stopped him, according to a letter he wrote as an adult on Aug. 1, 2002:

"...As I entered that booth, I was determined to end this. It was only to my horror that I entered the confessional and heard that voice that could belong to only one man. I can still to this day feel the devastation that entered me that day and the thought that it was a sign from God to keep my mouth shut. I went home that night and cried. A memory that burns in me to this day.

"A sense of relief only came after I found out he was gone. No explanation to the students and none that I can remember hearing about to the adults... I already know that this man was transferred to another church and he did it again. I live with the thought that I could have stopped this if only I had come forward sooner. And now I know that this man is on the run...

"I only wish I believed enough in prayer to pray for any child he comes across."

Less than a year after the letter was written, Widera leaped to his death from a hotel balcony in Mexico as officials closed in to arrest him. He had been on the run for more than a year, and authorities considered him one of the most wanted sex-crime fugitives in the Western Hemisphere.