Friday, June 5, 2015
Catholic archdiocese in Minnesota charged over sex abuse by priest
Mitch Smith
New York Times
June 5, 2015
Prosecutors in Minnesota filed criminal charges on Friday against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, accusing church leaders of mishandling repeated complaints of sexual misconduct against a priest and failing to follow through on pledges to protect children and root out pedophile clergymen.
The charges and accompanying civil petition, announced by the Ramsey County prosecutor, John J. Choi, stem from accusations by three boys or young men who say that from 2008 to 2010, when they were under age, a local priest, Curtis Wehmeyer, gave them alcohol and drugs before sexually assaulting them.
The criminal case amounts to a sweeping condemnation of the archdiocese and how its leaders have handled the abuse allegations — even after reforms were put in place by church leaders to increase accountability — and the charges are among the most severe actions taken by American authorities against a Catholic diocese.
“Today, we are alleging a disturbing institutional and systemic pattern of behavior committed by the highest levels of leadership of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over the course of decades,” Mr. Choi said in a statement.
Mr. Wehmeyer, 50, who was dismissed as a priest in March, was sentenced to five years in a Minnesota prison in 2013 for criminal sexual conduct and possession of child pornography. He also has been charged with sex crimes in Wisconsin.
The six criminal charges filed Friday, misdemeanors with a maximum fine of $3,000 each, accused the archdiocese of failing to protect children. Mr. Choi also filed a civil petition against the archdiocese that he said was intended to provide legal remedies to prevent similar inaction from happening again.
The 44-page criminal complaint states that concerns about Mr. Wehmeyer date to the 1990s, when he was in seminary and supervisors suggested that his past sexual promiscuity and alcohol abuse made him a poor candidate for the priesthood.
Fellow clergy members and parishioners voiced repeated concerns about Mr. Wehmeyer after his ordination in 2001, prosecutors said. The archdiocese allowed Mr. Wehmeyer to continue as a priest, and even placed him in charge of his own parish, despite learning about his attempts to pick up young men at bookstores and his encounters with law enforcement at known “cruising” spots where men were known to meet other men for anonymous sexual encounters.
The charging documents also say that archdiocese officials knew that Mr. Wehmeyer used a boys’ bathroom at a parish elementary school instead of the staff restroom; tried to give an elementary-age boy a tour of the rectory in violation of policy; and took camping trips with boys where some of the sexual abuse was said to have occurred.
The archdiocese placed Mr. Wehmeyer in a monitoring program for priests facing complaints of abuse or other problems, but prosecutors said in court documents that the supervision and follow-through was “lax or nonexistent.”
“The archdiocese’s failures have caused great suffering by the victims and their family and betrayed our entire community,” Mr. Choi said in his statement.
Civil cases against the archdiocese and priests have poured in since 2013, when the Minnesota State Legislature passed the Child Victims Act, which opened a three-year window for filing lawsuits involving claims of sexual abuse that were beyond the criminal statute of limitations.
Many people have made such claims since that law’s passage, bringing new attention to decades-old cases, and creating public records of accusations against some priests.
David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he was pleased by the indictment, “but the credit goes to Minnesota lawmakers, not this prosecutor.”
An auxiliary bishop for the diocese, Andrew Cozzens, said in a statement Friday, “We deeply regret the abuse that was suffered by the victims of Curtis Wehmeyer and are grieved for all victims of sexual abuse.”
He added that the archdiocese would continue to cooperate with prosecutors. “We all share the same goal: to provide safe environments for all children in our churches and in our communities,” Bishop Cozzens said.
Criminal prosecution of an entire Catholic archdiocese is rare, but not entirely unprecedented, in American courts.
An Ohio judge in 2003 convicted the Archdiocese of Cincinnati of failing to report sexually abusive priests in the 1970s and ’80s. The judge fined the archdiocese $10,000, the maximum allowed, after the archbishop entered a no-contest plea.
But the Minnesota allegations are especially stark because the sexual abuse is said to have occurred relatively recently, long after sexual misconduct by priests had been widely reported and after Catholic institutions implemented programs aimed at preventing further abuse.
“Naming the archdiocese as a corporation implicates the wrongdoing and the failure to protect children by all of the top officials, past and present,” Jeff Anderson, a lawyer in Minnesota who has represented clergy sex-abuse victims, said in a statement.
Catholics say Archbishop Cordileone stumbled in remarks on gender identity
Mandy Erickson
National Catholic Reporter
June 5, 2015
If San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone garnered any goodwill among critics in his flock by softening language in a high school teacher handbook and choosing not to attend a national rally for traditional marriage, he may have lost it when he addressed a convocation for Latin Mass enthusiasts in New York City earlier this week.
In his talk at the Sacra Liturgia conference, Cordileone joked about the number of transgender identities, saying, "I'm sure even more will be invented as time goes on," Religion News Service reported. He also stated that acceptance of what Pope Francis has termed "gender ideology" threatens the Catholic faith.
"The language the archbishop used at this conference was ill-considered, hurtful and lacking in knowledge and compassion," said Micaela Presti, an alumna of and parent of children in Marin Catholic High School, which is under the purview of the archdiocese.
"Our group, Concerned Parents and Students: Teach Acceptance, continues to be very concerned with the archbishop's proposed changes in language of the faculty collective bargaining agreement and faculty handbooks, and the potential harm such language may have on students at these schools who may be questioning their identities and on the students, parents, and/or faculty who have identified as other than heterosexual," she added.
Cordileone has been embroiled in a dispute about employment terms for teachers at four archdiocesan Catholic high schools. He has proposed an addition to the teacher handbook that condemns homosexual practices, contraception and other matters related to sex.
On the state and national level, the archbishop has opposed LGBT civil rights: He helped draft California Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman. He also criticized a presidential executive order that would outlaw employment discrimination against LGBT people. Although last year he spoke at a rally for traditional marriage, this year, he declined to attend.
Several of Cordileone's critics expressed concern that the archbishop's words would engender violence against transgender people. When asked what he thought of the speech, Jim McGarry, a former religious studies teacher at St. Ignatius and Mercy high schools in San Francisco, said, "My first reaction is to say the name of a person, which is Gwen Araujo." Araujo was a Newark, Calif., teenager who was killed by four men in 2002 after they discovered Araujo was transgender. "He's adding to persecution of people like Gwen."
Added Ted DeSaulnier, former religion department chair at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco: "The transgendered youth who attend the high schools of San Francisco will have one more burden to overcome in the prejudice against them: Their very existence threatens the foundation of our Catholic faith."
That statement of Cordileone's was rejected by Fr. John Coleman, associate pastor of St. Ignatius Parish in San Francisco. "Whatever you think about transgender issues, I find it really hard to say it is 'a threat to the faith,' " he said.
But others in the archdiocese say while transgender people deserve compassion, sex-reassignment surgery is not the solution. They agree with the archbishop's stance that transgender identity is a disorder that should not be treated with a sex-change operation, but with faith and acceptance of the sex one was born into.
Fr. Joseph Fessio, founder of the conservative Ignatius Press, said transgender identity is an ailment: "It's like a cleft lip," he said. "We don't have cleft lip pride day."
Fr. John Direen, pastor of St. Joseph in Pinole, said, "As a chaplain of Courage and pastor of a parish I try to help people accept their current situation and to focus on becoming a better disciple of our Lord." Courage is a worldwide organization that encourages gay Catholics to remain chaste.
Other supporters of the archbishop said they are not prejudiced against sexual minorities, but sympathetic to their plight.
"The way I see it, there are all kinds of people making bank off of people suffering from gender confusion -- pharma, surgeons, insurance providers and voyeuristic media -- but I question whether any of these are really capable of helping them find peace with themselves and with the people in their lives," said Vivian Dudro, a senior editor at Ignatius Press in San Francisco.
Eva Muntean, marketing manager with Ignatius Press and creator of the website sfcatholics.org, founded to support Cordileone, said the church and the archbishop care about transgender Catholics.
"The church will always be there to help people in their suffering, whatever type of suffering it may be, and she [the church] will do it with both love and truth," Muntean said.
If San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone garnered any goodwill among critics in his flock by softening language in a high school teacher handbook and choosing not to attend a national rally for traditional marriage, he may have lost it when he addressed a convocation for Latin Mass enthusiasts in New York City earlier this week.
In his talk at the Sacra Liturgia conference, Cordileone joked about the number of transgender identities, saying, "I'm sure even more will be invented as time goes on," Religion News Service reported. He also stated that acceptance of what Pope Francis has termed "gender ideology" threatens the Catholic faith.
"The language the archbishop used at this conference was ill-considered, hurtful and lacking in knowledge and compassion," said Micaela Presti, an alumna of and parent of children in Marin Catholic High School, which is under the purview of the archdiocese.
"Our group, Concerned Parents and Students: Teach Acceptance, continues to be very concerned with the archbishop's proposed changes in language of the faculty collective bargaining agreement and faculty handbooks, and the potential harm such language may have on students at these schools who may be questioning their identities and on the students, parents, and/or faculty who have identified as other than heterosexual," she added.
Cordileone has been embroiled in a dispute about employment terms for teachers at four archdiocesan Catholic high schools. He has proposed an addition to the teacher handbook that condemns homosexual practices, contraception and other matters related to sex.
On the state and national level, the archbishop has opposed LGBT civil rights: He helped draft California Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman. He also criticized a presidential executive order that would outlaw employment discrimination against LGBT people. Although last year he spoke at a rally for traditional marriage, this year, he declined to attend.
Several of Cordileone's critics expressed concern that the archbishop's words would engender violence against transgender people. When asked what he thought of the speech, Jim McGarry, a former religious studies teacher at St. Ignatius and Mercy high schools in San Francisco, said, "My first reaction is to say the name of a person, which is Gwen Araujo." Araujo was a Newark, Calif., teenager who was killed by four men in 2002 after they discovered Araujo was transgender. "He's adding to persecution of people like Gwen."
Added Ted DeSaulnier, former religion department chair at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco: "The transgendered youth who attend the high schools of San Francisco will have one more burden to overcome in the prejudice against them: Their very existence threatens the foundation of our Catholic faith."
That statement of Cordileone's was rejected by Fr. John Coleman, associate pastor of St. Ignatius Parish in San Francisco. "Whatever you think about transgender issues, I find it really hard to say it is 'a threat to the faith,' " he said.
But others in the archdiocese say while transgender people deserve compassion, sex-reassignment surgery is not the solution. They agree with the archbishop's stance that transgender identity is a disorder that should not be treated with a sex-change operation, but with faith and acceptance of the sex one was born into.
Fr. Joseph Fessio, founder of the conservative Ignatius Press, said transgender identity is an ailment: "It's like a cleft lip," he said. "We don't have cleft lip pride day."
Fr. John Direen, pastor of St. Joseph in Pinole, said, "As a chaplain of Courage and pastor of a parish I try to help people accept their current situation and to focus on becoming a better disciple of our Lord." Courage is a worldwide organization that encourages gay Catholics to remain chaste.
Other supporters of the archbishop said they are not prejudiced against sexual minorities, but sympathetic to their plight.
"The way I see it, there are all kinds of people making bank off of people suffering from gender confusion -- pharma, surgeons, insurance providers and voyeuristic media -- but I question whether any of these are really capable of helping them find peace with themselves and with the people in their lives," said Vivian Dudro, a senior editor at Ignatius Press in San Francisco.
Eva Muntean, marketing manager with Ignatius Press and creator of the website sfcatholics.org, founded to support Cordileone, said the church and the archbishop care about transgender Catholics.
"The church will always be there to help people in their suffering, whatever type of suffering it may be, and she [the church] will do it with both love and truth," Muntean said.
Vatican in middle of war of words between cardinal and abuse survivor
Stephanie Kirchgaessner
The Guardian
June 5, 2015
George Pell has always courted – some say relished – controversy. From the time the staunchly conservative Australian cardinal suggested that sex abuse had never been a systemic problem in the Catholic church, to his refusal in the past to grant communion to gay Catholics – saying God did not make “Adam and Steve” – Pell’s uncompromising style has ruffled feathers.
Now Pell – a senior official in charge of church finances – is embroiled in a bruising fight of a different sort: one that has pit him against a layman, Peter Saunders, who was handpicked by Pope Francis last year to help rehabilitate the church following years of sex abuse scandals and cover-ups.
This week Saunders claimed in an interview in Australia that Pell’s allegedly “callous” past treatment of sex abuse victims was “almost sociopathic”.
In response, Pell – who has vehemently denied allegations that he once sought to bribe an abuse victim in return for his silence, among other cover-up allegations – said he would seek advice on legal action against Saunders, who is a survivor of sex abuse and a member of the pope’s commission on abuse in the church. Pell has previously apologised to victims of clergy sex abuse for the pain they endured.
The loaded exchange occurred after witnesses spoke out against Pell at a hearing before an Australian royal commission on child abuse. Claims that Pell ignored or sought to silence allegations of abuse are more than a decade old. Pell has denied all of the claims and was summoned to testify at the next hearing by the royal commission. A date has not yet been set.
On Thursday Australia’s Catholic archbishops issued a statement backing Pell as a “man of integrity who is committed to the truth and to helping others, particularly those who have been hurt or who are struggling”.
The Vatican, which rarely intervenes in such matters, has issued two statements since the fight broke out. In the first, it emphasised that Saunders was not speaking in his capacity as a member of the pope’s commission. The second, from the papal abuse commission, added that it was important for people in the position of authority to respond to claims of abuse “promptly, transparently and with the clear intent of enabling justice to be achieved”.
Jimmy Burns, the author of an upcoming biography on Pope Francis, said: “There seems to be two arms of the Francis machinery in conflict. Also, there is an element of administrative dysfunctionality at work. It shows the kind of real challenge the pope is facing in terms of reforming and restructuring the Vatican.”
He said the church’s legacy of sex abuse was the critical issue in how the church is perceived from the outside. “Saunders is a man who is of considerable integrity. He is not someone who can simply be dismissed by the Vatican,” Burns added.
John Allen, a veteran Vatican reporter and associate editor at the website Crux, said: “This is just kind of who George Pell is. He’s a back-alley bruiser. Everywhere he goes he has made enemies, but you will never find a man with more loyal friends.”
Among Pell’s allies, Allen noted, are English-speaking cardinals and bishops including Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.
Pope Francis has tended to stand by officials if they are publicly under attack and there are no signs that he is backing off from his support of Pell. If he were to do so, it would mean undermining a man he has personally charged with tackling another crucial issue of his papacy: Vatican financial reform. In that, too, Pell faces serious challenges.
The Australian strongly backed a proposal floated last year that would have transformed the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) – the Vatican bank – and created Vatican Asset Management (VAM), a company that would hand control of the assets to outside managers. The grand vision of Pell and others who supported the idea was that it would create a massive “Catholic fund”, with dioceses contributing their assets from all around the world, said one insider familiar with the plans.
When the IOR’s board disagreed, Pell swept them aside and established a new board. He also ushered in a new president, Jean-Baptiste Douville de Franssu. But people familiar with the matter say the proposal was rejected by the pope and the cardinal’s commission, who were charged with reviewing the idea.
“There was an internal backlash that had to do with the impression that Pell has accumulated too much power around himself and that he was setting himself up as a tinhorn dictator,” said Allen.
A spokesman for the secretariat for the economy – Pell’s office – denied that the pope had rejected the VAM proposal and said it remained “in the mix”. “It may have been delayed but not set aside,” he said.
Internal Vatican frustration with Pell seemed evident after an article this year in the Italian magazine L’Espresso, citing leaked documents, detailed half a million euros in expenses claimed by Pell’s office. A spokesman for the cardinal defended the expenses and said they reflected one-time costs.
Observers say Pell is not the only man who has been caught in a difficult position. When Saunders and another abuse survivor, Marie Collins, were appointed to the papal commission on abuse, the move was viewed with scepticism by victims’ advocacy groups who were wary that the two would be used as mere symbols to improve the image of the church without truly reforming it.
“Most of the advocacy groups think they are being taken advantage of. Both [Saunders and Collins] are extremely savvy. I would say about Peter that he is in a tough spot and trying to figure out how to stay true to himself,” said Allen.
Asked about criticism that he was taking advantage of his position on the papal commission and was not in a position to judge individual cases, Saunders told the Guardian in an email that he was doing God’s work. “The protection of children is what it’s all about and Pell and his kind are a serious threat to that,” he said.
He added: “You should see some of the amazing messages of support I am getting from all over the world … from people thanking me for speaking out / and not being intimidated by Pell and his kind. They have no place in a church of love.”
George Pell has always courted – some say relished – controversy. From the time the staunchly conservative Australian cardinal suggested that sex abuse had never been a systemic problem in the Catholic church, to his refusal in the past to grant communion to gay Catholics – saying God did not make “Adam and Steve” – Pell’s uncompromising style has ruffled feathers.
Now Pell – a senior official in charge of church finances – is embroiled in a bruising fight of a different sort: one that has pit him against a layman, Peter Saunders, who was handpicked by Pope Francis last year to help rehabilitate the church following years of sex abuse scandals and cover-ups.
This week Saunders claimed in an interview in Australia that Pell’s allegedly “callous” past treatment of sex abuse victims was “almost sociopathic”.
In response, Pell – who has vehemently denied allegations that he once sought to bribe an abuse victim in return for his silence, among other cover-up allegations – said he would seek advice on legal action against Saunders, who is a survivor of sex abuse and a member of the pope’s commission on abuse in the church. Pell has previously apologised to victims of clergy sex abuse for the pain they endured.
The loaded exchange occurred after witnesses spoke out against Pell at a hearing before an Australian royal commission on child abuse. Claims that Pell ignored or sought to silence allegations of abuse are more than a decade old. Pell has denied all of the claims and was summoned to testify at the next hearing by the royal commission. A date has not yet been set.
On Thursday Australia’s Catholic archbishops issued a statement backing Pell as a “man of integrity who is committed to the truth and to helping others, particularly those who have been hurt or who are struggling”.
The Vatican, which rarely intervenes in such matters, has issued two statements since the fight broke out. In the first, it emphasised that Saunders was not speaking in his capacity as a member of the pope’s commission. The second, from the papal abuse commission, added that it was important for people in the position of authority to respond to claims of abuse “promptly, transparently and with the clear intent of enabling justice to be achieved”.
Jimmy Burns, the author of an upcoming biography on Pope Francis, said: “There seems to be two arms of the Francis machinery in conflict. Also, there is an element of administrative dysfunctionality at work. It shows the kind of real challenge the pope is facing in terms of reforming and restructuring the Vatican.”
He said the church’s legacy of sex abuse was the critical issue in how the church is perceived from the outside. “Saunders is a man who is of considerable integrity. He is not someone who can simply be dismissed by the Vatican,” Burns added.
John Allen, a veteran Vatican reporter and associate editor at the website Crux, said: “This is just kind of who George Pell is. He’s a back-alley bruiser. Everywhere he goes he has made enemies, but you will never find a man with more loyal friends.”
Among Pell’s allies, Allen noted, are English-speaking cardinals and bishops including Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.
Pope Francis has tended to stand by officials if they are publicly under attack and there are no signs that he is backing off from his support of Pell. If he were to do so, it would mean undermining a man he has personally charged with tackling another crucial issue of his papacy: Vatican financial reform. In that, too, Pell faces serious challenges.
The Australian strongly backed a proposal floated last year that would have transformed the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) – the Vatican bank – and created Vatican Asset Management (VAM), a company that would hand control of the assets to outside managers. The grand vision of Pell and others who supported the idea was that it would create a massive “Catholic fund”, with dioceses contributing their assets from all around the world, said one insider familiar with the plans.
When the IOR’s board disagreed, Pell swept them aside and established a new board. He also ushered in a new president, Jean-Baptiste Douville de Franssu. But people familiar with the matter say the proposal was rejected by the pope and the cardinal’s commission, who were charged with reviewing the idea.
“There was an internal backlash that had to do with the impression that Pell has accumulated too much power around himself and that he was setting himself up as a tinhorn dictator,” said Allen.
A spokesman for the secretariat for the economy – Pell’s office – denied that the pope had rejected the VAM proposal and said it remained “in the mix”. “It may have been delayed but not set aside,” he said.
Internal Vatican frustration with Pell seemed evident after an article this year in the Italian magazine L’Espresso, citing leaked documents, detailed half a million euros in expenses claimed by Pell’s office. A spokesman for the cardinal defended the expenses and said they reflected one-time costs.
Observers say Pell is not the only man who has been caught in a difficult position. When Saunders and another abuse survivor, Marie Collins, were appointed to the papal commission on abuse, the move was viewed with scepticism by victims’ advocacy groups who were wary that the two would be used as mere symbols to improve the image of the church without truly reforming it.
“Most of the advocacy groups think they are being taken advantage of. Both [Saunders and Collins] are extremely savvy. I would say about Peter that he is in a tough spot and trying to figure out how to stay true to himself,” said Allen.
Asked about criticism that he was taking advantage of his position on the papal commission and was not in a position to judge individual cases, Saunders told the Guardian in an email that he was doing God’s work. “The protection of children is what it’s all about and Pell and his kind are a serious threat to that,” he said.
He added: “You should see some of the amazing messages of support I am getting from all over the world … from people thanking me for speaking out / and not being intimidated by Pell and his kind. They have no place in a church of love.”
Thursday, June 4, 2015
San Francisco archbishop blasts gender transitions as threat to faith
David Gibson
Religion News Service
June 3, 2015
Amid the national buzz over transgender celebrity Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner revealing her new female identity, a leading culture warrior in the Catholic hierarchy on Wednesday (June 3) denounced the spread of “gender ideology” and warned that it threatens the very foundation of the church’s faith.
“The clear biological fact is that a human being is born either male or female,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said at the start of an address in Manhattan at a conference aimed at promoting an older form of the Mass in Latin.
“Yet now we have the idea gaining acceptance that biological sex and one’s personal gender identity can be at variance with each other, with more and more gender identities being invented,” said Cordileone, who is the point man in the battle against gay marriage for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Cordileone said a friend recently pointed out to him that a major university advertised housing “for a grand total of 14 different gender identities.”
“I’m sure even more will be invented as time goes on,” he said, prompting laughter from the audience of about 200.
“Those initials keep getting longer and longer,” he added, referring to debates over whether the LGBT acronym — for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender — should include other categories.
Cordileone did not mention Jenner by name, but his comments landed directly in the middle of a national debate that exploded on Monday when the Vanity Fair cover was published depicting Jenner for the first time as a woman — in satin lingerie and an alluring pose — and announcing she would now be known as Caitlyn, not Bruce.
Jenner, now 65, came to fame in the 1970s as a gold medal Olympian and then won a more dubious celebrity in recent years as part of the Kardashian clan of reality television stars.
Cordileone, who turns 59 on Friday, has become a controversial figure inside and outside the church for his battles against same-sex marriage and his outspoken defense of traditional Catholic teachings on sexuality.
In San Francisco, famous as an incubator of gay culture, he is currently embroiled in an especially fraught dispute with Catholic teachers over a handbook that aims to hold them to account for their views and behavior on sexual morality.
In his talk in New York at the Sacra Liturgia conference, Cordileone made a point of highlighting what he saw as the unacceptable evolution in American views on sexuality.
He said that what Pope Francis has also criticized as “gender ideology” poses not only a threat to society, but also to the faith. That’s because Christianity is based on what Cordileone said is the biological reality of the God-given “complementarity” of the male-female relationship.
“This is because God has used marriage as the primary sacred sign of our relationship with him,” he said, citing an author who described God as “hetero” and male, and Israel as “hetero” and female — hence their attraction to each other.
“It’s all the story of a marriage. God’s marriage covenant with Israel is fulfilled in the blood of Christ on the cross, establishing the new and eternal covenant between him, the bridegroom, and his bride, the church.
“When the culture can no longer apprehend those natural truths,” the archbishop continued, “then the very foundation of our teaching evaporates and nothing we have to offer will make sense.”
Cordileone said the inevitable result “is a reversion to the paganism of old, but with unique, postmodern variations on its themes, such as the practice of child sacrifice, the worship of feminine deities or the cult of priestesses.”
He cited as evidence the recent Gallup survey on liberalizing attitudes among Americans that showed approval of polygamy rising in recent years from 7 percent to 16 percent.
Ahead of Pope Francis' visit, a musical schism in the Philadelphia archdiocese
Dan McQuade
Philadelphia Magazine
June 4, 2015
Deep in a list of “liturgical music happenings” late last month was this curious announcement: John Romeri, music director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was leaving just a few months before Pope Francis’ visit. Even more curious was his reasoning: He says he’d clashed with Archbishop Charles Chaput.
“This Holy Week, while [including] some of the most beautiful liturgies I have ever conducted, was not well received by the archbishop,” Romeri wrote. “This is the continuation of several years of discontent on his part with the Liturgical Music at the Cathedral and at Archdiocesan liturgies. There are simply irreconcilable differences in our understanding of the role of music in the Liturgy and the role of the choir.” Romeri’s departure is effective June 30th; he’ll stay on at the Cathedral Basilica as music director and organist until a replacement is found.
Local Catholic insiders say the dispute has indeed been long-simmering, starting not long after Chaput was appointed head of the archdiocese in July 2011. Romeri spent 18 years as music director of the Archdiocese of St. Louis before leaving for the Philadelphia job in 2010. Romeri was vice chair of the liturgical music committee for the World Meeting of Families in September, which will be punctuated by a visit from the pope on September 26th and 27th.
Karen Banos, a violinist who has been playing for Romeri since he arrived in Philadelphia, says the dispute was particularly evident the week leading up to Easter. "When we had Easter services for Holy Week, after literally every service Chaput was saying that [Romeri] should be fired," Banos says. "After the chrism mass [on Holy Thursday], Chaput said, 'You might not be coming back for Easter.’”
"John Romeri’s decision to resign effective later this month was entirely his own," says Ken Gavin, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. "As it is a personnel matter, we won’t be discussing it further." Romeri did not respond to a request for comment.
Chaput and Romeri have different views of the role of liturgical music. Instrumentalists who have played for him say Romeri prefers conservative (classical) church music while Chaput wants to go in a contemporary direction. "Romeri is said to have more of a ‘high Church’ sensibility in liturgy than Chaput, who has expressed a preference for the newer Mass in English and simpler styles of worship," Religion News Service's David Gibson wrote. "While Chaput is often described as a doctrinal and cultural conservative, in the Catholic Church, that does not necessarily equate with liturgical traditionalism, which is its own distinct — and proud — brand."
Romeri's supporters seem particularly upset. In a post to the Archdiocesan Choirs of Philadelphia Facebook page on May 1st, James Pavlock — who sang for the choir — had high praise for Romeri. "For the past year, I have been a member of the Archdiocesan Choir and have looked forward with anticipation [to] every Monday night practice with John," he wrote. "His energy, enthusiasm and sense of humor is infectious. John has demonstrated time and time again his commitment to bettering the sacred music program in the Diocese."
Banos, an accomplished musician who plays with Philly Pops, the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet and is a founder of the Rittenhouse String Quartet, began playing for Romeri not long after he arrived in Philadelphia. (A real estate agent showing Romeri a condo suggested he hire Banos.) She also had kind words for him.
"It seems like more often than not I find people are really devout in their faith and they're pretty good musicians," Banos says. "Or they're really good musicians, but they just happen to be of that faith. Dr. Romeri was both. There was not one piece of music that he did that wasn't relevant."
But, Banos says, Chaput disagreed with his style. "When we would play the Christmas Eve masses, it's standing room only in the Cathedral and people would just sit there to [the end] and jump to their feet and applaud," she says. "He would do that and the next day Chaput would say something like, ‘Yeah, I hated everything.’”
Romeri was the vice-chair of the liturgy committee (and the liturgical music sub-committee) for the upcoming World Meeting of Families. The chair of those committees is Rev. Gerald Dennis Gill, the director of the archdiocese's Office for Divine Worship and the rector for the Cathedral Basilica. "A change like this ahead of the papal visit must be causing a mini-meltdown in the Archdiocese," Nathan Chase wrote at the Pray Tell blog.
Banos says that, despite Romeri's previous experience with papal visits — he was in St. Louis when the pope visited in January 1999 — he was essentially thrust into a "wingman" position for the Philly pope visit. According to Banos, the World Meeting of Families is planning to have the Philadelphia Orchestra play for the pope when he visits, rather than regular church musicians.
"I can offer assurance that everything will be prepared and in order for the Holy Father’s visit later this year," Gavin, the archdiocese spokesman, says, "including liturgical music."
Deep in a list of “liturgical music happenings” late last month was this curious announcement: John Romeri, music director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was leaving just a few months before Pope Francis’ visit. Even more curious was his reasoning: He says he’d clashed with Archbishop Charles Chaput.
“This Holy Week, while [including] some of the most beautiful liturgies I have ever conducted, was not well received by the archbishop,” Romeri wrote. “This is the continuation of several years of discontent on his part with the Liturgical Music at the Cathedral and at Archdiocesan liturgies. There are simply irreconcilable differences in our understanding of the role of music in the Liturgy and the role of the choir.” Romeri’s departure is effective June 30th; he’ll stay on at the Cathedral Basilica as music director and organist until a replacement is found.
Local Catholic insiders say the dispute has indeed been long-simmering, starting not long after Chaput was appointed head of the archdiocese in July 2011. Romeri spent 18 years as music director of the Archdiocese of St. Louis before leaving for the Philadelphia job in 2010. Romeri was vice chair of the liturgical music committee for the World Meeting of Families in September, which will be punctuated by a visit from the pope on September 26th and 27th.
Karen Banos, a violinist who has been playing for Romeri since he arrived in Philadelphia, says the dispute was particularly evident the week leading up to Easter. "When we had Easter services for Holy Week, after literally every service Chaput was saying that [Romeri] should be fired," Banos says. "After the chrism mass [on Holy Thursday], Chaput said, 'You might not be coming back for Easter.’”
"John Romeri’s decision to resign effective later this month was entirely his own," says Ken Gavin, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. "As it is a personnel matter, we won’t be discussing it further." Romeri did not respond to a request for comment.
Chaput and Romeri have different views of the role of liturgical music. Instrumentalists who have played for him say Romeri prefers conservative (classical) church music while Chaput wants to go in a contemporary direction. "Romeri is said to have more of a ‘high Church’ sensibility in liturgy than Chaput, who has expressed a preference for the newer Mass in English and simpler styles of worship," Religion News Service's David Gibson wrote. "While Chaput is often described as a doctrinal and cultural conservative, in the Catholic Church, that does not necessarily equate with liturgical traditionalism, which is its own distinct — and proud — brand."
Romeri's supporters seem particularly upset. In a post to the Archdiocesan Choirs of Philadelphia Facebook page on May 1st, James Pavlock — who sang for the choir — had high praise for Romeri. "For the past year, I have been a member of the Archdiocesan Choir and have looked forward with anticipation [to] every Monday night practice with John," he wrote. "His energy, enthusiasm and sense of humor is infectious. John has demonstrated time and time again his commitment to bettering the sacred music program in the Diocese."
Banos, an accomplished musician who plays with Philly Pops, the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet and is a founder of the Rittenhouse String Quartet, began playing for Romeri not long after he arrived in Philadelphia. (A real estate agent showing Romeri a condo suggested he hire Banos.) She also had kind words for him.
"It seems like more often than not I find people are really devout in their faith and they're pretty good musicians," Banos says. "Or they're really good musicians, but they just happen to be of that faith. Dr. Romeri was both. There was not one piece of music that he did that wasn't relevant."
But, Banos says, Chaput disagreed with his style. "When we would play the Christmas Eve masses, it's standing room only in the Cathedral and people would just sit there to [the end] and jump to their feet and applaud," she says. "He would do that and the next day Chaput would say something like, ‘Yeah, I hated everything.’”
Romeri was the vice-chair of the liturgy committee (and the liturgical music sub-committee) for the upcoming World Meeting of Families. The chair of those committees is Rev. Gerald Dennis Gill, the director of the archdiocese's Office for Divine Worship and the rector for the Cathedral Basilica. "A change like this ahead of the papal visit must be causing a mini-meltdown in the Archdiocese," Nathan Chase wrote at the Pray Tell blog.
Banos says that, despite Romeri's previous experience with papal visits — he was in St. Louis when the pope visited in January 1999 — he was essentially thrust into a "wingman" position for the Philly pope visit. According to Banos, the World Meeting of Families is planning to have the Philadelphia Orchestra play for the pope when he visits, rather than regular church musicians.
"I can offer assurance that everything will be prepared and in order for the Holy Father’s visit later this year," Gavin, the archdiocese spokesman, says, "including liturgical music."
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Teachers union: revised faculty handbook could reduce San Francisco legal protections
Dan Morris-Young
National Catholic Reporter
June 3, 2015
The executive council of the teachers union representing the four high schools administered by the San Francisco archdiocese released a statement Monday to members that says a revised faculty handbook section on church teaching and practice could significantly reduce their legal protections against discrimination.
Over the weekend, the archdiocese officially released the working draft of a revised and expanded statement on church teachings meant to supplant a controversial handbook statement developed by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and made public Feb. 3.
In a May 29 cover letter accompanying the recast narrative, the archbishop wrote that he did not "envision this being the exact final version" and that he wanted teachers and others "to reflect upon it, discuss it, and give some reaction to it."
"I have initiated a discussion with your Presidents and Principals on how best to go about this, and will continue to work with them on it," he wrote.
Copies of the rewritten faculty handbook statement and cover letter were widely leaked and reported upon in mid-May. The texts made public by the archdiocese appear to be nearly identical to those documents.
The union leadership memo says that "while the most inflammatory rhetoric" such as "gravely evil" has been removed from the originally proposed handbook insertion, the new text "uses language regarding the sanctity of marriage to lay out ... condemnation of homosexuals, divorce, contraception, and of other choices made in one's private life."
Many criticized the initial statement for what they called an overemphasis on sexual topics, lack of sensitivity for its language's impact on the gay community, disregard for the role of conscience, overstepping into private lives, and flying in the face of Pope Francis' emphasis on mercy and inclusivity.
In his cover letter, the archbishop thanks teachers "for all you do for our young people in such a critical stage of their growth" and apologized for "lack of foresight on my part" for the "several unintended consequences" generated by his original document, which "created the tensions we have been experiencing."
In February, Cordileone announced he would convene a group of high school theology teachers to rework his original statement to employ a more pastoral tone, make its content more nuanced and readily absorbed, and to add a social justice element.
The resulting document was largely written by a five-teacher "context committee" and more than doubles the length of the first, nearly 2,000-word statement.
The Monday union message says in the new handbook version, "academics are a secondary goal," and that it "ties all faculty and staff" to the "religious mission of the schools (regardless of what they teach or their particular job)" in a way that "makes it easier for the employer to make a stronger claim that all faculty and staff are 'ministers', regardless of the fact that the term 'minister' has been removed."
"In practical terms," the union leadership continued, "this means that it could be possible for the archdiocese to terminate the employment of a faculty or staff member who, for example, divorces, utilizes in vitro-fertilization or contraception -- all connected to one's personal life, not their duties at school (the Archdiocese, when asked how they would treat these matters, have stated that each would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis -- what they have not said is that they would not discriminate based on these personal life issues). In short, it could allow the Archbishop to act in violation of state and federal employment and discrimination laws and chances are that the faculty or staff member would have no legal recourse -- a recourse enjoyed by other teachers and school employees across California and the rest of the country."
The union warning concluded, "It is important that we understand these potential consequences so that we are well informed in our response and actions to the Archbishop's campaign to transform our schools."
When the archdiocese released the Feb. 3 faculty handbook statement, it also put forth three clauses it wanted to include in the teachers' collective bargaining agreement, one of which described teachers and staff as "ministers."
Union and labor law experts said the term could distance faculty and staff from legal protections by making the employees appear to be official church functionaries.
The revised handbook draft's preamble says the new statement offers "a short compendium of some important teachings" and follows "the general structure of the Catechism of the Catholic Church."
Asked about the status of the ongoing teacher contract negotiations with the archdiocese, executive council head Lisa Dole told NCR that health care, wage levels and the "ministerial exception" continue to be prominent topics.
"There have been weeks when I have thought we were just steps away from being done, and there have been other weeks when I feel we have taken 10 steps backwards," she said.
Dole, a faculty member at Marin Catholic in Kentfield, said the terms "minister" and "ministry" used in "the initial language for both the [collective bargaining agreement] and the handbook are no longer proposed to be a part of either document. But, unfortunately, the ministerial exception and the ability of an employer to invoke it is more complicated than just the use of the terms in written documents."
"The removal of those terms was helpful," she added, "however, it is not that simple. Our members understandably continue to be very concerned regarding the intent of any additional language. We continue to exchange proposals in search of language that is acceptable to both sides."
Jesuit Fr. John Piderit, archdiocesan vicar for administration and moderator of the curia, told NCR in May that the archdiocese would decline comment on the negotiations while they were still taking place.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Irish archbishop distances himself from Cardinal Burke's same-sex remarks
Michael Kelly
Catholic News Service
June 2, 2015
The head of the Irish bishops' conference distanced himself from comments made by U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke concerning Irish voters who backed same-sex marriage.
Reacting to the May 22 poll, in which voters supported same-sex marriage by a margin of 62 percent to 38 percent, Burke told the Newman Society, Oxford University's Catholic Society: "It's just incredible. ... Pagans may have tolerated homosexual behaviors, they never dared say this was marriage."
Asked about the comments during an interview with RTE Radio, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, president of the bishops' conference, said Tuesday, "I wouldn't use that language."
He said: "Throughout the debate and the discussion, we did ask people to try to be respectful and inoffensive in language."
The archbishop also referred to comments by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, that the result represented a "defeat for humanity."
"I think what Cardinal Parolin was expressing is our deeply held conviction about marriage ... he was trying to express the loss that occurred here," he said.
Asked whether the church would baptize the children of same-sex couples, the archbishop said, "there's no difficulty ... whenever someone comes to bring their child for baptism, what we're interested in is that child able to be raised as a member of the church and of course they are."
He said the Catholic church is facing challenging times in the wake of the referendum result.
"The whole debate has helped us understand the great sense of alienation and isolation that many gay people have felt, perhaps even at the hands of the church," he said. "I think that one of the lessons in the church that we have to learn from this debate is how do we reach out pastorally to people."
The archbishop later told The Irish Catholic newspaper that he wanted to "affirm people who took a courageous decision to speak up for the union of marriage between a man and a woman in this country."
"It's about trying to marry this wonderful teaching of the church with the many pastoral challenges we are facing," he said.
"I am aware that people are trying to live the difficulties and challenges of the Christian way of life in the modern world. The only way to do that is with a heart full of the mercy of God. In this way, we are able to accompany people and encourage them to have a personal relationship, while at the same time be called to conversion and called to change in their lives," he said.
Referring to the result of the referendum, Martin said: "We have to remain courageous with our message. More people than we think do support the church's understanding of marriage. We have to be strong."
He said that, despite the referendum result, "The task of witnessing to the family still remains.
"In fact perhaps now it's more important than ever that we continue to witness strongly, confidently and in a committed manner to what is such a core teaching for society," the archbishop said.
He said one of the lessons of the referendum was that the church must find a language to express church teaching in a way that is not alienating.
"Sometimes language can be offensive to people, and we need to be aware of this. We [the bishops] have appealed for people not to use language that is offensive." He said that the problem was magnified by the fact that the church often uses language that makes sense in a theological or philosophical context, but not in the context of public discourse.
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