Fr. Andrew Greeley

When I heard Fr. Andrew Greeley died the first thing I thought of was his writing about having documents hidden away about a ring of pedophiles in the Chicago priesthood.  Fortunately I was not the only one who remembers this.  When I first read that, before the priest sex scandals broke open,  I always wondered whether it was true and if so why did he hide away the documents instead of handing them over to the police or press to expose this ring.   Now that he is dead I hope we find out.

Lawrence Taylor Charged with Third-Degree Rape in Rockland County

This should be interesting to see how the media covers this story. This writer points out the past behavior of LT and says his 'recklessness' has caught up with him.

ABC News Investigation: USA Swimming Coaches Molested, Secretly Taped Dozens of Teen Swimmers

"In a sex abuse scandal that some victims compare to what happened in the Catholic Church, at least 36 swimming coaches have been banned for life by the USA Swimming organization over the last 10 years because of sexual misconduct with teenagers they coached. "

Keep in mind this abuse occurred over the past 10 years while the majority of the abuse in the Church occurred decades ago. The leaders of the Church have apologized over and over again, while the USA Swimming executive director says:

"Asked if he had apologized to any of the young teen victims, Wielgus responded, "You feel I need to apologize to them?"
He added, "I think it's unfair for you to ask me whether individually or me as the representative of an organization to apologize for something when all we are trying to do is everything we possibly can to create a safe and healthy environment for kids who are participating in our particular activity."

Msgr. Alan Placa, longtime friend of Rudy Giuliani, not guilty of molesting teenager in 1975

"Long Island priest with close ties to Rudy Giuliani has been cleared of allegations he molested a teenager in 1975, church officials said Saturday.

Msgr. Alan Placa was the Diocese of Rockville Centre's pointman on sexual abuse until 2002, when he was hit with sex accusations.

Stripped of his priestly duties while church authorities investigated, he was found not guilty after a canonical trial. "


There is more to this story than the 1 allegation of which he was cleared - there were 3 and that is what worries me: what of the other allegations?

Judge sentences Darien priest to just over three years in prison

The above link refers to the priest Michael Jude Fay from Connecticut, who stole money from a parish and spent it lavishly with his gay lover. He tried the same trick to get out of prison that a priest of the Diocese or Brooklyn tried: claiming he is close to death from terminal cancer.

"I beg for your mercy not to send me to prison, Fay told the judge. I am already in prison and I beg you to let me die with the medical dignity my doctors and nurses provide."

Fortunately, this judge was smart enough to ignore this trick. Check out this quote from an article about Fay:

"Fay learned he had prostate cancer, but Patafio and other parishioners said he cited problems from the cancer to avoid duties he disliked. He called it playing his "cancer card" they said."

This is exactly what another priest Barry Ryan tried to pull - See my post here. Ryan claimed in 2004 he was too sick from terminal cancer to go to jail, and then ended up moving to Missouri in 2007, resulting in a warrant for his arrest. He finally began serving his jail time in Oct. 2007:

"Ryan, 58, was formally sentenced in 2004 after pleading guilty to criminal sexual act charges. But because he was in the advanced stages of terminal liver cancer, Suffolk County Court Judge Ralph Gazzillo agreed to put off sending Ryan to jail for seven months."

Three years later, Ryan was still alive and his illness had stabilized, but Ryan had moved to Missouri, according to prosecutors."

Ryan appeared frail and gaunt when he was brought into the Riverhead courtroom in a wheelchair Monday. But while informing Gazzillo of the various medications he required, Ryan spoke far more clearly than the whisper he used three years ago at his sentencing."

Just when we are giving thanks, another thing to be thankful for regarding Msgr. Eugene Costa of the Diocese of Springfield:

Springfield's Monsignor Kicked Out Of Priesthood
Move Made Directly By Pope Benedict XVI Over Sexual Misconduct Claims

"Costa was once chancellor of the Springfield diocese. His problems began when he was beaten by two young men in a park in December of 2004. It was later alleged that he had solicited the two for sex.

Subsequent investigations by the diocese and the U.S. Attorney's office revealed a pattern of sexual misconduct. "

News accounts do not mention Roman Catholic Faithful and its leader Stephen Brady, who is recovering from a motorcycle accident. Brady and RCF have been exposing the corruption of the Springfield Diocese for years. The Diocese was one of the most corrupt in the USA, and its former bishop Daniel Ryan was exposed by RCF for paying teenage male prostitutes.

10/24 update: Questions remain: Does Daniel Ryan still get some sort of pension money from the Diocese? How exactly did Costa become a Monsignor, and who was involved in getting him that honor? Who else in the Diocese covered up for Ryan, Costa, and the other perverts? Do any of these men have anything to do with the unsolved murder of Fr. Kunz, who was helping RCF expose corruption? Have the people who attacked Stephen Brady and RCF in the past apologized and admitted RCF was right?

FINALLY, via Newsday the AP has studied the sex abuse scandals of school systems.

AP: Sexual Misconduct Plagues US Schools

"An Associated Press investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic."

"Most of the abuse never gets reported. Those cases reported often end with no action. Cases investigated sometimes can't be proven, and many abusers have several victims. "

"The seven-month investigation found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct. "

"The findings draw obvious comparisons to sex abuse scandals in other institutions, among them the Roman Catholic Church. A review by America's Catholic bishops found that about 4,400 of 110,000 priests were accused of molesting minors from 1950 through 2002. "

It is about time that the problem has been studied in depth, but I wish they had done the study covering the school system from 1950-2002 as was done with the Catholic Church. I would also add that there have been many false claims of abuse filed against teachers, as there have been against priests. But at least now a study has been done that will call attention to the problem of abuse in schools.

UPDATE: The link was corrected

Ever notice how mafia figures always claim to be too sick to go to jail when they are old? Apparently, molesters pull the same trick. Barry Ryan, a former priest who molested a 5 year old boy in Suffolk County, after the boy's family allowed Ryan to stay at their house while he was suffering from cancer, has moved to Missouri.

Newsday reports:

"That prompted Suffolk County Court Judge Ralph Gazzillo to issue a warrant for the priest's arrest, a move that was praised by the victim's family."

This is August 2nd, 2007.

But notice what this article from 2005 says -

"Gazzillo sentenced Ryan to the negotiated sentence of 2 years.
But Ryan is not expected to see the inside of a prison, said Rosamaria Abbate, the Suffolk prosecutor who handled the case.

His terminal illness may take his life before the date he is supposed to go into custody, which Gazzillo set for July 7, 2005."

Why won't Newsday and the Boston Globe cover the teacher sex scandals like the Catholic priest sex scandals?

From Newsday:

"A former middle school teacher accused of having sex with five boys was indicted Friday by a grand jury, the Laurens County prosecutor said."

"She is one of two Laurens County teachers facing sex charges; an elementary school teacher is charged with having sex with an 11-year old boy."

Where is the 4 page special investigative series? Why haven't the front page stories been on teacher sex abuse every day for a year? Why haven't the records of the past 50 years been examined? Why haven't the papers sued to release the personnel files of schools, school districts, and the unions?

From CNN.com (in 2002!)

" A California high school teacher runs off to Las Vegas with her 15-year-old student. A Louisiana teacher is accused of having an affair with her 14-year-old student. In the Bronx, a teacher is charged with statutory rape involving a 16-year-old former student.

Such cases aren't uncommon across the country. But unlike the Roman Catholic Church's troubles with pedophile priests, teacher-student sex cases have received little attention beyond a few sensational cases."

AP IMPACT: Records show tremendous growth in teacher sex cases

"An internal state Education Department report obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Law shows "tremendous growth" in so-called moral conduct cases against teachers over five years. "

--Printed in Newsday

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I would think the number of such cases against Catholic priests has greatly decreased over the past 5 years. It seems to me most (but not all) Catholic priest-perverts have been fired and Catholics have made great strides in fighting perverts in their Church. Yet lawsuits that accuse dead priests of abuse 50 years ago are allowed to go to court? Shouldn't people then be able to sue school districts accusing dead teachers from 50 years ago? Or would that be stupid and unfair?

And along the same lines, shouldn't Newsday and The New York Times be running stories of teacher abuse over the past 50 years every day on the front page for a year?

Anyway, here is a link to the Abuse Scandal 5 Years Later Update at NPR (National Public Radio, not National Catholic Register or National Catholic Reporter) One major glaring omission from this 5 year update is in the Where Are They Now story - there is no mention of Paul R. Shanley, a major figure in the scandals in Boston.

2 days, 3 teacher sex scandals on Long Island

Oct. 5th - another teacher caught with child porn, a special ed teacher named Jeffrey Burke.(News12 Long Island link)...

Oct. 4th - the story was about Michael Kelly Reiner, a teacher at a school for the gifted. (Newsday link) Police found:

"569 still images of child pornography and 68 videos on three of Reiner's nine computers that they have analyzed so far. They also found 2,000 stories on the computers that relate to sexually abusing, torturing and eating children."

The Newsday article quotes parents who are backing Reiner, saying he never committed any acts against their children!

Oct. 4th - Long Island teacher says Mom OK'd sex with her daughter

Meanwhile, child porn charges against former teacher John Mark Karr were dropped today. (Cnn link) This is a good time to point out that Carol Shakeshaft, a professor at Hofstra University here on Long Island has long been calling the situation involving teachers much worse than the sex scandals in the Catholic priesthood. It is time for a nationwide audit, like the one done in the Church, covering the past 50 years of all public schools.

Meanwhile, some good news: it looks like the John Mark Karr case has brought some badly needed pressure on the child sex trade. Cambodia is supposedly cracking down on foreigners who go there to have sex with children. (Time.com link - don't click this article if you have a weak stomach) I really believe the exposure of the Catholic priesthood's pedophile problem could have been the start of a worldwide awakening to this problem. We can all hope.

So now former congressman Mark Foley is saying he was abused as a teenager by a clergyman. This whole cycle of violence thing just goes on and on... which is why it is so good to see the Catholic Church clean up its act, or more precisely to have its act cleaned up. When we can honestly say that abuse by clergy is very rare we will no longer see huge numbers of adults with problems caused by clergy. And, as the Catholic Church scandals became so public, it has turned a light on other areas, such as schools, where abuse is also rampant. This is why I don't despair even 5 years after the whole situation became exposed, ultimately, the Church is stronger and society is way better off.

As the 5th anniversary of 9/11 passes, another significant anniversary will soon arrive. The 5th anniversary of the explosion/exposing of the priest sex scandals. It is important for Catholics to know just how widespread the corruption is in the priesthood, so keeping tabs by reading the Roman Catholic Faithful website is recommended, although not for the weak of heart. The public exposure of this massive problem of (mostly) homosexual abuse by Catholic priests all started with the release of documents relating to Fr. John Geoghan and Fr. Paul Shanley from Boston. Geoghan was later beaten to death in jail. All the info you need on Shanley can be found here. Today, it seems he is inmate # W84979 at the Old Colony Correctional Center in Massachusetts.

Diocese of Rockville Centre

An update on this diocese should be made, hopefully Newsday will do a story updating the situation soon. Most of the information Catholics get on the "scandals" has to come from secular sources as the Dioceses are just not honest and forthcoming enough. Just this week the Long Island Catholic reported a priest, Fr. William Logan would be returned to ministry because allegations could not be substantiated, but no details were given. Newsday provides the details here. The two accusations mentioned do not involve sexual acts. There have been two other accused priests returned to ministry - Fr. Brian Brinker and Fr. Michael Carroll. If the allegations against Brinker and Carroll are true, then I would not let any boys anywhere near these two and I don't see how these two priests can possibly remain in ministry.

Otherwise, the most info available can be found on Bishop Accountability right here. This page lists all the accused, except Logan. The site is good for info, but it is not totally up to date. I count 4 accused priests that have died, one that is in jail (Millar), and 1 that was defrocked according to the page. But Michael Hands, the last priest to be arrested for raping a boy, was also defrocked. Others may have died since the page has been updated. The page also lists each of the accused priests by letter from the Suffolk County Grand Jury Report, but those accused are the same accused listed by name in many cases so it is a bit confusing. Since Bishop Murphy has been here, the number of allegations of abuse has been 0, so that is good news, but there are still some priests living mostly in the St. Pius X residence in Uniondale that were accused of abuse. They have not been defrocked as far as I know, and little info is given to Catholics. The fear of "scandalizing" Catholics is what helped this crisis grow, and that fear is misguided anyway. The Diocese should offer more info to people so that this situation won't ever become as widespread again. I was an altar boy and attended Catholic schools for 16 years and never experienced anything negative in the Church. The priests I knew were all pretty good men, except for one I thought was arrogant and not so nice. I never knew an abusive priest and have known some really good ones, so it is hard to believe just how much went on in this Diocese. All Catholics should remain vigilant to help keep the priesthood holy. With so many stories of sexual abuse of children making the headlines today, all people should remain vigilant with regards to any adults in authority as well.

Prosecutors: priest raped teen parishioner


Oops, I left out a word in the that headline - "Hindu". Between the Catholic priesthood's problems and the recent arrest of that polygamist and the surrounding media coverage, child molestation really should be wiped out of the clergy. Now, if we can do the same in the teaching profession...

Volunteer Fire Departments on Long Island

Newsday is starting a series of reports on the volunteer fire departments here on Long Island. This is sure to open a can of worms but this type of local reporting is what Newsday does best. The fire departments are cherished and act as more than just a fire department, they are also am important social network. It is good to know you have neighbors who will come to your aid when you need them, and vice versa. Long Island is supposed to be the largest area covered almost exclusively by volunteer firemen. Many of the volunteers work for pay in the NYC fire departments. The system works well, but there are some growing questions about the budgets and ability of the departments to handle things compared to how we would do with paid firefighters. Nobody here wants to say we should get rid of the volunteer system as it is too much a hallmark of Long Island, and the volunteers are great people. I would hope Long Island can create a paid system, perhaps one for each county, but still maintain a large system of volunteers. As any Long Islander can testify, the volunteer firefighters here are some of the best men and women you will meet.

One thing I read in the article that I have also heard in the Knights of Columbus is the difference between the older volunteers and the younger volunteers. The older people ask what can I do for this community, and the younger ask what can this do for me.

More scandal stuff -

A prominent Argentine Roman Catholic bishop has resigned amid media reports that he was involved sexually with a young man, the latest in a series of such scandals involving church officials.

The purge continues thanks be to God. Meanwhile here in the USA, all U. S. seminaries will be evaluated starting next month. I have more faith unfortunately, in the media spotlight than in any evaluation process.

If only they let Karate instructors marry...

If only they let women become cops...

Where's the Media Outrage?

"In the fourth sordid case involving city teachers this week, a Queens English instructor is under investigation for having sex with two female students, the Daily News has learned."


Throughout 2002 the papers splashed stories about priestly pedophilia on the front pages, relentlessly. This was not a bad thing and really helped to purge our Church. But why is there no equal sense of outrage at the teacher pedophilia scandal? Where are the calls for a national survey to investigate how many cases of teacher abuse has occured in schools from 1950-today?? I am seriously asking this question because I think if people were exposed to the same relentless media stories on teachers as they were on priests there would be a true purge of this problem.

Ex-Priest Shanley Gets 12-15 Years for Rape

"Shanley became a focal point of the scandal after plaintiffs' attorneys forced the church to release internal records about him. Among the records were documents indicating that he was transferred from parish to parish after allegations surfaced, and that he had attended a forum with other people who later went on to form the North American Man-Boy Love Association, or NAMBLA."




Seven NAMBLA Members Busted in Sex Sting


Beautiful.

"A Warren County elementary teacher has been charged with having a sexual relationship with one of her students, a 13-year-old boy"

We Catholics have learned that child molesters are like weeds - just when you take one out, another pops up. The trick is to keep taking them out faster and faster without stopping until they become rare. Perhaps it would be useful to check out the soil (culture) we have too, just to find out why there are so many of them.