Around the world, clerical sex abuse takes a toll
Thursday, May 21, 2009
APRIL 7 MARCH 14 FEBRUARY 28 FEBRUARY 27 FEBRUARY 26 FEBRUARY 24 FEBRUARY 23 FEBRUARY 21 FEBRUARY 20 FEBRUARY 17 FEBRUARY 12 FEBRUARY 6 Or run a custom search: By Brian Whitmore, Globe Correspondent and Charles M. Sennott, Globe Staff, 12/14/2002 From Canada to Australia, South Africa to Hong Kong, and across Europe from Ireland to Pope John Paul II's native Poland, clergy sex abuse cases and the ensuing cover-ups have proven to be a worldwide problem. This past spring, three leading bishops resigned in Europe. Scores of other clergy across the globe have faced lawsuits, criminal cases, and public allegations of sexual abuse or cover-up. ''This is by no means just an American problem,'' said Colm O'Gorman, director of One In Four, a United Kingdom- and Ireland-based organization that assists sexual abuse victims. ''It is not about one man or one country, it is about an institution.'' O'Gorman, 36, was a teenage victim of sexual abuse by a Roman Catholic priest in Ireland in the early 1980s. When the church finally reacted, it was under intense public pressure with the ensuing scandal exposing deep divisions between clergy and lay Catholics. ''We've had our own troubles with this in Ireland,'' said Bridette Hayes, a 29-year-old tourist from Dublin who stopped near the Vatican amid yesterday's flurry of activity. ''And I think all those involved should be stepping down. How can the Vatican stand by while its leadership failed so miserably.'' She said she hoped Cardinal Desmond Connell of Dublin would meet the same fate as Law. Last spring, Ireland and Poland, two predominantly Roman Catholic nations, lost prominent clergy members to sex scandals. Bishop Brendan Comiskey of Ferns in southeast Ireland resigned April 2 over allegations that he protected an accused pedophile priest, the Rev. Sean Fortune. The church has acknowledged that Fortune molested dozens of boys, including O'Gorman, in the 1980s and 1990s. Comiskey had been informed about Fortune's behavior, but did nothing for six years, before sending him to London for psychological counseling. Fortune was later transferred to another parish, resulting in new allegations of sexual abuse. Fortune was arrested after O'Gorman and others reported his abuse to the police in 1995, and he committed suicide in 1999 shortly before he was to stand trial. Comiskey resigned a day before a BBC documentary on Fortune's abuse and his failure to stop it was expected to air. Since then, Connell, the leader of Ireland's 4 million Catholics, has come under intense pressure to resign over the church's handling of pedophile incidents. Connell tendered his resignation to the Vatican when he turned 75, as is required, but it has not been accepted. Days before Comiskey's resignation, the faithful in Poland were shocked and shaken by the resignation of Juliusz Paetz, the Archbishop of Poznan, who stepped down on Holy Thursday after months of denying allegations that he had repeatedly molested seminarians. Paetz, 67, resigned in March 2002 after allegations against him surfaced in the Polish media, although he admitted no wrongdoing. In Germany in April, Auxiliary Bishop Franziskus Eisenbach of Mainz resigned 18 months after a female university professor accused him of molesting her while performing an exorcism. In Australia, at least 50 priests and brothers have been sentenced for sexual offenses over the past nine years. St. John of God Brothers, an Australian Roman Catholic order, agreed in June to pay $2.1 million in an out-of-court settlement to 24 mentally handicapped men who were sexually abused while in its care. Police in Hong Kong say they are investigating allegations of child sex abuse involving Catholic priests. And In South Africa, Cardinal Wilfred Napier told the BBC earlier this year that about a dozen priests in that country have been accused of sexually abusing children. Sennott contributed from Rome; Whitmore, from Prague. Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. This story ran on page A19 of the Boston Globe on 12/14/2002. Scandal and coverup Latest coverage Globe archives Find past articles on:
Search for: Time period: Contact Spotlight Bishops in disgrace Since 1990, 11 Catholic bishops outside the United States have resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct, on their own part or of those they supervised, became public.
Argentina
Archbishop Edgardo Storni, Oct. 1, 2002, after a book said he abused at least 47 seminarians. A 1994 Vatican investigation found insufficient evidence to act. Storni said his resignation did not signify guilt.
Austria
Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer was exiled in 1995 after molestation claims from former high school boys. Neither Groer nor the Vatican directly admitted guilt.
British Columbia
Bishop Hubert O'Connor, imprisoned in 1996 for sexually assaulting two teenage girls as principal of a boarding school.
Germany
Auxiliary Bishop Franziskus Eisenbach, April 2002, after a woman accused him of sexual abuse and injuries during an exorcism. The Vatican said resignation was no admission of guilt.
Ireland
Bishop Brendan Comiskey, April 2002, after apologizing for not stopping a priest’s abuse.
Bishop Eamonn Casey of Ireland, in 1992, upon admitting he fathered a child and used church offerings to pay the mother child support.
Newfoundland
Archbishop Alphonsus Penney, in 1990, after a church commission criticized him for failing to prevent extensive abuse of boys living in orphanages.
Poland
Archbishop Juliusz Paetz, March 2002, amid allegations he had sexually harassed several priests, which he denied.
Scotland
Bishop Roderick Wright, Sept. 19, 1996, after admitting an affair with a woman whom he counseled during her divorce.
Switzerland
Bishop Hansjoerg Vogel, in 1995, after admitting he had impregnated a woman following his appointment to the hierarchy the year before.
Wales
Archbishop John Aloysius Ward resigned Oct. 26, 2001, after charges he ignored warnings about two priests who were later convicted of child abuse.
Sources: Associated Press, BBC, Catholic World News
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
Suing the Pope
Broadcast: 13/05/2002 Reporter:The Catholic Church is in deepening crisis over its failure to act against child-molesting priests.Church leaders stand accused of shielding predatory priests while ignoring, even intimidating, victims and their families.Last month US cardinals held an emergency summit in the Vatican to wrestle with the scandal that's said to be costing the US Church more than $1 billion dollars - including nearly $60 million for abuses committed by one priest.Victims are fighting back and, as Four Corners reports, they are taking their cases right to the top... by suing the Vatican.This program from the BBC'sCorrespondent tells the disturbing story of one group of victims and their abuser, Fr Sean Fortune.The newly ordained priest cut an energetic, even dashing, figure when he first appeared in a small Irish village called Fethard-on-Sea.What locals didn’t know - but church leaders allegedly did know - was that Fr Fortune was a brutal sexual predator.Fr Fortune relentlessly abused and blackmailed boys of the village into silence, while fleecing old people of their savings and ripping off government job schemes.Locals complained to the bishop, the Papal Nuncio and the Vatican. Nothing was done.When one victim went to the police, the ensuing investigation led to Fr Fortune being charged with 66 counts of buggery and indecent assault. With the backing of church lawyers Fr Fortune dragged out the legal process for four years until 1999, when he committed suicide after the first week of his criminal trial.Four boys from the village of 200 families have also committed suicide, their deaths blamed on Fr Fortune.Now surviving victims are suing the former bishop and the Pope for ordaining a known paedophile and doing nothing to stop him abusing.Through the testimony of these now adult men and the mother of one suicide victim, this program examines the church's refusal to acknowledge the abuse and trauma caused by Fr Fortune. It is a story being told across the world as the scale of clerical abuse unfolds."Suing the Pope" was first broadcast on ABC TV on Monday 13 May, 2002
Suing the Pope
Tuesday, 19 March, 2002, 17:05 GMT
Fr Fortune was charged with 66 counts of sexual, indecent assault and buggery relating to eight boys.
The Catholic Church did not tell the locals that Fr Fortune was a brutal, predatory paedophile. They organised delegations to two Bishops - wrote to the Papal Nuncio and the Vatican. The church promised it would do something. It never did.
For helpline details click here
The new priest
Fr Sean Fortune, a newly ordained priest, appeared dashing and energetic when he first arrived in the small Irish village of Fethard-on-Sea in County Wexford.
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But what the locals did not know was that Fr Fortune already faced mounting allegations of child sexual abuse.
The Catholic Church kept this knowledge to itself.
Fr Fortune soon ensnared young boys of the village, relentlessly abusing and blackmailing many of them into silence.
A desperate community
When he was not controlling children in a myriad of carefully set up "youth groups", he was pressuring their parents for money, stripping the elderly of their savings and extorting millions of pounds from government employment schemes.
 The Bishop thought it was ludicrous that a man of the cloth would act like that Patrick Jackman |
In Ireland, such was the power of the Catholic Church, no one would dare to complain about a priest. But Fr Fortune's behaviour had become increasingly bizarre and dangerous.
In desperation his parishioners organised a delegation to two Bishops and, after getting no real response, wrote to the Papal Nuncio, the Pope's ambassador to Ireland.
Still nothing was done to stop this bullying, predatory paedophile.
Painful memories
Colm O'Gorman was 14 years old when Fr Fortune raped him for the first time. His torment lasted for two and a half years. This year Colm returned to Fethard-on-Sea with Correspondent.
He wanted to understand how a priest could have a series of young boys stay overnight in his parochial house without questions being asked.
| He would pick me up and be the priest in front of my mother and my family and five minutes later in the car he would make me perform oral sex on him Colm O'Gorman |
"He would pick me up and be the priest in front of my mother and my family and five minutes later in the car he would make me perform oral sex on him and then five minutes after that ended, stop off and again be the priest and walk into somebody's house with me in tow behind him. I just remember the real sense of shock of it all."
Colm's journey back to Fethard has been incredibly revealing. Many locals did not appreciate his questions and he was made to feel unwelcome.
But those who did open their doors to him admitted that the abuse was well known both in the community and the church.
The courage to tell
Patrick Jackman was 11 years old when he witnessed Fr Sean Fortune sexually abusing a young boy scout in a tent. Four years later, the priest appeared at Pat's home and asked if he could take the young boy to stay at his house for the weekend.
Pat had a premonition of what was about to happen, but was powerless to stop it.
 Patrick Jackman will never leave his children alone with a catholic priest |
"There wasn't a phone in the place. If I ran out screaming in the middle of the night, I didn't know where the nearest place was. I didn't know if I went and knocked on the door if they would wake up or if they did wake up whether they would believe me or not. I had a terrible sense of being trapped and caged. It was bloody horrible, absolutely horrible."
Unlike many of the boys abused by Fr Fortune, Pat had the courage to tell his parents. His father was and still is close to the Catholic Church. He complained personally to Bishop Herlihey. "The Bishop thought it was ludicrous that a man of the cloth would act like that."
After the Bishop died, Pat's father complained to his replacement Bishop Comiskey.
To this day no one from the church has asked Pat Jackman about Fr Fortune or the events of that night.
Allegations mount
Dr Brendan Comiskey, the Bishop of Ferns, was informed of allegations of abuse against not just Fr Fortune but a number of priests, when he was first appointed.
 Bishop Comiskey failed to stop Fr Fortune's abuse |
Throughout the 80s, those allegations increased. On at least two occasions, Bishop Comiskey investigated, but came to no conclusions and did nothing to stop Fr Fortune.
Fr Sean Fortune was left in Fethard-on-Sea for six years before Bishop Comiskey finally removed him. He then sent Fortune to London to study media and communications and to seek therapy with a number of psychiatrists.
Two years later, Fr Fortune was brought back to Ireland, and given not only another parish and curacy, but also made the director of a Catholic media organisation, the National Association of Community Broadcasting.
Fr Fortune quickly turned his new role to his financial and sexual advantage. He raped a 15 year old boy in a studio booth where he recorded religious programmes.
The search for answers
Colm O'Gorman finally brought Fr Fortune's reign to an end in 1995. Aged 29, he decided to tell the Irish police about his experiences as a young boy. Colm feared Fr Fortune was still abusing.
 Colm O'Gorman wants answers from the Catholic Church |
The ensuing gardai investigation resulted in Fr Fortune being charged with 66 counts of sexual, indecent assault and buggery relating to eight boys. 18 years after the first complaint, the Catholic Church was finally forced to remove him from duties.
But instead of reaching out to Fr Fortune's many victims, Bishop Comiskey disappeared from his palace without explanation. It was discovered he had fled to an alcohol treatment clinic in the US.
He returned to his diocese six months later. Bishop Comiskey claims that the ongoing litigation prevents him answering the many questions about his and the Church's knowledge of Fr Fortune's child sexual abuse.
The response so far
Bishop Comiskey did, however, tell Correspondent that he maintains an open-door policy for all victims of child abuse in his diocese and this is where he can make his best contribution.
 Fr Fortune committed suicide in the first week of his trial |
Fr Sean Fortune killed himself in 1999 in the first week of the criminal trial denying his many victims their first chance to be heard.
The Catholic Church has never reached out in any way to the men in this film.
Colm O'Gorman, still hoping for some answers, is suing Bishop Brendan Comiskey, the Papal Nuncio and the Pope.
CONTACT DETAILS
One In Four
Helpline: 020 8697 2112
An organisation run for and by people who have experienced sexual abuse, One In Four offers one to one counselling, group therapy, advocacy, support and information to women and men. All therapists, members and workers themselves identify as having experienced sexual abuse. The organisation is London based but works nationally. We also offer training and information to professionals working to support people who have experienced sexual abuse.
Fire In Ice
Helpline: 0151 707 2614
A Merseyside self help project run by and for the adult men who have experienced childhood abuse, especially those who have suffered while in residential care. Fire in Ice aims to enable men who have suffered child abuse and their families to make positive change in their lives, also aims to make the care experience safe for children and young people. Fire in Ice offers one to one, group and telephone support in a friendly empathic environment also works with non-abusing survivors in prisons. Fire in Ice is made up of ordinary men who have overcome their abuse and want to help others do the same.
Derby Rape Crisis
Helpline: 01332 372545
Derby Rape Crisis aims to promote the recovery of any adult of any gender who has experienced rape or sexual abuse at any point in their lives.
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