Civil rights and the 21^st Century:

The Protection of Children

August 20, 2010

I address you today on what is the most profound.  Simply said the monarchial Roman Catholic Church is still bogged down in unresolved 16^th century Reformation issues.  20 years of experience has taught me the largest stumbling block is that Roman Bishops view children as chattel.

The Bishops will talk a good game and have hired lawyers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and media professionals to change their image but I suggest we review their ACTIONS.  As we analyze their actions as put forward in the Ferns, Murphy, John Jay, and various Grand Jury reports the Bishops have proven they cannot police their own clergy.  We Then in good conscience must construct a new public policy to do what the Bishops have failed to do: stop priests and religious from slaughtering the children.

As a former priest and now a member of a litigation team, the horror stories of how the Bishops and Religious Superiors purposely applied the geographic solution to the problem of priests raping and sodomizing children in Ireland over the last forty years is numbing.  If I had to nominate four priests from the four corners of Ireland for the all Ireland priest buggery team today, I would start with Brendan Smyth O.Prae. in the north, Patrick McCabe in the East, Oliver O’Grady in the West, and Sean Fortune in the South.

From studying, tracking, and litigating these cases I have three public policy recommendations for you as a civil polity with deep spiritual roots to enact.

1. End Clerical Immunity.  I realize the Roman Church was disestablished from the Irish constitution in 1972 with the 5^th amendment.  That however is not enough; until a Bishop goes to jail for not reporting child sexual abuse, nothing will change.  Therefore I recommend you reinforce the criminal statute of Misprision of Felony for anyone who knowingly and purposely fails to report the sexual abuse of a minor.  The penalty should be raised to a felony with a minimum prison time of five years.  As evidence of the Bishops knowledge I point to the 1996 pronouncement of the Irish Catholic Bishops titled, “Child Sexual Abuse: Framework for a Church Response”.  There are all kinds of recommendations around avoiding scandal and protecting the right to a good reputation.  Eliminate it all, make it simple, and Call the Garda.
2. Produce the Documents.  Demand that all church records of priest/religious pedophiles and ephebophiles be made public and that a data base along the lines of Bishop-accountability be instituted for Ireland.  As Monsignor Francis Weber, archivist of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles so eloquently penned, The Past is Prologue.  This will be a Herculean task since the Roman Church has done a number of things to make it much more difficult in Ireland.

First the Church switched from being a self insured entity to turning all their business over to Alliance.  Alliance will likely fight to protect its exposure which of course is proven in the documents.  Second, the various Church treatment centers like the Servants of the Paracletes where Father Patrick McCabe and Brendan Smyth were treated at had a long standing policy for Bishops to “destroy” all records after reviewing them.  Third, as in the case of the Christian Brothers or the Brothers of Christian Instruction, the Roman Church is an international organization with the capacity to move an entire archive off shore.

3. Seek Financial Penalties and Reparations.  The total cost to help the ailing survivors of clerical sexual abuse is more than anyone could have calculated because we did not have the documents.  The sexual slaughter of Ireland’s children by its priests and religious has left a permanent scar upon the soul of Ireland.  The Bishops boss is the Pope.  The Popes are ultimately responsible and the Irish Government should seek reparations from the Holy See to make the children of Ireland whole and help cover the cost for healing.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

What might the legal complaint look like?  Hang with me, the Angels are in the details and I need to lay out the path and highlight some of the significant issues you face.

Agency:  The priests and religious are the Pope’s agents and employees in Ireland.  Look to the plethora of statements by Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI in the year for priests for all the evidence you need.

Venue for the Court you file the complaint could be Ireland, the European Union, and or the International Criminal Court in the Hague.  There are other countries who may wish to join you such as Belgium and Germany if you ask them.

Service: One of the largest hurdles will be service of process.  I suggest you serve the complaint on the Apostolic Nuncio in Dublin and the Secretary of the Vatican City State.

Follow the Money.  But this is the part of the legal complaint that saddens me the most, minimum contacts, I contend, can be established by looking at the relationship of Allied Irish Bank and the work it does for the Vatican in Ireland and across the world.  I think you will be amazed at what Jason Berry has to say in his upcoming book on the Financial underbelly of the Roman Catholic Church.

The underlying strategy I am advocating for Ireland is a coordinated public policy reform with M.P.’s, solicitors, barristers, criminal prosecutors, and Journalists putting an end to clerical immunity.

Children are not chattel; children are to be cherished and protected.  So with these three suggestions for practical reform: one criminal, one historical/archival, and one civil, I look forward to your questions and comments during the panel discussion.

Humbert Summer School

Castlebar, County Mayo, Eire