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Karl Denninger 314 Olde Post Road Niceville, FL 32578 |
From the Desk of Karl Denninger
April 25, 2002
Most Reverend John Ricard
Pensacola Archdiocese
Post Office Drawer 17329
Pensacola, FL 32522
CC: Reverend J. Craig Williams
Christ Our Redeemer Catholic Church
1028 White Point Road
Niceville, Fl 32578
Dear Reverend Ricard:
I have been following with great interest the cardinal’s conference in Rome, and have carefully read the statement of position that came from that conference.
Reverend, that statement of position is nowhere near sufficient to keep my family in the Church.
Specifically, the refusal to immediately dismiss any abuse that is not “notorious” or “serial” is flatly unacceptable.
So is a refusal to dismiss priests for former offenses.
Current “state of the art” understanding of the phenomena is that a person who is given to molestation of underage individuals is essentially incurable of that disorder. It is for this reason that many states now permit civil confinement even after prison sentences have been served, and that sexual offenders are required to disclose their location and that the public must be notified in many jurisdictions when such a person moves into a given area. To refuse to accept the fact that a person who has committed this act is at high risk of recidivism, and to place them where they have access to children once again, is flatly unacceptable.
No public school or licensed daycare facility may employ such a person. Why does the Catholic Church?
It is my position that my family cannot be a part of a Church that does not take abuse of children to be the uppermost of grave offenses against society and as an abuse of trust.
I understand that the annual meeting of Catholic Bishops will take place in July. I will withhold my final judgment on the Church’s suitability for my family until that time, but in the interim all financial contributions will be withheld and diverted to other suitable charitable organizations outside the Church. What this means, Bishop John, is that those funds have been and will continue to be lost to the Church permanently, with any consideration of a reversal of my family’s policy being made only when full implementation – actions – commensurate with what is contained in this letter has occurred.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
What I believe the Church must adopt as its policy, if it intends to keep my family as parishioners in this or any other parish of the Catholic faith, is as follows:
1. ALL allegations of abuse must be immediately referred to civil authorities for investigation and potential prosecution, without exception. The current policy of having an “internal review board”, regardless of who staffs it, is unacceptable. I refuse to accede to allowing the fox to guard the henhouse, particularly given the past performance of the Church in this regard.
2. ALL priests who have been found guilty of sexual impropriety, even once, and all priests on who’s behalf any civil settlement has been made must be (1) identified to the parishioners, (2) immediately de-frocked, and (3) not allowed in any form of ministry where they have contact with laity under 18 years of age. No exceptions to this policy are acceptable under any set of circumstances.
3. An alleged abuse event which results in either a guilty plea to any (including lesser) charge or if any settlement is paid out by a Diocese (in any amount) must be permanently barred and, if a priest, de-frocked. No exceptions are permissible.
4. All settlements must be contemporaneously disclosed, including the alleged offender on who’s behalf the Diocese settled and the amount of the settlement. I am not interested in the name of the victim(s); I am very interested in the name of the priest or other parish member who appeared, in the Diocese’s judgment, to be guilty enough that paying out money was preferable to a public lawsuit or trial!
5. There must be no distinction drawn in the church between sexual abuse directed at young children and that directed at adolescents. Violation of trust is, and while the age of the victim may be a factor in civil punishment, it is not from a standpoint of the violation of trust by the faithful and their families.
6. These provisions must be made retroactive – all of them. I insist that the Church drop the veil of secrecy – not only for the future, but to atone for its past sins. See my previous letter to you for what I believe is appropriate in this regard.
In short, the Church must adopt not only “zero tolerance” for the future, but also “zero tolerance” for the past. I will also urge other Catholics to adopt this position, and am actively exploring other alternatives for my family if this Diocese and the Church in America refuses to take this approach.
There are other areas that need serious inspection in this process and revelations that have recently come to light – including the claim that from 30-50% of all men in the seminarian system are homosexual. The veracity of that claim is difficult to ascertain, but on its face it would represent an overrepresentation of anywhere from 10-20 times that of gay men in the general population. The implications of such overrepresentation, and the possible problems associated with it, are something that the Church needs to explore in great detail to determine what, if any, connection exists between this overrepresentation and the harm being done to our children.
I freely admit that I do not know what the implications of that disparity are, and do not wish to jump to judgment in that regard. However, I am deeply troubled by the obvious potential issue here, especially when one considers that most of the boys molested by priests have been adolescents.
The clear and obvious connection here shouts out for more significant discussion, debate and investigation. That the Church has essentially ignored this issue for more than three decades, while the abuse has gone on under all of our noses and the results have been covered up and kept out of the public eye, is an outrage all of its own.
It is my sincere hope that the Church can regain my family’s trust. However, at this time, it does appear that you have a tough road to hoe. The decisions made by the Church in the coming weeks and months will not, I’m sure, be something that will affect only my family – many others who I talk with on a daily basis, and who are also Catholic, are deeply disturbed by the actions of Church in this matter and are either considering or have taken some or all of the steps that I have outlined in my communications with you.
As you may be aware, as a retired individual my time is spent raising my daughter and working on issues related to children and family rights in this nation. This series of revelations is a serious problem for me indeed, as I find it extremely difficult to call myself “Catholic” while at the same time lobbying for, and working towards, protecting the rights of family and children while the Church blatantly and crassly appears to disregard both.
The courtesy of a response – and, if you believe appropriate, a dialogue – would be appreciated.
Your friend in Christ,
Karl Denninger
PS: Please be aware that my letters to the Diocese are being published on the web – including both this and my previous letters to your eminence.