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NY - Victims blast Cardinal Dolan over child sex secrecy

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

Cardinal Tim Dolan has apparently kept silent for months about an accused child molesting cleric. And instead of urging people to call police, Dolan is makes the same self-serving but hurtful plea bishops have made for decades – asking those with information about child sex crimes to call church officials, not police or prosecutors.

Shame on him.

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Deacon Al Mazza has been dismissed from his duties at Church of the Holy Name of Mary Croton-on-Hudson has been “permanently removed from ministry.”

1) Dolan claims he suspended Mazza months ago, but we see no evidence that he made this public in any way. That’s reckless and irresponsible.

Dolan is a media-savvy guy with an efficient public relations team. He knows how to get attention. But he refuses to bring attention quickly on a credibly accused child molesting cleric. Instead, he waits months to warn parents, parishioners and the public about Mazza.

The accusations against Mazza should have been announced – far and wide – when they were made. Or they should have been announced – far and wide – when he was allegedly suspended months ago.

(And if he was allegedly suspended months ago, why is Mazza’s name still on the parish bulletin September 8 and 15 and 22?) Fucking Church.

Instead, Dolan keeps quiet until now. And even so, it seems that he notified only the current parishioners at only one of the archdiocese’s 385 parishes. So even now, Dolan is doing the absolute bare minimum.

2) Dolan asks people who want to “report anything in this regard” to three clerics: a priest, a nun or a deacon. Again, shame on him. He knows what’s right: people should report to police and prosecutors, not church officials.

Dolan’s acting selfishly. He’s doing what top church officials have done for decades - trying, again, to make sure that victims, witnesses and whistleblowers come to church staff first, so they can handle this as quietly as possible.

3) It’s inappropriate, deceptive and hurtful for Dolan to brag in the letter. He claims that “the Church leads the way with action and transparency,” and “the archdiocese acts promptly, definitively, firmly, and openly whenever a horrific instance of the abuse of a minor is brought to our attention.”

Right now, Dolan should focus on helping to put a credibly accused child molester behind bars, not on puffing out his chest and bragging. Then, he should focus on finding and helping others who may have been hurt by Mazza, not on puffing out his chest and bragging.

At best, his callous comments are unseemly and inappropriate. At worst, they distract from the most pressing task: helping police and prosecutors get this child molesting cleric away from children. (Even though this one victim can’t pursue justice because of the statute of limitations, we strongly suspect there are other victims who can.)

Dolan claims “The Church learned a painful lesson in not communicating the abuse of minors to the faithful as soon as it became aware of it.” He’s being deliberately deceptive in two ways. First, using the word “learned” implies that it was ignorance that caused church officials to handle child sex crimes secretly in the past. That’s just not true. It’s the selfish obsession with protecting themselves and their reputations and power that lead Catholic officials to be secretive about clergy sex crimes and cover ups. It’s a lack of courage and decency, not a lack of knowledge, that has caused tens of thousands of boys and girls in the US to be hurt by child molesting priests, nuns, bishops, seminarians and other church employees.

Second, the phrase “not communicating” implies there was a failure or an oversight. It wasn’t and it isn’t. Catholic officials took – and still take – affirmative steps to keep child sex abuse reports hidden. It’s a refusal to tell the truth, not some vague failure to “not communicate” that’s a root cause of this on-going crisis.

(Dolan’s uncaring actions are even more stunning here because at least two other clerics - Fr Kenneth Jesselli and Fr. Gennaro Gentile - at this one parish have been ousted because of credible child sex abuse allegations. Of course, Dolan, while claiming to act “openly” in child sex cases, refuses to name these two other child molesters in his letter.)

Since Dolan won’t say it, we will: A potentially dangerous child molester walks free. He now has more time on his hands than before. Our moral and civic duty is clear. Each person who saw, suspected or suffered this deacon’s crimes should find the courage to step forward, call police, expose wrongdoing, deter cover ups, protect kids and start healing. Here again secular morality prevails.

And anyone with knowledge or suspicions about these crimes or cover ups should not call church officials. That just helps perpetuate this cover up and encourage future cover ups. If you saw, suspected or suffered crimes or cover ups in the church, contact the independent professionals in law enforcement, not the self-serving bureaucrats in church offices.

Now is not the time for complacency. Now is the time for action. Action –not words - protects kids. It’s time for Dolan to stop deceiving and bragging and start helping kids and victims – by taking tangible steps to get Mazza investigated, prosecuted, convicted and jailed