CHILD ABUSE AWARENESS MONTH

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has gone all out in publicizing its support in promoting April as Child Abuse Awareness Month and I applaud all such actions especially this one described by the bishops as "a major initiative of the Catholic Church in the United States,"

(http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/07-021pressrelease.pdf) and
(http://usccb.org/ocyp/april_cap_month.shtml).

The sexual abuse, molestation, rape or sodomizing of any child, especially when done by a trusted family member, minister, priest or teacher, is a conscious act of unspeakable moral depravity. It is a crime, a sin against humanity and a violation of a sacred trust.

Make no mistake about it. Child abuse prevention along with accountability for past offenses is every bit a Right to Life issue.

So in light of all that dioceses are doing across the country according to the PR hype being desseminated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the institutional church's reluctance to be more proactive and aggressive in its support for states across the country which are considering removing all statutes of limitation regarding childhood sexual abuse is especially troubling.

Rest assured that the institutional church's loud protestations of commitment to victims of sexual abuse in the present offer neither absolution nor justice for the sins and the crimes of the past.

While materials produced under court order in "discovery" have proven the existence of incriminating records, religious denominations as well as other institutions need not worry about defending against such "age-old lawsuits," because the responsibility to prove culpability belongs to those bringing forward older suits in civil court - that is the "alleged" victim or victims of sexual abuse, the plaintiffs.

Those who were sexually exploited by anyone, parent, minister, priest or teacher, should have the right to the full protection of the law and arbitrary statutes of limitation need to be removed in order to even seek justice, let alone obtain it.

But justice delayed IS justice denied.

Does it make any sense not to do everything we can to provide justice for the voiceless of the past as well as for those of the present and the future?

"We can never rest when it comes to protecting children and teenagers," were the words spoken just recently by Bishop Gregory Aymond, chairman of the USCCB's Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People in commenting on April as Child Abuse Awareness Month.

If the bishops truly believe this then they need to be proactive, along with states' Catholic Conferences, in supporting those states like New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, which have been in the process of crafting legislation and introducing bills that would more adequately protect children instead of attacking legislators like Maryland Assemblyman Eric Bromwell who recently introduced such a bill in Annapolis only to be intimidated into withdrawing it.

It is unconscionable to be spending millions of dollars of church monies attacking adult victims of childhood sexual abuse in court from known sexual predators on technicalities or arbitrary SOLs.

Removing SOLs is the single, most effective method of holding sexual predators and any possibly complicit or enabling individuals or institutions accountable along with the inclusion of "Window Legislation" to bring forward previously time barred cases of abuse.

On July 10, 2007 Senate Bill 29 was signed as the Child Victims Law in the state of Delaware removing all criminal and civil statutes of limitation regarding the sexual abuse of children.

More than that, Delaware instituted a two-year civil window for bringing previously time barred cases forward in civil court giving anyone who was ever sexually abused as a child in the state of Delaware until July 10, 2009 to bring forward his or her case.

I was privileged to testify in support of this legislation before Delaware's Senate and House Judiciary Committees where it was passed unanimously.

I expect my church leadership to initiate actions that more faithfully follow their words.

Anything less is "sounding brass and tinkling cymbals," (1 Corinthians 13:1-2)because words without action remain hollow.

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victims' Advocate

www.bishop-accountability.org/abusetracker for daily verified coverage, as to why no laiity in the LA Archdiocese should be donating any monies for any reason, until mutiple decades pedophile serial enabling Roger Mahony (personal body count exceeding 1,200 children and over $1 Billion in costs hoisted on the LA laity) is removed from office, canonically censored, and placed under life time house arrest, like proven pedophile founder Marciel of the Mexican cult-like Legion Of Christ was.

Like Catholics across the United States I welcome Pope Benedict XVI as he visits Washington, D.C. and New York City later in the week. Benedict had a beautiful day in Washington to celebrate his 81st birthday as well.

The pain that so many victims of sexual abuse continue to endure throughout their lives is the pain that our Catholic Church should be considering first and foremost before the "enormous pain that your communities have suffered when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such gravely immoral behavior," as the pope spoke of in his words to the American bishops on Wednesday when he met with them at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

The continuing sex scandal was not just "sometimes very badly handled," it was very often and repeatedly handled very badly.

I consider it misleading to say that, "Now that the scale and gravity of the problem is more clearly understood you have been able to adopt more focused remedial and disciplinary measures and to promote a safe environment that gives greater protection to young people."

While the scale and gravity of the sexual abuse problem has been understood for years, the bishops formally or informally were part of a conspiracy that colluded in covering up the transgressions of rogue sexually abusive priests, including those abusing minors, moving them around their own dioceses, moving them to other dioceses and, in some cases, shipping them abroad to avoid arrest and prosecution. This is fact not opinion and is supported by a number of Grand Jury Reports.

In actuality, the bishops on the whole did not even obey the Canon Law of the Catholic Church regarding sexual transgressions let alone obey the individual state law in whose jurisdictions their dioceses resided. And while bishops, "have been able to adopt more focused remedial and disciplinary measures and to promote a safe environment that gives greater protection to young people," this does not provide justice for those who were abused in the past.

As far as the "shortage of priests' is concerned, one may ask is that really the case? Or has not God called many to ministry but in all truth she is frustrated by a patriarchal and paternal system that basically ignores about 53 percent of the population.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has gone all out in publicizing its support in promoting April as Child Abuse Awareness Month and I applaud all such actions especially this one described by the bishops as "a major initiative of the Catholic Church in the United States,"

(http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/07-021pressrelease.pdf) and
(http://usccb.org/ocyp/april_cap_month.shtml).

The sexual abuse, molestation, rape or sodomizing of any child, especially when done by a trusted family member, minister, priest or teacher, is a conscious act of unspeakable moral depravity. It is a crime, a sin against humanity and a violation of a sacred trust.

Make no mistake about it. Child abuse prevention along with accountability for past offenses is every bit a Right to Life issue.

So in light of all that dioceses are doing across the country according to the PR hype being desseminated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the institutional church's reluctance to be more proactive and aggressive in its support for states across the country which are considering removing all statutes of limitation regarding childhood sexual abuse is especially troubling.

Rest assured that the institutional church's loud protestations of commitment to victims of sexual abuse in the present offer neither absolution nor justice for the sins and the crimes of the past.

While materials produced under court order in "discovery" have proven the existence of incriminating records, religious denominations as well as other institutions need not worry about defending against such "age-old lawsuits," because the responsibility to prove culpability belongs to those bringing forward older suits in civil court - that is the "alleged" victim or victims of sexual abuse, the plaintiffs.

Those who were sexually exploited by anyone, parent, minister, priest or teacher, should have the right to the full protection of the law and arbitrary statutes of limitation need to be removed in order to even seek justice, let alone obtain it.

But justice delayed IS justice denied.

Does it make any sense not to do everything we can to provide justice for the voiceless of the past as well as for those of the present and the future?

"We can never rest when it comes to protecting children and teenagers," were the words spoken just
recently by Bishop Gregory Aymond, chairman of the USCCB's Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People in commenting on April as Child Abuse Awareness Month.

If the bishops truly believe this then they need to be proactive, along with states' Catholic Conferences, in supporting those states like New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, which have been in the process of crafting legislation and introducing bills that would more adequately protect children instead of attacking legislators like Maryland Assemblyman Eric Bromwell who recently introduced such a bill in Annapolis only to be intimidated into withdrawing it.

It is unconscionable to be spending millions of dollars of church monies attacking adult victims of
childhood sexual abuse in court from known sexual predators on technicalities or arbitrary SOLs.

Removing SOLs is the single, most effective method of holding sexual predators and any possibly complicit or enabling individuals or institutions accountable along with the inclusion of "Window Legislation" to bring forward previously time barred cases of abuse.

On July 10, 2007 Senate Bill 29 was signed as the Child Victims Law in the state of Delaware removing all criminal and civil statutes of limitation regarding the sexual abuse of children.

More than that, Delaware instituted a two-year civil window for bringing previously time barred cases
forward in civil court giving anyone who was ever sexually abused as a child in the state of Delaware until July 10, 2009 to bring forward his or her case.

I was privileged to testify in support of this legislation before Delaware's Senate and House
Judiciary Committees where it was passed unanimously.

I expect my church leadership to initiate actions that more faithfully follow their words.

Anything less is "sounding brass and tinkling cymbals," (1 Corinthians 13:1-2)because words without action remain hollow.

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victims' Advocate

Looks like Sister T. has once again made claims that can not be backed up or verified. "It is unconscionable to be spending millions of dollars of church monies attacking adult victims of childhood sexual abuse in court from known sexual predators on technicalities or arbitrary SOLs." Please sister, you leave very long posts that simply can not be backed up. How about who, where, when, and how much money was spent "attacking" victims. As the saying goes, "Show me the money!" Quoting scripture doesn't cut it. Unless you are simply giving us the view from SNAP? Bill Donohue got it right today when he wrote that the pope's visit is SNAP's "last hurrah." One can only hope. It's time that someone finally calls out that self described activist victims' group whenever they or a mouthpiece starts with unsubstantiated polemic. That does a horrible diservice to men and women who are actually working day by day to be survivors and not perpetual victims.

Once again lots of quantity from the good sister, but no quality. 'It is unconscionable to be spending millions of dollars of church monies attacking adult victims of
childhood sexual abuse in court from known sexual predators on technicalities or arbitrary SOLs " Please give us facts instead of the typical polemic and SNAP propaganda. Who spent all this money, where, and when? Just the facts,maam. Sweeping allegations and gross generalizatioons don't cut, - neither does quoting scripture. Everytime you cut and paste this comment across the country, it never changes. That damages your position and even more sadly the real efforts by people to protect children.