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The average lay person is often unaware of these challenges. He is the doctor for our souls and more often than not, is dealing with people having difficulties. The demands made on him are often both physically and spiritually draining.Read More -
We take special issue with those dioceses who think that publishing a list of names of clerics who have been ‘credibly’ accused of sexual misconduct is warranted. We disagree for many reasons – canonical, theological, pastoral, and legal. It is this latter reason we wish to address here.Read More -
“A Catholic priest who is accused of sexual abuse is immediately assumed to be guilty and paraded through the media as a pedophile, regardless of the fact that there is no proof other than that someone said he did it,” Maher said.Read More -
The bishop is publishing a list, ostensibly to let the public know which of his former clerics has been accused of sexual abuse, but he is cautioning the public to know that such individuals might be innocent of those charges. One would expect that caution would tip in favor of non-disclosure, not disclosure.Read More -
"Imagine trying to defend yourself from the viewpoint of being innocent… Its almost impossible given the current environment," Maher said. Maher's group is helping to pay for Poandl's new appeal.Read More -
Pete Ferrara, also said that many who are accused but innocent never return to active church life, and ultimately find it difficult to reintegrate into society. “Depending on their situation, they may retire,” Ferrara said, “but if they’re not old enough to retire, they have to find ways to survive. It’s not easy, by any means.”Read More -
“Most clergy cases settle short of trial. Settlement is a fact of life for many reasons, chief of which is that both sides, after getting a chance to inspect the strengths and weaknesses of each other’s cases, can make a calculated estimate at a dollar figure. And here is where insurance law squeezes the bishop – and may crush Fr. Bob.”Read More -
“I am tired of seeing priests destroyed by unsubstantiated accusations of a sexual nature,” said Carole “Andi” Andrzejewski, a New York supporter of Opus Bono Sacerdotii (“work for the good of the priesthood”). “The Dallas Charter is a travesty that treats priests, religious and laity as disposable, making no distinction between proven and unproven allegation, strips the accused of their canonical and civil rights and allows anyone who has a grudge to destroy a fellow human being.”Read More
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There were a few paragraphs for the child-abuse activists who have some praise for Pope Francis and his movements toward reform, but no space for the defenders of priests like Opus Bono Sacerdotii, who could talk about unjustly accused priests -- a category of people which to newspapers like the Post seem unimaginable.Read More -
Shaneyfelt and Maher explain that even if bishops wanted to defend priests, in cases when they were convinced the accusations were fraudulent, they might not be free to do so. Often the legal strategy of the diocese is dictated by the insurance companies that would be obligated to pay off a claim.Read More -
A Catholic priest who is falsely accused of sexual abuse can’t count on his bishop to defend him. That’s the unhappy conclusion one reaches after reading informative article in the Homiletic and Pastoral Review by David Shaneyfelt and Joseph Maher.Read More -
“If setting up the ‘college’ means they are going to hire other competent canon lawyers to help with the process, that is a good thing,” Maher told the Register. “But if they are trying to find a way to streamline the process with the current staff at CDF, they will be looking at these cases quickly but won’t take time to really understand them.”Read More -
"The reason Msgr. Loomis's case is so rare", Maher said, "is that priests who languish for that long and are found innocent usually end up being unassigned and having to find work in the secular world."Read More -
"I think that this case will give other prosecutors around the country pause to reflect on who is really accountable for the damage that may have been done to victims of sexual abuse," said Joe Maher, founder of Opus Bono Sacerdotii.Read More -
"We can't have the Salem witch hunts on Catholic priests, like they've had in the past," said Joe Maher of Opus Bono, a network for priests accused of sexual assault.Read More -
The word "hierarchy" points to Lynn's main line of defense, says Joe Maher, president of Opus Bono Sacerdotii, an organization that supports priests. "They're holding Lynn ultimately responsible when he is not ultimately responsible," Maher says.Read More -
Joe Maher, a Detroit businessman who runs a national support network for priests, said some of the suspended clerics had told him they hoped to meet privately with Chaput before he decided their fates. According to Maher, those priests requests' have gone unheeded.Read More -
“The beatitudes are the best way to describe what this organization is for priests,” he said. “We help priests when they find themselves in difficulty. We assist them with any needs they have that the Church cannot fulfill.Read More -
The Star report casts aspersions on the mission of Opus Bono Sacerdotii. The same liberal reporters who impute nobility and heroism to defense lawyers for the civil liberties of accused Islamic radicals can’t manage any imagination that any accused priest might be innocent.Read More -
"Richard Fitzgibbons is an adviser to Opus Bono Sacerdotii, according to the group’s website. The nonprofit organization provides services to accused and imprisoned priests, including financial, legal and emotional support.Read More
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