BishopAccountability.org
	New Bishop Vows Victim Aid New York Post [Brooklyn NY] October 4, 2003 Leaves quietly.Brooklyn's new bishop introduced himself yesterday to his parishioners with a speech that directly addressed the church sex-abuse scandals as well as paying tribute to the nearly 1 million foreign language-speaking Catholics in his flock. Days after a $300 million lawsuit was filed against the Diocese of Brooklyn by two dozen alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said the church "must be at the forefront of protection" for its victims. "The church as mother must show its care for the victims of sexual abuse," DiMarzio said in his installation homily at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Sunset Park, "especially those that have suffered at the hands of those working for the church as well as the many other victims of sexual abuse in our society." DiMarzio's predecessor, Bishop Thomas Daily, resisted changing the church's investigation policy of sexual-misconduct allegations. Daily also had protected pedophile priests while serving in the Boston Archdiocese. He retired in August. In his prior job as bishop of Camden, N.J., DiMarzio implemented a toll-free number for victims to report pedophile priests - but that effort was criticized for not being independent of the church. Before DiMarzio's address, Daily gave a speech that made no mention of the scandals. DiMarzio's homily offered greetings in at least 20 languages - including Chinese, Russian and Urdu - that are widely spoken in the diocese. Parishioners also offered greetings of their own, in traditional garb from Mandarin Chinese to South American.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.