BishopAccountability.org
	Murphy the Magician By Tom Myles Voice of the Faithful of Long Island March 2, 2010 http://www.votf-li.org/myles.html ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY) -- We have all been awed by the performance of a magician. While we don't suspend belief, we walk away saying, "How did he do that?" Those who study the art of magic know that a magician performs his act by distracting the observer's attention. Deceiving the viewer is the intent of the magician. The bishops of the United States and in this diocese, Bishop William Murphy have emulated magicians by distracting people from the real cause of the sexual abuse crisis. A case in point is Bishop Murphy's February 10, 2010 "Protecting Children and Young People" letter. In the letter, Bishop Murphy promotes The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (Charter), background screening, the Virtus program, and other initiatives. The gist of these programs is to increase the vigilance of people about sexual abuse of minors. All well and good, but as numerous district attorneys have reported, the real cause of the crisis was the blatant concealment from the community of known priest-abusers. Bishop Murphy does not address this, nor does he address the diocese's continuing concealment of abuse that took place before 2002. While the Charter may have been good public relations, it does nothing to change the culture that allowed the cover-up. The Charter does not empower the laity. It just reinforces the "Father knows best" syndrome. Although the Charter mandates a diocesan lay review board, the members of the lay review board are appointed by the bishop. The lay review board does not hold public meetings, and the only authority it has is to advise the bishop. The background checks are also meaningless unless each parish posts a list of those people who are certified to be a youth minister. Otherwise, the information remains solely with the pastor and diocesan officials. We all know how that has worked in the past. Bishop Murphy touts the Diocese's compliance and commitment to the Charter. Balderdash! Two of the seventeen articles call for "clear and well publicized standards of ministerial behavior and appropriate boundaries…" and "Dioceses are to make clear to clergy and all members of the community the standards of conduct for clergy and other persons in position of trust with regard to children." If you are not aware of these standards, and most people are not, then how can Bishop Murphy write about the Diocese's compliance and commitment? You should be the judge of compliance and commitment, not Bishop Murphy. Bishop Murphy writes about the case of Monsignor Alan Placa. He states that in 2002 he placed Monsignor Placa on administrative leave which meant he could not present himself as a priest, wear clerical clothing and most of all have no priestly ministry. What Bishop Murphy does not write to you, "Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ", is that in 2003 there were at least four reports of Monsignor Placa performing priestly ministry. When this was first reported to the Diocesan Office of Protection, the office gave conflicting information and finally, after repeated pressure, admitted that Bishop Murphy gave occasional permission to Monsignor Placa to perform priestly ministry. At no point did Bishop Murphy ever write to you his dear brothers and sisters to tell you this. It is a clear example that one cannot trust the words written and spoken by Bishop Murphy. It also demonstrates that despite the proclaimed positive changes for the protection of children, nothing has changed. There are other troubling things involving the case of Monsignor Placa. The Tribunal processes are done in secret. Why aren't these records made public? Also, Monsignor Placa is the reputed legal adviser to this diocese and other dioceses in their efforts to conceal abuse and to prevent victims from pursuing remedies in the court system. Bishop Murphy also allows Monsignor Placa to continue to reside in the same rectory as Monsignor Brendan Riordan. These two priests have managed to live in the same residence for more than thirty years! Bishop Murphy abrogates his role as pastor to the diocesan priests when he fosters a dependent relationship between two priests. Does Alan Placa hold damaging information about Bishop Murphy? The most disconcerting absence from Bishop Murphy's letter is the total disregard for victims, most of who choose to remain anonymous. Bishop Murphy closes his letter, "With my prayers for all of you but especially those who suffer". Bishop Murphy can pray all he wants, but his inactions (or his continual hiding) say much more about his concern for those who suffer. By the Diocese's own admission, less than 10% of minors who have been sexually abused ever make an allegation. It is quite understandable why victims do not come forward, but that does not mean that they should be ignored, or simply prayed for. Now is the time for Bishop Murphy to report each and every instance in this diocese when a priest was transferred, offered counseling, or forced to retire based on an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor. Surely this would provide comfort to the hundreds of anonymous victims. Remember, the district attorneys reported that the cause of the sexual abuse crisis was the cover-up. Despite Bishop Murphy's lengthy letter, he does not address the cover-up. Nor does he provide us the information he provided to the Grand Jury in Boston. If Bishop Murphy really cared about victims and our Church, he would take corrective action immediately. Sadly, the record clearly shows that Bishop Murphy has more concern for his own clerical career than he does about victims and our Church. While Bishop Murphy speaks for the Diocese, each and every priest in this diocese is also liable. They are all part of a system of clericalism that shows more regard for their brotherhood, than it does for victims at the hands of their brothers. Unless the priests also tell all they know, they are simply the magician's assistant. Original Report * Bishop Murphy's Report to the Diocese on Protection of Children and Young People Tuesday, 09 February 2010 18:11 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Every year since 2002 when the horrible tragedy and scandal of sex abuse of children and minors by clergy became known, I have reported to you about the efforts of our Diocese, its parishes, schools and other institutions to protect children and young people within the communities that make up this local Church. I do so again this year with no less of a heavy heart that children and young people have been betrayed by priests and others who used their power and position to harm God's little ones, scarring them and leaving them and their families with a suffering that is unimaginable. The horror cannot, however, paralyze us. It must be the stimulus to be ever vigilant and to do all we can to make our Church a "safe haven" where parents know their children will feel safe and be safe. This has been brought about by our compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People that has guided the Church in the USA well since its adoption in 2002. Following previous reports, I wish to inform you that this Diocese has been found once again fully compliant by the Gavin Group of outside auditors who have reviewed our parish as well as our diocesan efforts. We have completed background screening for more than 84,000 employees and volunteers in our parishes, schools and diocesan offices. We have more than 250 trained Facilitators to conduct the Virtus program which has been given to more than 84,000 persons in our diocese. These sessions are offered throughout the year in different places in the Diocese. More than 2480 have been offered since 2003 and one can find the places and dates for future sessions by checking the link on our website, www.drvc.org (Virtus Training Schedule). Because We Care is an educational newsletter published by the Office of Protection in April which is distributed across our Diocese with news and stories and instructive pointers to keep us conscious of our obligations and united in our care. Partners in Protection was developed by Ms. Eileen Puglisi, the highly regarded director of our Diocesan Office of Protection as a way for different faith traditions to share ideas and best practices as an interfaith effort. Last June 25, she was the principal presenter of these programs at a meeting in Manhattan of representatives of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and counterparts from the Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Assembly of America. This was well received as was her special presentation to the priests of the Diocese who was named pastors for the first time this past June. Ms. Puglisi keeps me informed of the many other initiatives of her office among which the Support Group for victim survivors is one that is most important. These brave and good people meet under her auspices. They deserve our prayer and the support of our continued vigilance. In 2009 there were three allegations made against religious and priests. One was a religious brother who was immediately placed on administrative leave by the Marianist Provincial. Two others were lodged against priests who are deceased. There have been some incidents involving lay teachers all of which were immediately reported to the District Attorney with jurisdiction and the appropriate action taken in each and every situation. The completion of the Tribunal process regarding Msgr. Alan Placa received a certain amount of public attention this past year. In 2002, an allegation was made against Msgr. Placa going back some years. I immediately placed Msgr. Placa on administrative leave which meant he could not present himself as a priest, wear clerical clothing and most of all have no pastoral ministry. The diocesan investigation was inconclusive. Therefore in fairness to everyone I asked the Holy See to review the situation and give me their counsel. The Holy See advised me to begin a Church Tribunal process. I asked that this process be held in the Diocese of Albany for two reasons: first that no one could claim that our Tribunal might be prejudiced in favor of a diocesan priest and second, in Albany because that is where the complainant actually lives. That process took some years while the three judge panel carefully examined the evidence brought by the complainant. Once the judges reached their decision, they transmitted it to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which has the authority to review the matter and render a final and definitive judgment. This they did and so informed me that they upheld the decision of the Albany tribunal that Msgr. Placa was not guilty of the charge as made and that he was to be restored to good standing as a priest. As his bishop I followed the instruction of the Congregation and restored him to good standing as a priest and had one of the auxiliary bishops go to the parish where he was in residence to explain this to the parish. That is his current status and, as a result of this tribunal process, he has a right in justice to his good reputation. The one area over which I continued to have authority throughout this process is that of pastoral ministry. Msgr. Placa and I had agreed that whatever the result of this process I would not place him back into active pastoral ministry. He is a priest in good standing who has every right to live out his priesthood and celebrate Mass and the sacraments. He will not, however, be assigned to pastoral ministry in our Diocese or any other. I ask you to continue to pray for everyone involved in this and similar situations. In 2003 when the first Gavin Group Audits took place, all of us were committed to being compliant with the norms of The Charter. Over the years it has become evident that we have moved beyond compliance to commitment. Sadly it took the horror of the reality of the tragedy to wake us up to assume our proper responsibilities in this area. What has happened over these past seven years is a growing awareness that we can never let up on this commitment. We can never cease to be vigilant. We can never assume that incidents cannot happen again. Everyone wants to provide a safe place for our children. But it requires serious effort and ongoing vigilance. It means diligence in background checks and Virtus training. It means all of us remembering that so long as there is one child who has been abused, we have to beg forgiveness, offer whatever therapeutic help we can and re-commit ourselves day after day. The Church has done much and we can all be thankful for that. But we can never become complacent and we can never be boastful. We must constantly pray to God for strength to be faithful to our commitment, be ever mindful of those who this day and every day continue to suffer and do our best humbly and sincerely to make amends by doing what is right and living up to the responsibility that is ours. I mentioned that we publish Because We Care every April. April is National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month. I want every day to be our awareness day. But I want us all to be as one with all our fellow citizens during the month of April so that our nation, our Church, our every community might be transformed into safe havens where every child is loved, every child protected and every adult committed to this fundamental moral good. With my prayers for all of you but especially for those who suffer, I am Yours devotedly in Christ, Bishop of Rockville Centre
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.