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	Psychiatrist Advises Group for Accused Priests NECN November 17, 2011 http://www.necn.com/11/17/11/Psychiatrist-advises-group-for-accused-p/landing_nation.html?&apID=7eb513f65f194056ba88c5de79a2e7ab A Pennsylvania psychiatrist whose diagnosis helped keep a troubled Kansas City Catholic priest in the ministry is connected to a group that supports priests accused of sexual abuse. The Kansas City Star ( ) reports that Richard Fitzgibbons, who examined the Rev. Shawn Ratigan in January at the request of Bishop Robert Finn, is listed as an adviser on the website of Opus Bono Sacerdotii. Fitzgibbons met with Ratigan less than a month after the priest was found unconscious in his garage, his motorcycle running and a suicide note nearby. The previous day, officials with the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese had confronted Ratigan after a computer technician found hundreds of troubling images of children on the priest's laptop. The psychiatrist told Finn that Ratigan was lonely and depressed, but not a pedophile, according to a report commissioned by the diocese. Finn relied upon that decision when he sent Ratigan to a Vincentian mission house in Independence and ordered him to stay away from children and the Internet, rather than try to remove him from the ministry. Ratigan is facing three Clay County child pornography charges and 13 in federal court for photos found on the priest's camera and computers, many of them taken after Ratigan was sent to the Vincentian house. He has pleaded not guilty and remains behind bars. A Kansas City attorney who has filed dozens of civil lawsuits against the diocese and its priests — including some on behalf of Ratigan's alleged victims — said she was stunned by news that Fitzgibbons had ties with Opus Bono Sacerdotii, whose name means "work for the good of the priesthood." "This is one more incident that seems to show that the diocese is more interested in protecting its own ... than in a true search for the truth and ferreting out those who might be causing harm to children," attorney Rebecca Randles said. "It's very, very disheartening." Randles filed a fourth lawsuit against Ratigan on Wednesday, accusing him of using his cellphone to secretly take pictures of a 10-year-old girl several times earlier this year. The lawsuit says the priest took pictures of the clothed girl with his cell phone from beneath the family's dinner table on multiple occasions, but the parents though he was texting someone. The family said they didn't know about lewd photos found on Ratigan's computer, so they had no reason to suspect the priest was taking inappropriate pictures. A report resulting from an investigation conducted by the law firm of former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves indicated Vicar General Robert Murphy and Chancellor Bradley Offutt had concerns about Fitzgibbons' evaluation of Ratigan. Murphy recalled that he suggested a second evaluation, but Finn told investigators he did not remember that. Offutt advised Finn in an email months later that he "should consider further clinical analysis," but no further evaluation was conducted. Graves told The Star he couldn't comment beyond what was written in his report. Fitzgibbons has criticized the "zero-tolerance" policy for priests accused of sexual abuse, established by U.S. bishops in 2002. He has argued that many accusations against priests are false, and said bishops need to address how to handle false allegations and how to protect the rights of all accused priests. Kansas City diocese spokeswoman Rebecca Summers declined to comment on Fitzgibbons, calling it a privacy and confidentiality matter. Fitzgibbons referred questions to Detroit-based Opus Bono Sacerdotii, whose founder did not return calls to the newspaper for comment.
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