HAWAII
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, CA, SNAP Western Regional Director, (949) 322-7434 cell, jcasteix@gmail.com
A Catholic bishop recently led a funeral for an accused predator priest who was hiding in another country.
We just learned that Fr. Anthony Bolger, a priest who is publicly accused of sexually abusing a child in Hawai’i, died months ago while in hiding in Tijuana, Mexico.
Hawai’i Bishop Clarence Silva even presided over Bolger’s funeral.
We are upset by Silva’s recklessness, callousness, and secrecy.
Fr. Bolger joins a long list of credibly accused child-molesting clerics who have been allowed by their Catholic supervisors to live unsupervised in the Mexico border town among unsuspecting families and vulnerable children. As best we can tell, the local Tijuana community was not warned of the accusations against Bolger and that children were put in direct risk.
[BishopAccountability.org – The Star Advertiser]
Bishop Silva has done little or nothing to reach out and comfort the brave men and women who have come forward to say that they were sexually abused by Hawaii’s clerics. Instead of doing even the smallest thing to comfort the wounded, he salutes and honors those who may have caused horrible damage. Not only does this defy the way of Aloha, but Silva’s irresponsible actions deter other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers from speaking up. He’s also essentially encouraging other Catholic officials to behave in similarly hurtful ways in clergy sex abuse and cover up cases.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.