UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
All Catholics, especially Pope Francis, should read the really remarkable and very readable new book, Whistle: Tom Doyle’s Steadfast Witness For Victims Of Clerical Sexual Abuse, by Robert Blair Kaiser. The book has been noted in a highly recommended and related brief series of articles, including ones by Jason Berry, Tom Fox and Barbara Blaine. Please consider reading all parts of the series. Please see below also Tom Doyle’s recent prophetic remarks about the really outrageous treatment of priest abuse survivors by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in its seemingly endless and very expensive bankruptcy proceedings.
This new book is the first truly insider account of the Vatican’s ongoing US strategy since 1985 for priest child abuse cover ups, a timely reminder as the popular pope plans to begin his diversionary US and UN public relations tour in September. Fr. Thomas Doyle, a Dominican priest in good standing, was there at the outset working from 1981 to 1986 behind closed doors as a canon lawyer for the Vatican’s US ambassador, Pio Laghi. For five years earlier, Laghi had as papal ambassador overseen Pope Francis’ questionable role as Argentinian Jesuit provincial in the midst of the papacy’s self interested acquiescence in the ruthless military dictatorship’s reign of terror during Argentina’s so called Dirty War.
Laghi, as this bold and revealing book reports, was then in 1985 a central figure, along with Pope John Paul II, Boston’s Cardinal Bernard Law and Philadelphia’s Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and others, in the formation of the US bishops’ continuous cover up strategy that protected child rapists. Laghi was also one of Pope John Paul II’s key liaisons to US President Ronald Reagan and later Bush presidents and to their billionaire backers. The Vatican, in effect, apparently delivered US votes, and right wing US presidents reciprocally delivered diplomatic protection and governmental subsidies. The Vatican’s 2016 US election strategy will likely try to reinstate this political reciprocity with another Bush president, from most current indications.
For their obedience, apparently, John Paul II rewarded Laghi by making him cardinal in 1991 and Jorge Bergoglio (Pope Francis) by making him a bishop in 1992, unusual for a Jesuit. Tom Doyle, on the other hand, for being honest and brave on behalf of defenseless children, was exiled and harassed as a military chaplain, but kept on battling for children and survivors for over a quarter century, with considerable success. This very moving and fast paced book tells Doyle’s inspiring and hopeful story, one that is continuing.
Doyle is still battling. Over the last three years, he told his story in interviews to Robert Blair Kaiser, who has reported it vividly and informatively here. Kaiser, a former Jesuit for a decade, had been one of the top US reporters on Vatican matters for over fifty years, as well as the author of numerous insightful books, including “The Politics of Sex and Religion”, the classic and still relevant history of the 1960’s papal birth control commission, that Kaiser generously made available for free recently as an downloadable e-book at [Smashwords] . Kaiser at 84 died two weeks after heroically finishing this book on his deathbed. The book has benefited much from Kaiser’s broad and unique knowledge of the Catholic Church and its leadership. Kaiser, like Doyle, did not mince words and remained focused on the worst crisis facing the Catholic Church since the Reformation. This is a refreshing change in the current Francismania world where the pope’s latest planned public relations diversion (like his climate encyclical) controls most of the compliant media’s and opportunistic papal cheerleaders’ agendas. The pope usually overlooks the abuse scandal, so many in the media follow his lead!
Pope Francis has skillfully managed for over two years to avoid addressing seriously and timely holding bishops accountable for protecting priest child abusers and for denying priest abuse survivors basic justice due them. The pope now has, in effect, passed the buck to his successor in five years. Indeed, the Vatican might have succeeded in burying the abuse scandal completely, but for the brave advocacy of Tom Doyle and groups like SNAP, and some intrepid journalists like Jason Berry, Tom Fox and Arthur Jones, and the detailed documentation relentlessly generated at ABUSETRACKER at the website, BishopAccountability.org. Tom Doyle is unlikely to get a favorable call from the pope anytime soon.
What this book makes clear is that the Vatican can try to continue a bit longer to survive as an absolute monarchy, but intrepid Catholics like Doyle, by their courageous actions and truthful message also make clear, that the Vatican’s strategy will ultimately fail, sooner rather than later. The Vatican may have survived, barely, Luther and the printing press, but prophets like Tom Doyle and the Internet and 24/7 news cycle will soon sink the Vatican from most indications. The truth has it own indomitable power.
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.