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  Sex Abuse Issues Still Resonate in Boston

By Mark Pratt
The Associated Press, carried in Cleveland Plain Dealer
May 27, 2006

http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?
/base/living/1148740209214960.xml&coll=2

Boston- On the altar of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Cardinal Sean O'Malley prostrated himself alongside two dozen bishops and priests, praying that God would forgive the damage done by the Roman Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal.

The start of the multiday pilgrimage Thursday through nine parishes in the Boston Archdiocese was to be about hope, repentance and apologies to the victims in the abuse scandal.

But as news spread that Dr. Robert Haddad, president and CEO of the archdiocese's health care system, resigned early Thursday amid allegations that he had harassed more than a dozen female employees with unwanted hugs and kisses, some questioned if church leaders are still responding too slowly and too secretly to abuse claims.

"There are extraordinary and painful parallels," said David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Haddad, head of the Caritas Christi Health Care System, resigned after the board gave him the option of being fired or stepping down with salary plus bene fits for 10 months, worth about $830,000. A Medford, Mass., native of Lebanese descent, Haddad has attributed the complaints to a cultural misunderstanding. He also said he felt he did not do anything inappropriate.

O'Malley, who was brought in by the Vatican in 2003 to clean up the abuse crisis, has been praised for his efforts to help the victims. Within months of arriving in Boston, he helped negotiate an $85 million settlement for more than 550.

Some victims and their supporters, however, want more decisive action. Last week, a coalition of sex abuse survivor groups and their supporters sent a letter asking O'Malley to develop a public list of archdiocese priests and employees dismissed for sexual misconduct and to publicly support the elimination of the statute of limitations for sex crime laws.

 
 

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