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Buffalo, N.Y., Sep 4, 2019 / 11:30 am (CNA).- Recordings of private conversations appear to show that Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo believed sexual harassment accusations made against a diocesan priest months before the diocese removed the priest from ministry.

The contents of recordings of conversations between Bishop Malone and Fr. Ryszard Biernat, his secretary and diocesan vice chancellor, were reported on Wednesday by WKBW in Buffalo. In the conversations, Bishop Malone seems to acknowledge the legitimacy of accusations of harassment and a violation of the Seal of Confession made against a diocesan priest, Fr. Jeffrey Nowak, by a seminarian, months before the diocese removed Nowak from active ministry.

In an Aug. 2 conversation, Malone can reportedly be heard saying, “We are in a true crisis situation. True crisis. And everyone in the office is convinced this could be the end for me as bishop.” 

The bishop is also heard to say that if the media reported on the Nowak situation, “it could force me to resign.”

The conversations were secretly recorded by Biernat as the bishop discussed how to deal with accusations against Nowak by then-seminarian Matthew Bojanowski, who accused Nowak of grooming him, sexually harassing him, and violating the Seal of the Confessional.

According to an abridged transcript of the recordings provided by WKBW, Malone said in March that “the simple version here is we’ve got victims and we have a perpetrator, and the perpetrator is Jeff Nowak, and he’s done things that are clearly wrong, and I think he’s a sick puppy. That’s my amateur analysis of the whole thing.”

Despite this assessment, Nowak was not removed from ministry until Aug. 7, one day after the seminarian’s mother publicly accused Malone of allowing Fr. Nowak to remain in ministry despite the allegations against him.

The diocese issued a statement on August 18 that Malone had “never” kept a priest in active ministry who had a “credible allegation of abusing a minor” made against him, and “has never ignored” the accusation that Nowak violated the sacramental seal.

Malone started an investigation of the complaint, the statement said, and “[w]hen the individual who made the complaint was first questioned, his response was vague and needed follow up.”

In a statement released on Sept. 4, the diocese said it “stands by” its previous statement.

The seminarian, Matthew Bojanowski, raised the allegations in a letter to Bishop Malone dated January 24, 2019, saying Nowak had also admitted to “inappropriate actions” with minors. 

According to WKBW, Bojanowski first made the accusations known in October 2018, before he wrote Bishop Malone in January.

The recordings were reported by WKMB on Sept. 4 and were made by Biernat after Nowak became jealous of the close friendship between the seminarian and the bishop’s secretary. 

“I thought, ‘I need to do something,’ so I started recording those meetings because they say one thing but they do nothing,” Biernat told WKBW. “And so you have one recording in March then [a] week later, another recording, and nothing is being done.”

The diocese confirmed in a public statement that Malone had previously asked Biernat to take a leave of absence after Nowak obtained a letter between him and Bojanowski. According to a conversation taped Aug. 2, the bishop was concerned that media coverage would focus on a possible “love triangle” between Nowak, Bojanowski, and Biernat.

According to taped conversations, which date back to March of this year, Malone appears to admit that Bojanowski’s accusations are credible, and he considered sending Nowak to the St. Luke’s Institute in Maryland for psychiatric treatment.

Bishop Malone referenced Bojanowski’s allegations and called them “frightening concerns”; he said that “it became very clear to me that Jeff– was very interested in a– an– I think an inappropriate relationship [for] himself with Matthew.”

Malone also receiving a letter from Nowak which he suggests confirms the accusations. 

“I got this very carefully crafted– letter you’ve all seen now that details, I think, and gives evidence– that– that do back up the concerns that Matthew has,” Malone said, including the allegations of the violation of the Seal of Confession by Nowak.

Nowak “has some serious, serious issues,” Malone concluded. “We’re gonna send– and we’re gonna send him off to– for– assessment at St. Luke’s Institute of Maryland.”

Despite this apparent resolution, Malone later said he was concerned that Nowak would “go ballistic” if told he would be sent to St. Luke’s. In a taped conversation in July, Malone said that he told Nowak to either “go to Southdown”—an institute in Toronto that specializes in mental health and addiction problems for religious and clergy—or receive a leave of absence, and that Nowack decided to go to Southdown. 

Nowak was still in active ministry in the diocese by the beginning of August.

In a year of scandals related to clerical sexual abuse, Bishop Malone has repeatedly found himself at the center of media attention. 

In November, 2018, a former employee leaked confidential diocesan documents related to the handling of claims of clerical sexual abuse.

Last month, a RICO lawsuit was filed against the diocese and the bishop, alleging that the response of the diocese was comparable to an organized crime syndicate.

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Newark, N.J., Sep 4, 2019 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick created a “culture of fear and intimidation” at the Seton Hall University seminary, according to a report released by the university on Aug. 27. 

“McCarrick used his position of power as then-Archbishop of Newark to sexually harass seminarians. No minors or other University students were determined to have been affected by McCarrick,” said the statement. 

Seton Hall is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Newark, which McCarrick led from 1988-2000. The Archbishop of Newark serves as president of the university’s board of trustees.

It is one of the oldest diocesan-run Catholic universities in the country and has about 10,000 students, including 6,000 undergraduates. Seton Hall is also home to Immaculate Conception Seminary and St. Andrew’s Hall college seminary.

The “independent, unrestricted review” was announced by interim university president Mary J. Meehan on Aug. 23 last year. It followed an Aug. 17 report published by CNA that detailed a series of allegations made by priests in the Archdiocese of Newark. 

Some of the priest’s accounts related to former archbishop Theodore McCarrick. Others detailed allegations of recent or ongoing behavior at the two seminaries, including a specific allegation concerning a former rector of St. Andrew’s Hall.

The review was conducted by the law firm Lantham & Watkins. It found that while Seton Hall University’s present Title IX policies are “consistent with state and federal law,” they were “not always followed” at Immaculate Conception Seminary or St. Andrew’s Hall.

These policy lapses “resulted in incidents of sexual harassment going unreported to the University,” said the statement. 

“Individuals, communities and parishes across the country have been affected by former archbishop McCarrick and others who have profoundly and forever negatively altered so many lives,” the University statement said.

“The University community prays for all victims of harassment and abuse of any kind. Seton Hall remains committed to advancing its mission and providing seminarians, students, faculty, priests, staff and administrators with a safe and welcoming environment to learn, live and grow.”

Both seminaries and Seton Hall University are now fully in line with Title IX regulations, said the statement. 

The university also announced that it had developed a “series of proactive measures” to address the fallout of the McCarrick scandal among the community, and that “progress” had been made. 

The measures included a commitment to sharing as much of the report’s findings with the university community as is possible under privacy law. 

Additionally, the university announced that a new Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer would be hired to “ensure University-wide adherence to Title IX laws, policies, and practices” and the school will require Title IX training each year for everyone within the Seton Hall community. The school pledged to conduct “prompt reviews” of allegations of sexual harassment. 

The university also said that efforts were underway to “improve the structural relationship” between the main university, Immaculate Conception Seminary, and the Archdiocese of Newark, that will “enhance oversight, control and compliance to prevent recurrence” of past problems.

In October last year, the university was forced to respond to several reports that seminarians had been subjected to harassment on campus by other students, following the public scandal surrounding McCarrick.

“Recently my office has been informed of several instances of foul language and incivility being aimed at members of our Immaculate Conception Seminary,” wrote Meehan in an email sent to the university community on Oct. 15.

This behavior is “unacceptable,” she said, and “cannot be tolerated.”

The August 27 statement said that steps had been taken to “underscore the importance of Immaculate Conception Seminary and St. Andrew’s Seminary to Seton Hall’s Catholic identity,” and work to “better integrate” these schools with the university. 

Seton Hall University’s Board of Regents unanimously endorsed all of the proactive measures.

[…]

Washington D.C., Sep 3, 2019 / 03:05 pm (CNA).- A Catholic elementary school in Nashville has banned the seven books of the Harry Potter series due to concerns the books promote witchcraft and black magic. An exorcist and a Catholic author talked with CNA about the Harry Potter books and the Catholic faith.

“These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception,” Fr. Dan Reehil, pastor at Saint Edward School in Nashville, said to parents in an Aug. 28 email.

“The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text,” the priest added.

Reehil said that the books “glorify acts of divination; of conjuring the dead, of casting spells among other acts that are an offense to the virtue of religion — to the love and respect we owe to God alone. Many reading these books could be persuaded to believe these acts are perfectly fine, even good or spiritually healthy.”

Reehil told parents he made the decision to ban the books after consulting exorcists in both the United States and Rome.

Saint Edward teaches students from pre-K through eighth grade.

The Harry Potter books have been controversial since the first book was published in 1997. The American Library Association listed the Harry Potter series as its first-most challenged books in 2001 and 2002. The books were challenged due to claims of being “anti-family,” containing “occult/satanism” content, and violence.

Series author J.K. Rowling has rejected the idea that her books contain anti-Christian messages. In a 2007 interview, the author said that she believed there were parallels between the series’ title character, Harry Potter, and Jesus Christ.

Monsignor Charles Pope, a priest and exorcist of the Archdiocese of Washington, told CNA that “it’s always good to err on the side of caution in these matters,” adding that the decision to remove the books from the library was a “prudential judgment.”

“I think that in times like these we need to be extra cautious, and so as a general rule I’d support it, but I think every individual parent would have to work with their own kids on these matters,” Pope said.

Pope told CNA that he has not read the Harry Potter books nor seen the movies apart from “some excerpts,” and said with a laugh that the series is “way past (his) age.”

Rosamund Hodge, an author of young adult fantasy novels and a lay Dominican, told CNA she thinks concerns about the “magic” in Harry Potter are overblown.

“The magic in these books is about as ‘real’ as Cinderella’s fairy godmother singing ‘bibbidi- bobbidi-boo,’” she told CNA.

“While [Author J.K.] Rowling does occasionally draw from actual occult folklore for some of her world-building…the spells her characters use are usually just fake Latin describing what they’re supposed to do.”

Hodge does not believe there is a risk of children accidentally conjuring evil spirits through repeating the “spells” used in the books.

“Children are about as likely to summon demons by play-acting Harry Potter as they are to accidentally sell their souls by proclaiming ‘Abracadabra!’ while performing card tricks,” Hodge said.

Hodge said that while Rowling “does not write with a Catholic imagination,” she is not concerned with the allegations of “occult” content in the Harry Potter books.

The author told CNA that Catholic children might learn something from the books, even though the series characters do not possess a Catholic worldview.

“I think the proper response is not to ban the books, but to discuss them,” she said. “If children learn how to cope with Harry and his friends sometimes believing the wrong things, perhaps they’ll be prepared for the Thanksgiving dinner where their favorite uncle announces that euthanasia should be legal.”

Pope told CNA that, no matter their decision about Harry Potter, Catholics should guard against any sort of dabbling with the occult or witchcraft.

“Once you’re into actual witchcraft you are in the dark side, since there’s nothing of God in this. It’s a violation of the First Commandment,” he said.

“I mean, I’ve had to look this devil in the face,” the priest added. “He’s very real. He’s very pernicious. He’s also very sly. We need to be sober about his present action in the world.”

[…]

Salina, Kan., Sep 3, 2019 / 02:17 pm (CNA).- In an interview last month with Slate staff writer Ruth Graham, Theodore McCarrick said he doesn’t believe he committed the acts of which he has been accused.

McCarrick, 89, has been in public disgrace since June 2018, when credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were made known. He was dismissed from the clerical state in February 2019, after an administrative penal process by which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith found him guilty of solicitation in the confessional, and sexual abuse of minors and adults, aggravated by abuse of power.

“I’m not as bad as they paint me,” McCarrick told Graham Aug. 14 at the St. Fidelis Friary in Victoria, Kan., about 90 miles west of Salina, where he resides. “I do not believe that I did the things that they accused me of.”

Graham wrote in an article published Sept. 3 that when she challenged McCarrick saying he “makes it sound as if he’s leaving it an open question,” and that it sounded as though he thought it was possible he had committed the acts, he responded no.

McCarrick was Archbishop of Washington from 2000 until 2006.

He resigned from the College of Cardinals in July 2018, and took up residence in the friary that September.

Graham spent at least several days in Victoria, interviewing locals as well as friars who live with McCarrick.

She said McCarrick spoke with her briefly before lunch at the friary. He told her he doesn’t leave the friary, even to enter the adjoining Basilica of St. Fidelis; a condition of his residence is that he remain on the grounds of the friary. He indicated that he spends much of his time in the chapel and the library.

McCarrick discussed in particular the accusations by James Grein that he had solicited him during confession: “The thing about the confession, it’s a horrible thing. I was a priest for 60 years, and I would never have done anything like that … That was horrible, to take the holy sacrament and to make it a sinful thing.”

The former cleric told Graham that he thinks men who said he abused them while they were seminarians during weekend trips to his New Jersey beach house “were encouraged” to develop similar stories, attributing this encouragement to unnamed “enemies.”

“There were many who were in that situation who never had any problems like that,” he said.

McCarrick also addressed the claims of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, emeritus apostolic nuncio to the US, who said McCarrick’s alleged sexual misconduct had been known to some Vatican officials for years, eventually leading to a restriction on the archbishop’s ministry by Benedict XVI and a subsequent restoration of McCarrick’s place as a papal advisor by Pope Francis.

The now-layman said Viganò “was talking as a representative of the far right, I think,” adding, “I don’t want to say he’s a liar, but I think some of the bishops have said that he was not telling the truth.”

Father Christopher Popravak, the former provincial of the Capuchin’s St. Congrad province, told Graham that McCarrick will likely remain at St. Fidelis Friary, saying: “It’s become impossible for him to move because no one will have him.”

According to Graham, McCarrick had hoped to return to the east coast, but told her, “I don’t know how many years are in my calendar. One tries one’s best to accept where one is.”

The former cardinal said he receives little mail, and “the vast majority of the mail I get is looking for some help. I don’t have a lot of money, but I try to be helpful. It’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Once he was dismissed from the clerical state, McCarrick’s room and board of about $500 a month were no longer paid for by the Archdiocese of Washington, and he offered to pay out of pocket.

According to Graham, Fr. John Schmeidler, pastor of the Basilica of St. Fidelis, declined McCarrick’s offer.

Fr. Popravak said: “I know that itself could be construed as problematic, like the church is continuing to cover for him or harbor him. But we’re not attempting to profit from this. This is simply an attempt for us to show mercy.”

Graham wrote that McCarrick participates in the friary’s daily routine, including Mass, breakfast, and evening prayers, as well as weekly confession.

[…]

Montgomery, Ala., Sep 3, 2019 / 12:28 pm (CNA).- A judge in Alabama has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a six-week old aborted baby.

Court documents allege that a then-16-year-old Alabama woman obtained a medication abortion in February 2017, despite the protestations of her boyfriend, Ryan Magers who said he was the father of the child.

Magers subsequently sued the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville, saying that he had wanted to keep the child.

Alabama voters approved changes to the state constitution – Amendment 2 – in November 2018 to establish a right to life of unborn children, known as a “personhood clause.” The measure passed with 60 percent support from the public. The state also has statutes defining “personhood” as beginning at conception, as well as several opinions from the Alabama Supreme Court doing the same.

In an Aug. 30 ruling, however, Madison County Circuit Judge Chris Comer said none of these measures are legally applicable, due to the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case that established a “right to abortion” nationwide, as well as federal and state laws on abortion that are currently in effect.

Magers’ attorney had created an estate for the unborn baby, arguing that doing so granted personhood to the baby, identified in court documents as Baby Roe.

But Judge Comer disagreed, saying the estate creation process was “ministerial in nature.”

Brent Helms, Magers’ attorney, told CNA in March that the case is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States, and hopes to establish a new precedent in what is legally “uncharted territory.”

The lawsuit names as wrongdoers the manufacturer of the pill that terminated the unborn baby’s life, the abortion clinic, the doctor, the nurses, and all those who participated in the abortion.

If those entities are found liable for the wrongful death of Baby Roe, Helms said in March, then what was once a profit-making industry will now be subject to liability.

“And the question for them will be, ‘are we more subject to liability than we are to profitability?’ If a drug manufacturer determines that they’re going to be held liable for an abortion in the state of Alabama, I doubt they’re going to send any kind of pills to Alabama for an abortion,” he said.

“So I would think [their] conclusion would likely be that liability outweighs profitability, and therefore abortion is eliminated in the state of Alabama. It’s just a simple business decision.”

Helms told local WHNT News 19 this week that they plan to appeal Judge Comer’s decision, saying, “As this is the first case of its kind, we expected to have to appeal to a higher court. At this point, we are exactly where we thought we’d be.”

[…]

Washington D.C., Sep 2, 2019 / 03:49 pm (CNA).- At a time when labor unions are weak, Catholics still have a place in the labor movement, said a priest who emphasized the Church’s historic efforts to teach the rights of labor and train workers to… […]

Washington D.C., Sep 2, 2019 / 03:43 am (CNA).- The head of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development called on Catholics to reflect this Labor Day on Catholic Social Teaching and its implications for building a more j… […]

Portland, Maine, Sep 1, 2019 / 07:00 am (CNA).- For the second year in a row, 11 Maine teens embarked on a 70-mile pilgrimage to pray for their communities and to raise awareness of issues that have impacted their lives: teen addiction, depression, and… […]

Odessa, Texas, Aug 31, 2019 / 09:35 pm (CNA).- Several U.S. bishops offered prayers Saturday evening after a gunman killed at least 5 people and injured more than 20 in a Texas shooting spree that included the hijacking of a mail truck and the shooting… […]

Canton, Mississippi, Aug 31, 2019 / 03:57 pm (CNA).- Fr. Mike O’Brien doesn’t speak Spanish, though he still speaks English with the Irish brogue of his homeland.

However, that didn’t stop the priest from stepping up to the plate to help his parish after hundreds of people in the surrounding area, including many of his Latino parishioners, were arrested during U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) raids at seven local food processing plants in early August.

“It was a big shock for us. We weren’t prepared, so it’s hard,” O’Brien told CNA. “We’re just winging it.”

Federal authorities told Fox News that investigations would be made into the food processing plants where the raids took place as well, to determine whether the owners knowingly hired undocumented workers.

O’Brien said he estimates that about 80% of the Latino families at his parish alone were affected by the raids, with one or more family members detained.

With help from outside agencies and lawyers in the days following the raids, O’Brien and his small, part-time volunteer staff at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Canton, Mississippi set up a crisis management center, where they are now helping 85 affected families.

“We’re not just trying to serve Catholic families, but everybody who was affected by the raid,” he said. “Of course they lost jobs, they lost income…they’re trying to pay their rent for their for homes and utility bills and all that kind of thing.”

Besides financial assistance, affected families need help with meals, legal assistance, psychological counseling, childcare and other services. They need to keep their phone bills paid, so that they can be contacted by the lawyers working on their cases.

O’Brien said he has been amazed by the “tremendous work” done by lawyers and counselors who came from throughout the country to offer their help. One group of lawyers from Colorado shut down their main office for a week and set up shop at the parish in Mississippi, O’Brien said, offering pro bono legal counsel to anyone who needed it.

He is also proud of the generosity of the rest of his parishioners, he said, noting that his parish is made up of a diverse group of Latino and non-Latino people.

“They’ve been very supportive, I must say. I’m very pleased with that. I’m very happy with that,” Father said.

Immediately after the raids, parishioners set up a fun event for the affected children after the Spanish Mass the following Sunday to try to lift their spirits, O’Brien said. They have also provided families with meals and childcare while the adults meet with lawyers in the evenings.

O’Brien said the parish center has also been helped by Catholic Charities and by other Christian churches in the area. Other Catholic parishes in the region of the raids have set up similar crisis management centers, he added.

Father said from the outset, he wanted his parish to put politics aside and help out the families affected by the raids.

“I didn’t give them (the parishioners) too much of a choice, you know, either,” O’Brien said with a bit of a laugh. “I let the people know in no uncertain terms…these are my parishioners, and my parishioners are in trouble. Many of them are in jail, and this is a major crisis.”

O’Brien said he’s been calling it the parish’s own Hurricane Katrina. In August 2005, Katrina devastated parts of Louisiana and Florida, sending people whose homes had been damaged or destroyed flooding into Mississippi.

“The whole state was traumatized by that,” O’Brien said, “and this, that’s how I’m feeling. We’re right in the middle of Katrina, you know, people’s lives have been turned upside down and they’re in great distress and greatly struggling to respond.”

Right now, O’Brien said, he and the crisis management team and lawyers are working to get the detained workers out on bail before their immigration hearings, so that they can be with their families in the meantime.

The priest said it was “shocking” to talk with another crisis management group in Iowa that helped about 35 families after a similar ICE raid. The group told O’Brien that it took more than $350,000 and more than a year to finish the work of helping families recover.

“So that’s kind of shocking,” O’Brien said. “I thought if we got $20,000 or $50,000 we’d be in great shape.”

He added that he’s “purposely” stayed away from any political talk about the raids, and has focused on helping the families and parishioners in his care.

“What I need right now is not to talk about any political party,” he said. “I’m trying to keep my parish united.”

“And you know, there are two sides to the argument, and neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have solved it. Nobody’s been able to solve it. Everybody is talking around it and sometimes it’s made into political football, and they play to their base and nothing gets done, except talk.”

But despite the difficulties, O’Brien said he believes he will look back on this time in five or ten years as one of the “highlights of my life as a priest.”

“I must say, in fairness, it’s been an awesome experience, spiritually for me,” he said.

“I’ve seen the Holy Spirit like I’ve never seen the Holy Spirit, you know? Just things falling into place, events happening. I found myself making very fast decisions with very little thought…but that’s because I had to do it. That’s just it. You have to jump in,” he said.

“I’ve seen the hand of God all over the place,” he said, including in the Gospel reading the Sunday after the raids.

“In the Scriptures the Sunday after it happened, oh my gosh. It was very powerful – Abraham leaving his home place, called by God to go out into the desert and to go to a new land and living in tents and depending on God and trusting in God.”

“And God could take care of them,” he said. “So the word of God came to life big time.”

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