Other helpful links pertaining to the struggle of sex abuse victims of Catholic clergy

"...And then some": an editorial on the wider effects of the scandal on families

Houston area victims report - a message from Bishop Fiorenza

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 

Survivors First

Voices of Outrage

The "EveryBody" Insider
Communicating the Concerns of Black People

One of the 10,667
By Bahati Osayimwese

On Feb 27, 2004 the National Review Board for the Protection of Children & Young People appointed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a report on the context and causes of abuse by clergy in the U.S. by Catholic priests and the results of a study on the nature and scope of the clergy abuse problem.

http://www.usccb.org/nrb/johnjaystudy/index.htm 
http://www.catholicreviewboard.com/report01.html 

The statistics on the nature and scope of the clergy abuse problem from 1950-2002 were compiled by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice which sent surveys to 202 dioceses and eparchies in the U.S. and to 221 heads of religious orders such as Jesuits, Dominicans, Benedictans, Oblates, Basilians, Josephites, SVD's, etc.

Surveys were sent out from April thru June 2003 to obtain (in addition to other information) data on the number of victims and victimizers. Some 97% of the dioceses and eparchies participated in the study. And, 140 out of the 221 religious orders agreed to participate. Roughly 1/3 of the clergy are represented by the religious orders.

Some in the media fail to explain the distinction between the roles of the bishops whom everyone sees on TV and/or reads about in the newspapers from that of the roles of the religious superiors of the religious orders ( whom one does not see on TV). Diocesan priests (~67% of priests in the country) work for the bishop and belong to no religious order. Religious order priests ( ~33% of priests in the country) belong to a community with special vows. Religious order priests are answerable to their order and its leaders. In addition, the religious order priests will still, of course, have an agreeable relationship with the bishop over the diocese or eparchy in which he serves.

A monk would answer to the leadership of a monastery and still need to stay in good standing with the bishop of the area of any place in which he wishes to practice a ministry.

The bottom line is that in Houston the bishop may quote a number of offenders that excludes the religious order priests.  Therefore, it becomes difficult for a person to know how many total priests were accused in a particular area.

In Houston there are a REPORTED 22 'sustainable' accusations against priests and 4 against deacons who harmed 46 victims. I am NOT included in that number because the perpetrator is a religious order priest of the St. Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ( The Josephites). The Josephites did participate in the study. I AM one of the victims of abuse by one of the reported 929 accused religious order priests. I AM one of the total of 10,667 victims of reported abuse by 4,392 accused priests.

The true number of victims is larger than what is reported because not all cases are reported and some of the submitted cases were not even counted.

Evil criminal attacks on the children of the church have occurred. The attacks are not just physical but also mental, emotional, societal, and spiritual.

At the deepest level, the assaults on the children are spiritual attacks from men whom vowed to serve as spiritual guides. The ultimate priest is the one who can cast out demons from a possessed soul. Yet, these perpetrators of betrayal, sin, crime, evil, assault, molestation, and rape not only failed to cast the demons out of themselves but they proceeded to unleash their demons on the soul ( the children) of the church. Meanwhile, the leaders of the church institution instead of recognizing the spiritual warfare that faced the church proceeded to protect their self-image by hiding scandal.

Even today it seems that the leaders are connected with the idea that somehow this episode is behind us now. They think that they have cast out all of the demons from the church and that they've "turned the corner" in solving the problem.

The John Jay report does NOT tell you how many victims are DEAD or how many lay wounded and dying. Some have died physical deaths or are dying physical deaths with lives plagued by alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, and numerous other ailments. Some have died spiritual deaths. They've lost faith in the priest, they've lost faith in the Roman Catholic Church, they've lost faith in any church or any religion, and some have lost faith in GOD and/or the concept of morality and meaning in life.

These were spiritual terrorist acts conducted on the very souls of the children. These priests were no exorcists. They were terrorists plotting and conducting evil attacks on the children. And, those who could stop them failed to combat evil. Only now that the heat in the fire threatens their own back-sides do they feel the courage and compulsion to act to correct
past mistakes.

Meanwhile, in Rome there are those who think these procrastinating bishops and religious superiors in the U.S. have acted too swiftly. I would say to the Holy Father John Paul II and his advisers, I was a loyal Roman Catholic and former altar boy before I quit their following. I was a victim of a spiritual assault by one of the 'priests' before you ( JP II) were a pope. I've been a victim longer than your reign which is one of the longest in a 2000 year history of the Roman Church. I have waited a long time for the sorts of changes which are slowly coming into existence to occur. Now is not the time to regress into the dark ages. And, while I am no longer a follower of yours I wish you no ill but urge you to seriously reflect upon the advice that you are given on this matter and upon the actions which you undertake on the issue.  Lastly, I would explain that I parted from his follower ship NOT because of an errant evil priest but because of my final acknowledgement of my disbelief in the dogma proclaiming infallibility in matters of faith and morals.

The reports do NOT take the pulse of the victims. Indeed some victims will not respond to any survey. But, for the Bishops to suggest that we've "turned the corner" is to suggest that the status of healing for the victims is improving. How can one know that if one does not talk to ALL of the victims? Some victims are surviving while others are really struggling. Some are not even comfortable with passing by a church or seeing a person in clerical garb. With those sorts of problems plaguing the lives of victims, it is difficult to say that the VICTIMS have turned the corner in their struggles to survive. And, if the bishops are NOT looking at the problem from the victims' point of view then they are using the wrong reference. They can't look at it from their own selfish viewpoint of pleasing their priests, brother bishops, and some in the media. They must help repair the damage in addition to preventing future harm.

The reports do NOT tell how many BISHOPS are guilty of abuse of children. The cases of the bishops' abuses are lumped in with the 'priest' category. It cannot be assumed that not a single bishop in 52 years was guilty of abusing children.

As one of the 10,667 I reflect upon my personal struggle which reached its height of difficulty in mid-2002. As an individual I could not and cannot survive. But, as one of the 10,667 I recognize that I am not alone. And, I realize that there are many others like me. 

The report leaves the victims and the victimizers as non-ethnic. There is reference to age and gender only. But, the problem crosses many ethnic lines. There are Black, White, Hispanic, Filipino, Asian, etc. victims and/or victimizers.

The main problem remains as the failure to combat evil. It is not 'sex' to prey upon the young of those whom one purports to lead in prayer. The spiritual leaders failed to combat evil within themselves and within the church.

Another problem is terminology. The 'experts' call it 'paedophilia' and 'ephebophilia' to launch attacks on the privacy and soul of the young. They call it 'homosexual' if it's against a male and 'heterosexual' if it's against a female. These terms serve only to confuse the issue. It is NOT love ('philia') to abuse, rape, molest, and/or assault a child. These terms have been turned upside down and inside out. Sex is an expression of love; but, no one ever speaks of love being a crime because it isn't. If 'sex' is a crime, then it ain't sex, it's rape. The use of the term 'sex' has become so broad that it means whatever the person seeking gratification wishes it to be even if it is criminal and evil.

For example, the most graphic and horrifying scene in the movie, "The Exorcist", is when the little girl uses a crucifix to attack her own private body parts. This scene strikes one as being a manifestation of evil ( not 'sex') in the context of that movie. For some reason people can't seem to make that same connection in real life. The real horror story is told only partially by the figures and the reports released on 2-27-04. Men using the crucifix attacked the private body parts, minds, and souls of the children. They used the cross to attack the children below the belt in a bloody, shocking and evil way.

I am one of the 10,667. Minus my case the total would be reported as 10,666. The total would be reported as ten thousand 666. The evil unleashed on the Roman Church has been placed in the spotlight. The victims demand justice for the harm which was done. The culprit is EVIL itself.

Let us do GOD's will. Let us combat evil giving it no quarter even within ourselves.

The victory belongs to GOD and to GOD be the Glory!