Intervention is Needed by Religious, Government & Political Leaders. The letter below was sent to Cardinal Roger Mahony's legal advisors with hope that the protections of children, adults, families and employees will take precedent over the Church's image and financial portfolio. *******************************

November 19, 2006
(Via Email)

Cardinal Roger Mahony
Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
c/o J. Michael Hennigan, Esq.
c/o Albert P. Ballog, Esq.

Re: Secrecy and Deception -- Protections of Children
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Dear Messrs. Hennigan and Ballog, as legal representatives for Cardinal Roger Mahony and the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese:

As cradle a Catholic with 4 children who attended Catholic schools, it is hard to accept that precious children and families continue to be victims of sex crimes and failures to protect by employees supervised by you and your legal advisors. The recent allegations at Daniel Murphy Catholic High School are a disgrace! Nothing has changed since the clergy sex abuse crisis erupted 5 years ago.

How many more children and families will be destroyed because your employees and legal advisors refuse to place the protections of children BEFORE your personal image and the Catholic Church?

How many employees supervised by you and your legal advisors will face the wrath of the influences of the Catholic Church in a court of law, for reporting violations of the law?

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

* Are you aware of the life-long effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder that plagues each and every child, adult and family that has survived horrific clergy sex abuse crimes or the wrath of the influences of the Catholic Church in a court of law?

* Why do you lie to the public?

* Why do you lie to your employees as mandated reporters?

* Why do you lie to precious children and their families?

* Why do you continue to re-victimize clergy sex abuse victims and their families as evidenced in the recent allegations concerning sex abuse crimes committed by an employee under your supervision at Daniel Murphy Catholic High School?

In the interests of public safety and justice, the ongoing political, religious and law enforcement influences that have aided the Catholic Church in covering up sex crimes and other violations of the law, must stop NOW!

As evidence of the ongoing failures to protect children, please refer to the attached .pdf copy of a letter written by two Los Angeles County Sheriffs in support of the dismissal of felony gun charges that were filed against the former principal's son at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in April 2001, R.J. Hemenway. In the midst of the clergy sex abuse crisis, political and government leaders assisted the Catholic Church in facing the consequences of violating child protection laws and the Gun Free Schools Act of 2000.

Yes, the Sheriff's letter was successful and the principal of a prominent Catholic high school in Orange County was transferred to Bishop Amat Catholic High School, one of the schools under your supervision in the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese. Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, there is something seriously wrong with the letter submitted by two Los Angeles County Sheriffs in support of dismissing felony gun charges against a prominent Catholic school principal's son -- the sheriffs misspelled "Hemingway" in the letter when the correct spelling is "Hemenway". Who were the government officials responsible for verifying the legitimacy of this letter?

* Does this have anything to do with the fact that legal advisors for the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese, Albert P. Ballog, Daniel R. Sullivan, Esq. and Michael J. Peffer, all members of the firm of Sullivan & Ballog, simultaneously represent the Catholic Diocese of Orange and the OC Sheriff's Department?

* Does a legal conspiracy exist? Is there a self-insured legal malpractice fund that employs and protects the Catholic Church from accountability for destroying the lives of children and families?

Please stop the games -- children are not safe! Nothing has changed since the clergy sex abuse crisis erupted 5 years ago. Due process of the law, the protections of children and those who protect them as mandated reporters are non-existent in the business and employment practices of the Catholic Church. Without justice, there will never be peace and without peace, we might as well laugh at each and every child protection law that the Catholic Church and its legal advisors, continue to manipulate for personal and financial gain.

Respectfully submitted,

Debby Bodkin, Founder
catholics4justice.com

cc: Orange County District Attorney
Los Angeles District Attorney
State Bar of California
California Department of Justice

As an amateur writer, my passion for the courage of clergy sex abuse victims has changed my life direction in many ways. We must never forget that our country's freedom of religion does not include sex abuse crimes, cover-ups and failures to report sex abuse to law enforcement. Your input is important and valued -- please listen to the personal stories of clergy sex abuse survivors - write to your state legislators and Church leaders expressing your views and concerns. May God Bless you always.

Source: Oped News

Our family being staunch Roman Catholics, I have a sister who's a nun, and also a brother who is a Monsignor and worked at the Vatican for a time. He's told us a few things at the risk of being excommunicated from the Church, among them, the Crimen Sollicitationis. This a very real document that instructs Bishops on how to maintain secrecy when one of their priests is accused of sexual abuse. It instructs that both priest and victim / victim's family are to remain quiet, or be excommunicated. Cardinal Ratzinger, now our Pope, had it reissued in 2001, which means it's still being used full force. There is an excellent BBC documentary, Sex Crimes and The Vatican, which Kathy and I recently watched. Not sure about your rules of linking to other sites, but CBC Television has an article on the documentary:

http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeyemonda...re_131106.html

Apparently it can be watched on Google Video as well, but I have idea how one would do that.

Makes one ashamed really, to be Catholic at all.

Jim.

Thanks Jim, much appreciated for the input actually.

Here is the link to the full story that contains the confidential report. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme...ma/5389684.stm

Here is the google video also for those interested: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...39365648274355

After just watching that video, all I can say is, "disgusted with the Catholic church, the Vatican and its immoral structure."

Yes as I say it makes me question why I bother remaining with the Church at all. Disgusting is right.

Jim.

I believe they have simply forgotten to take their own advice, "honesty is the best policy."

Ugh the Catholic Church... I hate being Catholic now. I mean the worldwide faithful are good people, but the Church itself, the Vatican, the Pope, the Cardinals, are an Evil Empire worse than Microsoft or Wal-Mart, IMO.

There's a good Canadian movie too, I think I saw it with you a long time ago, Uncle Jim. The Boys of St. Vincent:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106473/

It takes place in Newfoundland, in the 1970s. It's based on true accounts of the abuse of boys at the Mount Cashel Orphanage run by the Christian Brothers. The movie was initially banned in some parts of Canada because there was an ongoing lawsuit at the time, and banned in the USA initially too for being too graphic. Anyways it's very good, very realistic portrayal of Newfoundland too IMO. There's a sequel to it as well, that takes place 15 years after the abuse, and shows the main characters having PTSD, etc. It's an excellent series, although controversial and really really difficult to watch in parts.

Yes dear, we watched it on the television. Agreed, it is an excellent film. I saw the sequel again recently, and the main character's struggles reminded me of you, to be honest.

Uncle Jim.

Last night Kathy and I watched another shocking story about a Canadian priest who had been sexually molesting dozens of little girls since the 1950s, yet was only convicted this year past! It was on the CBC Television once again. Those interested may watch the documentary online at the CBC website. Believe I have the link correctly entered this time:

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/goodfather/

Jim.

I want to add something to my husband's comment. We recently discovered that our niece Evie was molested by a priest. We knew him at the time, had no earthly idea what was going on and frankly are quite distressed that we were so blind to his activities. In retrospect it's quite obvious, he was extremely friendly with children. It makes me ill remembering all the times I thought he was simply being kind to the kids!

With her permission, we have been trying to find him. It is amazing, but in spite of the fact that we know his full name, the last 3 parishes he served, his religious order and even his birthdate, he seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. We have contacted the Archdiocese and the head of his religious order, the Capuchins, and both were very evasive. That in itself is suspicious, given that we mentioned nothing of abuse, only that we were interested in locating and contacting this man. Since we've had no luck with Church officials, we've now contacted Jim's brother, who is a priest himself, and a very open minded one at that.

It's all very frustrating, and although I will remain Catholic for the rest of my life, my degree of respect for the Church and its policies continues to wane.