09/04/02
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-261507,00.html
April 09, 2002
US Catholics in shock as abuse claims spread
From Katty Kay in Washington
SIX New York priests have been suspended because of allegations of sexual abuse as the scandal engulfing the Roman Catholic Church in the United States spread from the pulpit to the prosecutor's office.
The identities of the priests were kept secret, but they were asked to leave their duties and "are not to represent themselves as priests".
They will not be allowed to say public Mass or perform weddings, confirmations or any other church ceremonies until their cases have been resolved.
Since January at least 62 priests nationwide, including one bishop, have been suspended in cases of sexual abuse and criminal prosecutors are beginning to pursue the Catholic Church more aggressively than ever before.
The Church has been widely criticised for trying to deal with abuse as an internal matter and for failing to disclose information about priests accused of abuse by parishioners or law enforcement agencies. As the scandal spreads and every day seems to bring fresh allegations, Catholics have been left bewildered.
The Archdiocese of Boston, under pressure from local media, released documents yesterday showing that it had transferred a priest accused of raping a teenage boy to a California parish in the 1990s without warning anyone there of the allegation.
In Ohio, Father Donald Rooney, a priest accused of molesting a teenage girl, shot himself dead last Thursday. The state's diocese has since received further allegations against him. It was announced on Sunday that the Rev Thomas Sellentin, a Nebraska-based priest, had been dismissed after being accused of sexually abusing boys more than 30 years ago.
The six men in New York were removed from their duties just days after the Archdiocese of New York was forced to hand over to legal authorities a list of all its priests who had been accused of sexually abusing children. That list contained 36 names and was given to the Government only after weeks of pressure from the authorities.
The latest suspensions and the decision to hand over the longer list of accused priests marks a dramatic shift in the Catholic Church's approach to the abuse crisis. Cardinal Edward Egan of New York last month publicly refused to co-operate with prosecutor's demands to turn over all information about abuse cases.He was forced to change tack after a newspaper disclosed that the Cardinal himself had been involved in covering up for abusive priests by moving them to other parishes without telling either the police or parishioners about the allegations.
The Catholic Church is still allowed in more than half America's states to deal with sexual abuse cases as an internal matter and is under no legal obligation to pass on allegations of abuse to civilian authorities.
In all states, except California, elderly priests who committed sexual abuse in the 1960s and 1970s are protected to varying degrees by the statute of limitation. Prosecutors are now increasingly trying to find new ways to interpret the law which would allow them to press charges against priests even when the statute of limitation appeared to have run out. Despite the huge number of accusations, only one case is before the courts. Father Don Kimball, a priest who worked with young people and combined a love of rock music and massage with his church duties, is accused of raping a 14-year-old girl 25 years ago.
Father Kimball, now 58, is on trial in California. Lawyers said that no other state would be able to try him because the alleged rape happened so long ago.Closing arguments in the trial are expected this week.