Foxnews.com
Monday, November 5th, 2009

The Supreme Court has refused to block the release of documents generated by lawsuits against priests in Connecticut for alleged sexual abuse.

The justices on Monday turned down a request by the Roman Catholic diocese in Bridgeport, Conn.

Several newspapers are seeking the release of more than 12,000 pages from 23 lawsuits against six priests.

The records have been under seal since the diocese settled the cases in 2001. Courts in Connecticut have ruled that the papers should be made public.

The high court also refused to make a decision Monday on whether to hear arguments from a group of Chinese men who have been imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for more than seven years.

The justices reviewed the case last week, but made no announcement about how they will move on the petition from the Uighurs — whose relocation has been part of a larger headache for the Obama administration, which is trying to meet its self-imposed pledge to close Gitmo by January.  The Uighurs were picked up in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks, but have steadfastly maintained they had no role in supporting the Taliban or Al Qaeda.  The Pacific island of Palau has agreed to take 12 of the remaining 13 Uighurs on a temporary basis.  Last year, a federal judge in Washington concluded the men had been detained long enough and ordered that they be released into the United States. On emergency appeal, another court blocked that decision and eventually overturned the ruling. 

FOX News’ Lee Ross and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (CNS) — Bridgeport diocesan officials said they were reviewing their options after a May 22 ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court to make public sealed documents from settled sexual abuse lawsuits filed against priests in the Bridgeport Diocese.

The 4-1 ruling involves the release of documents from 23 lawsuits against six priests settled in 2001. In 2006, a Superior Court ruled that the files should be released but the diocese appealed the decision.

The Supreme Court’s decision to release the files would not take effect until it was published in the Connecticut Law Journal June 2.

According to a May 22 statement from the Bridgeport Diocese, church officials were "deeply disappointed" in the ruling.

The battle over the sealed documents began in 2002 when The New York Times filed suit to obtain the documents that it said were a key par of the church’s record of handling charges of clergy sex abuse. Three other newspapers joined in the suit: The Hartford Courant, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post.

About a dozen people, including members of the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests, delivered a letter to Bridgeport Bishop William E. Lori May 26 urging the diocese not to appeal the release of the more than 12,600 pages of documents.

SNAP director David Clohessy personally handed the letter to a diocesan official at the Catholic Center, where the diocesan offices are located. The letter urged Bishop Lori to let the court ruling stand to allow parishioners and the public "the chance to learn the truth about the crimes that were committed and concealed."

Although the group did not meet with Bishop Lori, they were handed a statement by Joseph McAleer, a spokesman for the diocese, which outlined the work the diocese has done to assist abuse victims and prevent abuse.

"We appreciate that emotions run high on this topic," the statement said. It also added that the diocese’s objection to the recent court decision "concerns judicial fairness and the fundamental right of any individual or organization to fair adjudication in any legal proceeding."

"In a state where the Catholic Church has had to vigorously fight for its constitutional rights, we are going to continue to examine any and all legal options," the statement added.

It also faulted the ruling for ignoring the state’s statute of limitations on the unsealing of court documents.

"Sadly, the history of this case has been about access by the secular media to internal church documents of cases more than 30 years ago to suggest, unfairly, that nothing has changed," the statement said.

"This is despite the extraordinary measures the Catholic Church has undertaken over the past several years to treat victims with great compassion and dignity, and to put in safeguards and educational programs to ensure that such a tragedy will not happen again."

The New York Archdiocese also released a statement about the Connecticut court ruling since Cardinal Edward M. Egan, retired archbishop of New York, was bishop of Bridgeport from 1998-2000.

A May 22 statement by Joseph Zwilling, director of communications, said the sealed documents involved five priests who were accused of sexual misconduct prior to then-Bishop Egan’s appointment to Bridgeport. One of the priests died before the bishop was appointed to the diocese and the other four were sent to a top psychiatric institution for treatment and expert evaluation, the statement said.

"They were returned to ministry only upon the written recommendation of the aforementioned institution along with the advice of experienced members of both clergy and laity," the statement said. "At the time, this was the recognized professional manner of handling cases of sexual misconduct with minors."

When new information was received about the sexual misconduct of four of the priests, two were removed from ministry, one retired and another priest was permitted to continue in a restricted ministry in a home for the aged, according to the statement.

For More Information:
Kelly Clark, Esq.
503-306-0224
kellyc@oandc.com

Portland, Ore—Fr William McLeod, one of the most prolific abusers of children in the history of the Archdiocese of Portland, is the subject today of the latest post on the public service website www.archpdxpriestfiles.com, a site maintained by lawyers representing abuse victims.

The documents from the Archdiocese of Portland files, plus additional material gathered in litigation, were posted today, according to Kelly Clark, one of the lawyers responsible for the site. "Though he received far less attention than some of the other priests such as Fr Thomas Laughlin, Fr Maurice Grammond or Fr Aldo Orso Manzonetta, Fr William McLeod had nearly a dozen victims just that we know about, and he was responsible for incalculable damage to Catholic children," said Clark.

The website was initiated after the Archdiocese of Portland was ordered by an arbitrator, US District Judge Michael Hogan, to release files on abusive priests as part of the conclusion of the Archdiocese of Portland bankruptcy. The website so far has posted documents on three priests, namely Fr Rocco Perone, Fr Aldo Orso Manzonetta and Fr William McLeod.

More files on these and other priests will be posted in the future, according to Clark

###

Newly released documents from the Portland archdiocese prove the Catholic Church lied about their knowledge of allegations of priest abuse.

The archdiocese agreed to release documents as part of its bankruptcy filings. However a federal judge had to step in to get these ones released.

In the 1950s, a child claims he was abused several times by Fr. Rocco Perone. The victim had correspondence with Fr. Chuck Lienert in 1989 about Perone, where it was learned a nun asked the victim when he was a child if had been abused by Perone.

In 2002, the archdiocese denied having received any complaints about Perone.

A new website has been created that posts and explains the documents, as well as a link to the archdiocese site on the abuse documents.

PORTLAND — Documents released by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland this week fall short of implicating higher-ups in trying to hide sexual abuse of young people by priests, a leading victim advocate said Friday.

Portland lawyer Kelly Clark said that while the documents revealed a certain amount of "stupidity or naiveté," they weren’t the "smoking gun" that would show church officials had covered up abuse, as advocates such as Clark had said they might be.

At a news conference Friday, Clark said additional documents released after pending litigation is complete might have such evidence.

A spokesman for the archdiocese did not respond to calls for comment.

Clark again raised complaints about former Archbishop William Joseph Levada, who now serves as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the Vatican.

An employee at the Vatican said Friday night that nobody was available to comment.

Clark said he now understands that Levada and at least one other church official received "direct rumors, reports and allegations" about the improprieties of an Oregon priest, but Levada didn’t check the files on the priest.

Such allegations against Levada date back years. Clark said Friday that he was unable to say whether his understanding was a result of the new documents or those previously released.

The archdiocese released a number of documents this week after U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan ordered it to do so as a result of the settlement in 2007 of about 175 lawsuits for $50 million, putting an end to the first bankruptcy filing in the nation by a Catholic diocese.

Clark represented more than 40 victims.

Under the judge’s ruling, the archdiocese did not have to release documents that pertained to priests whose conduct is the subject of ongoing litigation. As litigation ends, those documents can be made public.

The documents were part of the 2007 agreement, in which the archdiocese paid $50 million dollars to settle 170 lawsuits.

The archdiocese put about half the documents on a webpage in the spring. But it refused to release others saying they weren’t relevant.

Judge Michael Hogan ruled Wednesday only some of the papers could be held back because of active litigation or jurisdictional issues.

Attorney Kelly Clark, who represented 40 victims, says they’ll be putting the new documents into chronological and geographic order.

Kelly Clark: "I would imagine people who would be wanting to be using this would be people who were themselves victimized, faithful men and women who simply want to know what about my parish?"

The church’s papers can be found at archdiocesedocuments.org.

The lawyers version, which will expand as documents are sorted, can be found at archpdxpriestfiles.com.

The order from U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan on Wednesday was a result of the settlement in 2007 of about 175 lawsuits for $50 million to end the first bankruptcy filing in the nation by a Catholic diocese.

After the settlement, victim advocates and church officials disagreed over how many documents to release.

Hogan’s order requires the archdiocese to release documents about allegations of sexual misconduct by priests involving minors and the knowledge of the archdiocese about the allegations, or its response to them.

He said the order doesn’t apply immediately in the cases of priests involved in a related dispute over disclosure or in pending litigation.

Hogan’s decision says names of victims have been redacted from the documents.

Portland lawyer Kelly Clark, who represented more than 40 victims, praised the decision and said it meant the archdiocese must release almost all of the disputed documents.

"This is a good day for survivors, and all the men and women abused as boys and girls by priests of this archdiocese can feel rightly proud that they have stood their ground and did not let the archdiocese back out of its commitments," Clark said.

He said a Web site is under construction that will organize the documents so readers can understand the history of cases and how church officials enabled or covered up abuse.

The archdiocese released a statement that said almost all of the misconduct occurred from 1940 to the mid-1980s.

"Today the Archdiocese of Portland has comprehensive child protection policies and programs," it said, including an Office of Child Protection and national programs to audit protections and ensure that people who work with minors are appropriately screened.

A former local priest is among Roman Catholic clergymen named in documents released Wednesday by order of U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan in connection with lawsuits filed by victims of sexual abuse.

The documents are the latest public disclosure from the April 2007 settlement of an Archdiocese of Portland bankruptcy case arising from 175 sexual abuse claims by former parishioners.

The archdiocese paid $77 million to settle the lawsuits in exchange for continuing its operations without selling any parish or school properties.

The latest documents became public after the Eugene judge arbitrated a dispute between abuse survivors and the archdiocese over the records. Hogan’s decision was lauded Wednesday in a statement by Portland attorney Kelly Clark, who represented more than 40 victims of what he called “pedophile priests.”

Clark said Hogan’s decision forced the archdiocese to release “virtually all of the disputed categories of documents, including those regarding priests who had ‘only’ one claim of abuse filed.”

“I don’t know whether I am more gratified that a common sense federal judge with some guts has stared down the archdiocese or more disappointed that it took all this to get the archdiocese to honor its promises to release the old files,” said Clark of the 18-month legal battle. “Either way, this is a good day for survivors, and all the men and women abused as boys and girls by priests of this archdiocese can feel rightly proud that they have stood their ground and did not let the archdiocese back out of its commitments.”

Among priests identified in the documents as being implicated in a single incident is the Rev. Louis Rodakowski of Vida.

A November 2005 letter to Rodakowski from a diocese official refers to an April 2005 claim from a woman alleging that the former priest who worked in parishes in Salem, Newport, Junction City, Eugene and Vida sexually abused her when she was a minor.

“It is my understanding that part of the allegation you denied and part you admitted, specifically that you touched the young woman improperly,” the Rev. Dennis O’Donovan wrote Rodakowski. “Because of the seriousness of this admission and according to the Bishops’ Charter of 2000 as well as our own Archdiocesan policy, you are hereby placed on administrative leave. I realize that you are retired, but this administrative leave means that you are not to offer any public Masses or offer any pastoral services until there is a canonical disposition of your case.”

O’Donovan also wrote that the case had been settled in the bankruptcy claims process.

The only other document citing Rodakowski was a 2005 internal archdiocese memo stating that the church officials had made a mandatory child abuse report to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office regarding the accusations of sexual abuse against Rodakowski. State court records show that no criminal charges were filed.

Rodakowski’s career included leading the local St. Jude congregation during construction of its South Eugene church. Now 95, he lives in a small house overlooking the McKenzie River at the Goodpasture covered bridge.

In an interview there Wednesday, Rodakowski denied the abuse accusation.

“It was completely false,” he said, saying the young woman, whom he knew in Salem, accused him after he refused to lend her money. “I want to swear on it. I never fondled her — not at all.”

Rodakowski, who appears frail and uses a walker after suffering a stroke two years ago, said he could no longer recall when he served at various parishes. He said he did not recall acknowledging inappropriate behavior or being barred from leading public Masses or pastoral services.

In a statement, archdiocese officials thanked Hogan for “arbitrating this challenging case,” which required him to review thousands of pages of documents.

Archbishop John Vlazny agreed in April 2007 to the release of “relevant and appropriate documents” as “part of the healing process and in the interests of transparency.”

The archdiocese stressed that nearly all of the incidents of sexual misconduct cited in the documents occurred between 1940 and the mid-1980s. It said it now has comprehensive child-protection policies and programs in place and will continue to emphasize child safety.

Hogan agreed with church officials to withhold documents for priests with pending litigation, but only until those cases are resolved.

Clark announced the creation of a new Web site — www.archpdxpriestfiles.com — to make the released documents more accessible and understandable.

“We felt it was important,” he said, “in order to archive this issue, to present the material in a logical way, organized by priest and by parish, so the public can understand the history of the problem and, most importantly, the role of the bishops of the Portland Archdiocese in enabling and, in some cases, covering up, the child abuse problem.”

By Ryan Geddes
LocalNewsDaily.com
Apr 17, 2007

The Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon plans to release to the public internal documents about church personnel accused of child abuse over the last 50 years as part of its recently approved bankruptcy settlement, church officials and lawyers for sex abuse claimants announced Tuesday.

On Friday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris confirmed the Oregon Catholic Church’s proposed Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, which was filed in 2004 after a wave of child sex abuse claims filed against priests and other church employees. That agreement calls for the court to approve about $50 million in settlements and to establish a fund for future payouts of about $20 million.

Tuesday’s announcement went a step further, approving the release of what claimants’ lawyers say are previously secret documents detailing accused pedophile priests’ activities. Initial releases will comprise "several dozen" documents on fewer than 12 priests, lawyers said, but in the future could become a "virtually comprehensive release of the archives of the past."

The documents are scheduled to be released in May.

"Now, for the first time, we have reached an historic agreement with the Archbishop, his lawyers, and representatives of the parishes that will lead to the release of significant historic documents and files concerning child abuse over the last half-century in this Church, secret archives of secret crimes and secret shame will be made public for the community to see and understand," said attorney Kelly Clark in a statement Tuesday.

Clark has represented victims of alleged church sex abuse for 15 years. Kelly and other victims’ attorneys praised the announcement, made at the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland Tuesday afternoon.

"We are especially pleased by Archbishop Vlazny’s decision to renounce the secrecy and protectiveness of the past and agree to the public release of a substantial portion of the personnel records of offending priests," said attorney David Slader, who also represents abuse claimants. "A policy of openness and transparency will go far toward preventing future tragedies."

In December 2006, U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan announced that more than 150 people who said they were sexually abused by Oregon priests had settled their civil lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Portland, a development that paved the way for last week’s approved bankruptcy reorganization plan and Tuesday’s records announcement.

"It is my sincere prayer that our ability to compensate the many victims will assist them in their efforts to achieve personal healing and peace of heart," Archbishop John Vlazny said at Tuesday’s news conference. "As we Catholics throughout this scandal have learned much about child abuse, it is my sincere desire that these lessons will not have to be repeated in any other forum."

Frank Lenzi of AM 860 KPAM contributed to this report