Saturday, March 29, 2008
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Mint 1943 First Communion Book
Available for Donation to help the work of the CTAC list, etc.....1943 (printed in 53 but it is the 43 version) First Communion Book in absolutely mint, like new condition, in mint, original case with rosary compartment.
The Pius X bust and print, Marian Missal, Holy Cards with Polish Prayer Book are also available for suitable donations, either individually or as a group
Donate at:
http://www.holy-habits.com/rfreeman/
and be sure and send me your mailing address and a notice of donation.
rfreeman77@gmail.com
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Old Pius X Statue ....7" high by 5" wide...gold embossed
Pius X Print...9" by 5"
1953 Marian Missal...Daily..all Latin and English
1919 Polish Prayer Book with Holy Cards
Saturday, August 18, 2007
unknown female saint with sheep
image of saint with sheep
st george photos
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Religious Order Founder is removed
(From John Allen's NCR online report.)
A recent decree by a Vatican congregation removing the well-known
founder of a religious order from active ministry could indicate how
Pope Benedict XVI will handle the sexual abuse crisis.
The action also may provide some hint of how the Vatican could handle
other high profile cases of a similar nature, including one involving
the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, a worldwide religious order.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the decree May 27
in the case of 73-year-old Italian Fr. Gino Burresi, founder of a
religious order called the Congregation of the Servants of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary. The contents of the decree, which drew little
public notice, were announced by the Italian bishops' conference on July
19. It specifies that:
* Burresi's faculties to hear confessions are revoked;
* He is definitively prohibited from providing spiritual direction;
* He is barred from preaching, as well as from celebrating the
sacraments and sacramentals in public;
* He is barred from giving interviews, publishing and taking part in
broadcasts that have anything to do with faith, morals, or
supernatural phenomena.
The decree, in effect, amounts to removal from public ministry. The only
thing left is private celebration of the Mass.
The original Vatican decree, which was not released publicly, but a copy
of which was obtained by /NCR/, was signed by Archbishop William Levada,
the new prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as
well as Archbishop Angelo Amato, the secretary. It stipulates that in an
audience given by Benedict XVI to Amato on May 27, the pope confirmed
the decree /in forma specifica/, meaning that he made its conclusions
his own, and that no appeal is possible.
Though the decree cites abuses of confession and spiritual direction,
Vatican sources told /NCR/ in mid-July that another motive for the
action against Burresi were accusations of sexual abuse with
seminarians, dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.
The case has significance for at least three reasons: it's the first
such decree under Levada and the new pope; Burresi is a widely known
mystic and Fatima devotee sometimes compared by his followers, including
groups in the United States and Canada, to the Capuchin mystic and saint
Padre Pio; and finally, because it involves action against a widely
known founder of a religious community on the basis of decades-old
accusations.
This last point, observers say, could potentially have implications for
how the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith eventually handles
similar cases, such as charges of sexual abuse against Fr. Marcial
Maciel Degollado, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ. Maciel has
been accused by a number of former seminarians of sexual abuse. His case
is reportedly under investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith.
Until 1992, Burresi was a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, an
order founded in 1816 by Italian priest Bruno Lanteri. Burresi became a
devotee of the Fatima revelations in the 1950s, and was the driving
force behind the creation of a Marian sanctuary in San Vittorino,
outside Rome. At the time he was a brother; he was not ordained as a
priest until 1983. In the 1960s and 1970s, Burresi acquired a worldwide
reputation as a mystic. He was alleged to be able to read souls, to
carry the stigmata (the wounds of Christ), to have the "odor of
sanctity," and to be able to produce paintings and other artwork
miraculously.
Critics later charged that Burresi faked these phenomena, using, for
example, rose-scented perfume to produce the odor.
Burresi attracted a number of vocations to the Oblates, as well as a
larger circle of adherents. One person who came to know Burresi in the
1970s was Fr. Nicholas Gruner, who has gone on to become an ardent
champion for the Fatima message, often clashing with church authorities.
In September 2001 the Vatican issued a press release stating that
Gruner, whose canonical status has long been ambiguous, is suspended /a
divinis/ (i.e., barred from performing priestly functions but not
removed from the cleric state), and that his activities do not have the
support of the Holy See.
Burresi left the Oblates of the Virgin Mary in 1992 amid a bitter
internal dispute and founded a new order, the Congregation of the
Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Currently the Servants number
some 150 members.
The May 27 decree against Burresi is the culmination of a long
ecclesiastical battle. Accusations of sexual misconduct with seminarians
first emerged in June 1988, at which time Burresi was removed from San
Vittorino and sent first to an Oblate residence in Austria, and then to
Tuscany. The Oblates conducted a lengthy investigation. In the end, 11
accusations surfaced, though no canonical process against Burresi was
launched. These accusations generally involved sexual contact between
Burresi and young adult seminarians, not minors.
Sexual misconduct, however, is not the primary charge. On May 10, 2002,
a tribunal within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
concluded a penal process against Burresi that had been launched in
1997, five years after his split with the Oblates. The process resulted
in a decree signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and his secretary
Tarcisio Bertone, today the cardinal of Genoa. That decree, similar to
the one issued on May 27, was never applied because the criminal process
on which it was based had been annulled by a 10-year statute of
limitations in canon law.
A 20-page report from the tribunal, a separate document from the decree,
was obtained by /NCR/. It cites seven offenses by Burresi:
* Direct violation of the seal of the confessional;
* Indirect violation of the seal of the confessional;
* Soliciting the violation of the seal of the confessional;
* Illegitimate use of knowledge acquired in the confessional to the
detriment of the penitent;
* Illegitimate injury to one's good name and violation of the right
of personal privacy;
* Soliciting aversion and disobedience against superiors;
* Pseudo-mysticism, as well as asserted apparitions, visions and
messages attributed to supernatural origins.
Sources told /NCR/ that the charges of violating the confessional
stemmed from Burresi's practice of encouraging penitents to repeat their
confessions for purposes of transcription, and if they declined,
sometimes making his own notes, with names included.
The report also mentions that in 1989 a commission of cardinals was
created to examine accusations against Burresi, including "homosexuality."
In its conclusion, the report urged the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith to take administrative action against Burresi despite the
statute of limitations. One concern, the report suggested, was that if
no action resulted, Burresi's followers would interpret the
investigation as evidence of unfair hostility against him.
"It should not be forgotten that during this process some persons said
that the accused 'would come out of it triumphant, more esteemed than
ever, and thus without any shadow, indeed more glorious than before,' "
the judges wrote.
"[They said] 'that the Secretariat of State defends Fr. Gino, thus
victory is assured.' If no new limitation is applied to his ministerial
liberty simply due to the fact that the proven offenses have been
prescribed [by the statute of limitations], probably the sentence of
this court will be used as an instrument of propaganda in favor of the
accused. He will be able to continue to do harm to those psychologically
weak persons who place themselves under his spiritual direction."
The findings were signed by a four-judge panel. The president of the
panel was Velasio De Paolis, now a bishop and secretary of the Apostolic
Signatura, the Supreme Court of the Catholic church.
Though the document does not clarify the reference to the Secretariat of
State, a member of the Congregation of the Servants of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, the order founded by Burresi, is Fr. Angelo Tognoni, a
mid-level official in the Secretariat of State. Tognoni sometimes
appears with the pope at the Wednesday General Audience, reading
greetings in Italian.
Burresi currently resides in Tuscany. Efforts to reach him for comment
were unsuccessful.
A recent decree by a Vatican congregation removing the well-known
founder of a religious order from active ministry could indicate how
Pope Benedict XVI will handle the sexual abuse crisis.
The action also may provide some hint of how the Vatican could handle
other high profile cases of a similar nature, including one involving
the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, a worldwide religious order.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the decree May 27
in the case of 73-year-old Italian Fr. Gino Burresi, founder of a
religious order called the Congregation of the Servants of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary. The contents of the decree, which drew little
public notice, were announced by the Italian bishops' conference on July
19. It specifies that:
* Burresi's faculties to hear confessions are revoked;
* He is definitively prohibited from providing spiritual direction;
* He is barred from preaching, as well as from celebrating the
sacraments and sacramentals in public;
* He is barred from giving interviews, publishing and taking part in
broadcasts that have anything to do with faith, morals, or
supernatural phenomena.
The decree, in effect, amounts to removal from public ministry. The only
thing left is private celebration of the Mass.
The original Vatican decree, which was not released publicly, but a copy
of which was obtained by /NCR/, was signed by Archbishop William Levada,
the new prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as
well as Archbishop Angelo Amato, the secretary. It stipulates that in an
audience given by Benedict XVI to Amato on May 27, the pope confirmed
the decree /in forma specifica/, meaning that he made its conclusions
his own, and that no appeal is possible.
Though the decree cites abuses of confession and spiritual direction,
Vatican sources told /NCR/ in mid-July that another motive for the
action against Burresi were accusations of sexual abuse with
seminarians, dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.
The case has significance for at least three reasons: it's the first
such decree under Levada and the new pope; Burresi is a widely known
mystic and Fatima devotee sometimes compared by his followers, including
groups in the United States and Canada, to the Capuchin mystic and saint
Padre Pio; and finally, because it involves action against a widely
known founder of a religious community on the basis of decades-old
accusations.
This last point, observers say, could potentially have implications for
how the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith eventually handles
similar cases, such as charges of sexual abuse against Fr. Marcial
Maciel Degollado, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ. Maciel has
been accused by a number of former seminarians of sexual abuse. His case
is reportedly under investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith.
Until 1992, Burresi was a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, an
order founded in 1816 by Italian priest Bruno Lanteri. Burresi became a
devotee of the Fatima revelations in the 1950s, and was the driving
force behind the creation of a Marian sanctuary in San Vittorino,
outside Rome. At the time he was a brother; he was not ordained as a
priest until 1983. In the 1960s and 1970s, Burresi acquired a worldwide
reputation as a mystic. He was alleged to be able to read souls, to
carry the stigmata (the wounds of Christ), to have the "odor of
sanctity," and to be able to produce paintings and other artwork
miraculously.
Critics later charged that Burresi faked these phenomena, using, for
example, rose-scented perfume to produce the odor.
Burresi attracted a number of vocations to the Oblates, as well as a
larger circle of adherents. One person who came to know Burresi in the
1970s was Fr. Nicholas Gruner, who has gone on to become an ardent
champion for the Fatima message, often clashing with church authorities.
In September 2001 the Vatican issued a press release stating that
Gruner, whose canonical status has long been ambiguous, is suspended /a
divinis/ (i.e., barred from performing priestly functions but not
removed from the cleric state), and that his activities do not have the
support of the Holy See.
Burresi left the Oblates of the Virgin Mary in 1992 amid a bitter
internal dispute and founded a new order, the Congregation of the
Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Currently the Servants number
some 150 members.
The May 27 decree against Burresi is the culmination of a long
ecclesiastical battle. Accusations of sexual misconduct with seminarians
first emerged in June 1988, at which time Burresi was removed from San
Vittorino and sent first to an Oblate residence in Austria, and then to
Tuscany. The Oblates conducted a lengthy investigation. In the end, 11
accusations surfaced, though no canonical process against Burresi was
launched. These accusations generally involved sexual contact between
Burresi and young adult seminarians, not minors.
Sexual misconduct, however, is not the primary charge. On May 10, 2002,
a tribunal within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
concluded a penal process against Burresi that had been launched in
1997, five years after his split with the Oblates. The process resulted
in a decree signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and his secretary
Tarcisio Bertone, today the cardinal of Genoa. That decree, similar to
the one issued on May 27, was never applied because the criminal process
on which it was based had been annulled by a 10-year statute of
limitations in canon law.
A 20-page report from the tribunal, a separate document from the decree,
was obtained by /NCR/. It cites seven offenses by Burresi:
* Direct violation of the seal of the confessional;
* Indirect violation of the seal of the confessional;
* Soliciting the violation of the seal of the confessional;
* Illegitimate use of knowledge acquired in the confessional to the
detriment of the penitent;
* Illegitimate injury to one's good name and violation of the right
of personal privacy;
* Soliciting aversion and disobedience against superiors;
* Pseudo-mysticism, as well as asserted apparitions, visions and
messages attributed to supernatural origins.
Sources told /NCR/ that the charges of violating the confessional
stemmed from Burresi's practice of encouraging penitents to repeat their
confessions for purposes of transcription, and if they declined,
sometimes making his own notes, with names included.
The report also mentions that in 1989 a commission of cardinals was
created to examine accusations against Burresi, including "homosexuality."
In its conclusion, the report urged the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith to take administrative action against Burresi despite the
statute of limitations. One concern, the report suggested, was that if
no action resulted, Burresi's followers would interpret the
investigation as evidence of unfair hostility against him.
"It should not be forgotten that during this process some persons said
that the accused 'would come out of it triumphant, more esteemed than
ever, and thus without any shadow, indeed more glorious than before,' "
the judges wrote.
"[They said] 'that the Secretariat of State defends Fr. Gino, thus
victory is assured.' If no new limitation is applied to his ministerial
liberty simply due to the fact that the proven offenses have been
prescribed [by the statute of limitations], probably the sentence of
this court will be used as an instrument of propaganda in favor of the
accused. He will be able to continue to do harm to those psychologically
weak persons who place themselves under his spiritual direction."
The findings were signed by a four-judge panel. The president of the
panel was Velasio De Paolis, now a bishop and secretary of the Apostolic
Signatura, the Supreme Court of the Catholic church.
Though the document does not clarify the reference to the Secretariat of
State, a member of the Congregation of the Servants of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, the order founded by Burresi, is Fr. Angelo Tognoni, a
mid-level official in the Secretariat of State. Tognoni sometimes
appears with the pope at the Wednesday General Audience, reading
greetings in Italian.
Burresi currently resides in Tuscany. Efforts to reach him for comment
were unsuccessful.
San Francisco....Sacred Heart Church to be Saved from Wrecking Ball
SAN FRANCISCO
Sacred Heart's salvation
Lawyer Fred Furth pays $5 million for Catholic church
Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, July 28, 2005
The Mediterranean-style church on Fillmore Street had bee...
Parishioners rejoice at the news that Sacred Heart church... Vases of
flowers, candles, pleas for help and other tribu... Lawyer, vintner
and philanthropist Fred Furth (right) bou...
* Printable Version
* Email This Article
Parishioners at Sacred Heart church in San Francisco's Western
Addition have been praying for a miracle since Christmas, when the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese closed their beloved 109-year-old church.
This week, they got their miracle.
Fred Furth, a 71-year-old antitrust attorney and vintner who lives in
Healdsburg, paid $5 million to purchase the church on Fillmore Street
and its rectory, convent and play yard, saving the buildings from
demolition.
Furth intends to use the church and other buildings to expand Sacred
Heart's school, which has continued to operate since the church was
closed. He plans to keep it a Catholic parochial school and rename it
the Megan Furth Academy after his daughter, a teacher, linguist and
Olympic horse rider who died in 2003 at age 31.
In addition, Furth raised $10 million to establish an endowment for
the school, which includes 172 kindergartners through eighth-graders
from the former Sacred Heart and St. Dominic schools. Most of the
students are African Americans from the Western Addition neighborhood.
"Megan would raise hell if her academy was not the finest school in
San Francisco," Furth said. "And now it will be."
Although Furth has not worked out the details, the church building
will probably be used as a community space when not in use by the
school, he said. It's likely that Catholic services will be held in
the church again, although Furth and the archdiocese had not yet
decided what to do with the church's altar, stained glass windows and
other religious artifacts.
Parishioners, who have been meeting regularly and raising money to
reopen the church since its closure, were ecstatic at the news. Signs
hanging from the church Wednesday read, "Fred, thank you and bless you."
"I'm ready to burst into tears," said Robert Pritchard, a 24-year
parishioner who was among the leaders of the Save Our Sacred Heart
parishioner group. "It's been so traumatic, especially for the older
parishioners. The uncertainty has been so wearing on one's soul. But
we've been praying for a miracle, and it looks like one came through."
Parishioners aren't the only ones who are thrilled. Historic
preservationists, who prized the church for its Italian Gothic details
and elaborate carvings and glass, were also relieved.
"It's really great news. It's very exciting," said Robert Fisher, a
neighbor of the church. "It's such a beautiful Mediterranean building,
and it's so perfect for this Mediterranean-type city. I'm really
hopeful that now it's not going to be torn down."
Furth may want to remodel the inside of the church, but he plans to
keep the facade and will try to avoid doing anything to upset
preservationists.
"I know the preservationists in San Francisco have a lot of say, and
he doesn't want to fight with them," said attorney Julio Ramos, an
associate of Furth's. "He's in this for the long term and wants to
make it work."
San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who represents the Western
Addition on the board, deferred for one week a resolution urging the
archdiocese to preserve Sacred Heart, but he said it was too early to
declare victory.
"Strong community concerns remain, but I want to be optimistic that
there may be some collaborative effort with Mr. Furth to resolve
them," Mirkarimi said.
The archdiocese closed Sacred Heart because membership had declined to
the point where only about 150 people were attending services
regularly, and because the church needed $5 million in seismic work.
Church officials planned to sell the property to a housing developer.
Furth grew up poor in the Midwest, the son of German and Polish
immigrants. He arrived in San Francisco in 1965, practiced law with
future Mayor Joseph Alioto and then opened his own firm. He also owns
the Chalk Hill winery in Healdsburg.
He has long been active in the archdiocese and in financing its
struggling inner-city schools. He took a particular interest in the
students at Sacred Heart and St. Dominic, whose schools were merged in
2003 in an attempt by the archdiocese to save money.
Last year, Furth gave more than $1 million to buy desks, uniforms,
books, computers, projectors, kitchen equipment and other amenities
for the school. He has also arranged for a new science lab and teacher
raises, and possibly for paying students' college tuition.
The Rev. Charles Gagan, pastor at St. Ignatius who has led
fund-raising drives for Sacred Heart and St. Dominic schools, said the
money would be a boon for disadvantaged children.
"I think it's a wonderful opportunity to prepare the children to go on
to an academically challenging college preparatory high school," he
said. "It's great for us to be able to help the children of the
Western Addition succeed academically."
The Megan Furth Academy is an independent nonprofit, of which Furth is
the president, and it's unclear whether the archdiocese will have a
role in the Western Addition school. Ramos said the details had yet to
be worked out, and the archdiocese declined to comment.
E-mail Carolyn Jones at carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.
Page B - 1
Sacred Heart's salvation
Lawyer Fred Furth pays $5 million for Catholic church
Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, July 28, 2005
The Mediterranean-style church on Fillmore Street had bee...
Parishioners rejoice at the news that Sacred Heart church... Vases of
flowers, candles, pleas for help and other tribu... Lawyer, vintner
and philanthropist Fred Furth (right) bou...
* Printable Version
* Email This Article
Parishioners at Sacred Heart church in San Francisco's Western
Addition have been praying for a miracle since Christmas, when the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese closed their beloved 109-year-old church.
This week, they got their miracle.
Fred Furth, a 71-year-old antitrust attorney and vintner who lives in
Healdsburg, paid $5 million to purchase the church on Fillmore Street
and its rectory, convent and play yard, saving the buildings from
demolition.
Furth intends to use the church and other buildings to expand Sacred
Heart's school, which has continued to operate since the church was
closed. He plans to keep it a Catholic parochial school and rename it
the Megan Furth Academy after his daughter, a teacher, linguist and
Olympic horse rider who died in 2003 at age 31.
In addition, Furth raised $10 million to establish an endowment for
the school, which includes 172 kindergartners through eighth-graders
from the former Sacred Heart and St. Dominic schools. Most of the
students are African Americans from the Western Addition neighborhood.
"Megan would raise hell if her academy was not the finest school in
San Francisco," Furth said. "And now it will be."
Although Furth has not worked out the details, the church building
will probably be used as a community space when not in use by the
school, he said. It's likely that Catholic services will be held in
the church again, although Furth and the archdiocese had not yet
decided what to do with the church's altar, stained glass windows and
other religious artifacts.
Parishioners, who have been meeting regularly and raising money to
reopen the church since its closure, were ecstatic at the news. Signs
hanging from the church Wednesday read, "Fred, thank you and bless you."
"I'm ready to burst into tears," said Robert Pritchard, a 24-year
parishioner who was among the leaders of the Save Our Sacred Heart
parishioner group. "It's been so traumatic, especially for the older
parishioners. The uncertainty has been so wearing on one's soul. But
we've been praying for a miracle, and it looks like one came through."
Parishioners aren't the only ones who are thrilled. Historic
preservationists, who prized the church for its Italian Gothic details
and elaborate carvings and glass, were also relieved.
"It's really great news. It's very exciting," said Robert Fisher, a
neighbor of the church. "It's such a beautiful Mediterranean building,
and it's so perfect for this Mediterranean-type city. I'm really
hopeful that now it's not going to be torn down."
Furth may want to remodel the inside of the church, but he plans to
keep the facade and will try to avoid doing anything to upset
preservationists.
"I know the preservationists in San Francisco have a lot of say, and
he doesn't want to fight with them," said attorney Julio Ramos, an
associate of Furth's. "He's in this for the long term and wants to
make it work."
San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who represents the Western
Addition on the board, deferred for one week a resolution urging the
archdiocese to preserve Sacred Heart, but he said it was too early to
declare victory.
"Strong community concerns remain, but I want to be optimistic that
there may be some collaborative effort with Mr. Furth to resolve
them," Mirkarimi said.
The archdiocese closed Sacred Heart because membership had declined to
the point where only about 150 people were attending services
regularly, and because the church needed $5 million in seismic work.
Church officials planned to sell the property to a housing developer.
Furth grew up poor in the Midwest, the son of German and Polish
immigrants. He arrived in San Francisco in 1965, practiced law with
future Mayor Joseph Alioto and then opened his own firm. He also owns
the Chalk Hill winery in Healdsburg.
He has long been active in the archdiocese and in financing its
struggling inner-city schools. He took a particular interest in the
students at Sacred Heart and St. Dominic, whose schools were merged in
2003 in an attempt by the archdiocese to save money.
Last year, Furth gave more than $1 million to buy desks, uniforms,
books, computers, projectors, kitchen equipment and other amenities
for the school. He has also arranged for a new science lab and teacher
raises, and possibly for paying students' college tuition.
The Rev. Charles Gagan, pastor at St. Ignatius who has led
fund-raising drives for Sacred Heart and St. Dominic schools, said the
money would be a boon for disadvantaged children.
"I think it's a wonderful opportunity to prepare the children to go on
to an academically challenging college preparatory high school," he
said. "It's great for us to be able to help the children of the
Western Addition succeed academically."
The Megan Furth Academy is an independent nonprofit, of which Furth is
the president, and it's unclear whether the archdiocese will have a
role in the Western Addition school. Ramos said the details had yet to
be worked out, and the archdiocese declined to comment.
E-mail Carolyn Jones at carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.
Page B - 1
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Judge certifies Catholics as class of defendants
Moderator's Comment: Now let me get this straight, when the diocese
wants to raze or wreckovate my parish church it's their property to do
with as they please, but when they are in financial trouble because
they've been using the children of the diocese as sexual sacrifices
for pedophiliac clerics for a few decades and it's finally caught up
with them they now want to say it's my property after all. I'd say
that these days one of the most dangerous lists you can be on is a
parish register. If I'm still on any of them from the old days, remove
my name at once!
Judge certifies Catholics as class of defendants
By Associated Press
Jul 22, 2005 - 11:06:37 pm PDT
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Around the middle of next month, thousands of
Oregon households will get a letter informing them that, as
parishioners of the 124 Catholic churches in Western Oregon, they are
officially part of the class of defendants in the Portland
Archdiocese's bankruptcy case.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris formally certified the class on
Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The action is nearly unprecedented: Commonly, it is the plaintiffs,
not the defendants, who organize as a class in civil cases.
But in this case, parishioners will argue that it is they -- not the
archdiocese -- who own the $600 million in assets and property of the
parishes.
If they lose the argument, then that money is considered fair game for
the 235 men and women who have sued the church, alleging they suffered
sexual abuse at the hands of priests.
In that case, the assets of the 124 parishes and three Catholic high
schools in Western Oregon could be sold or mortgaged to pay the
alleged victims' claims.
But if the parishioners win, that money is off-limits to the
plaintiffs; the archdiocese proper says it has only about $19 million
to its name.
There are 249 claims pending against the archdiocese by people
alleging they were sexually abused by priests. They are seeking more
than $400 million in damages.
More than 100 cases have been settled, some dating from alleged abuse
that took place as far back as 1937. Mediation is to begin on 60 more
cases next month.
In July of last year, the Portland Archdiocese became the first in the
nation to file for bankruptcy after victims of sexual abuse asked for
hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation; the dioceses of
Tucson, Ariz., and Spokane, Wash., followed suit.
Included in the class are all past and present parishioners, as well
as anyone who ever made a donation to a Western Oregon parish.
Three parishioners and three priests have volunteered to be the bodily
representatives of the class; all class members will be invited to
attend a hearing on Oct. 12 in front of Judge Perris in Portland, at
which they can object to or ask questions about their class status.
In addition to the letters, over the next two months ads will be
placed in The Catholic Sentinel, and newspapers across Western Oregon,
in an attempt to reach as many of the estimated 389,000 members of the
class as possible.
The public notification campaign will probably cost the Archdiocese
around $80,000, according to Howard Levine, an attorney representing
the church.
Individual parishioners will not be named, and would not be held
liable should they lose the argument, lawyers involved in the case
said Friday.
Attorney Al Kennedy said individual defendants in theory could opt
out, but are unlikely to since they would be added back on as
individual defendants.
Kennedy, who represents the plaintiffs, said initially only the
archdiocese was named as a defendant.
"The archdiocese raised a series of defenses that we had not named all
necessary parties and unless we did so, we could not get relief," he said.
The archdiocese has claimed in the past that the parishes and churches
are not separate entities, including in 1990, when it claimed that its
schools, as arms of the church, should be exempt from Oregon church
law. The church lost that case.
wants to raze or wreckovate my parish church it's their property to do
with as they please, but when they are in financial trouble because
they've been using the children of the diocese as sexual sacrifices
for pedophiliac clerics for a few decades and it's finally caught up
with them they now want to say it's my property after all. I'd say
that these days one of the most dangerous lists you can be on is a
parish register. If I'm still on any of them from the old days, remove
my name at once!
Judge certifies Catholics as class of defendants
By Associated Press
Jul 22, 2005 - 11:06:37 pm PDT
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Around the middle of next month, thousands of
Oregon households will get a letter informing them that, as
parishioners of the 124 Catholic churches in Western Oregon, they are
officially part of the class of defendants in the Portland
Archdiocese's bankruptcy case.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris formally certified the class on
Friday.
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The action is nearly unprecedented: Commonly, it is the plaintiffs,
not the defendants, who organize as a class in civil cases.
But in this case, parishioners will argue that it is they -- not the
archdiocese -- who own the $600 million in assets and property of the
parishes.
If they lose the argument, then that money is considered fair game for
the 235 men and women who have sued the church, alleging they suffered
sexual abuse at the hands of priests.
In that case, the assets of the 124 parishes and three Catholic high
schools in Western Oregon could be sold or mortgaged to pay the
alleged victims' claims.
But if the parishioners win, that money is off-limits to the
plaintiffs; the archdiocese proper says it has only about $19 million
to its name.
There are 249 claims pending against the archdiocese by people
alleging they were sexually abused by priests. They are seeking more
than $400 million in damages.
More than 100 cases have been settled, some dating from alleged abuse
that took place as far back as 1937. Mediation is to begin on 60 more
cases next month.
In July of last year, the Portland Archdiocese became the first in the
nation to file for bankruptcy after victims of sexual abuse asked for
hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation; the dioceses of
Tucson, Ariz., and Spokane, Wash., followed suit.
Included in the class are all past and present parishioners, as well
as anyone who ever made a donation to a Western Oregon parish.
Three parishioners and three priests have volunteered to be the bodily
representatives of the class; all class members will be invited to
attend a hearing on Oct. 12 in front of Judge Perris in Portland, at
which they can object to or ask questions about their class status.
In addition to the letters, over the next two months ads will be
placed in The Catholic Sentinel, and newspapers across Western Oregon,
in an attempt to reach as many of the estimated 389,000 members of the
class as possible.
The public notification campaign will probably cost the Archdiocese
around $80,000, according to Howard Levine, an attorney representing
the church.
Individual parishioners will not be named, and would not be held
liable should they lose the argument, lawyers involved in the case
said Friday.
Attorney Al Kennedy said individual defendants in theory could opt
out, but are unlikely to since they would be added back on as
individual defendants.
Kennedy, who represents the plaintiffs, said initially only the
archdiocese was named as a defendant.
"The archdiocese raised a series of defenses that we had not named all
necessary parties and unless we did so, we could not get relief," he said.
The archdiocese has claimed in the past that the parishes and churches
are not separate entities, including in 1990, when it claimed that its
schools, as arms of the church, should be exempt from Oregon church
law. The church lost that case.
