Noble Brigham ‘20
For over 70 years, the abuses of Catholic priests in Pennsylvania were systematically hidden. This fact came to light in August when a grand jury released its 887 page report about the issue. The report was shockingly widespread, including more than 300 priests and 1,000 victims throughout the Commonwealth. And these numbers do not even include Philadelphia, which has been the subject of prior investigations.
Photo courtesy of KDKA, CBS Pittsburgh.
According to numerous published reports, for decades, apparently Church policy was to hide abuse to uphold a public image. Church leaders abruptly transferred priests who had abused children without telling the congregations; they did not report these instances to law enforcement; they attempted to use language lessen the severity of allegations. According to the report, in one case, “The evaluation acknowledged that the priest had admitted to ‘sado-masochistic’ activities with several boys—but the sado-masochism was only ‘mild,’ and at least the priest was not ‘psychotic.’”
In many cases, the Church did not take the priests out of ministry; instead they conducted internal investigations. Then, the administration transferred the priests to other parishes or schools, where they had the chance to abuse again. If they were taken out of ministry, the Church continued to house and protect them. In one instance, a priest accused of child abuse left ministry and got a job at Walt Disney World with a favorable letter of reference. Most of these priests cannot be prosecuted, because the statute of limitations has expired and many of them have died.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia was not officially named in the 2018 report, but some of the named priests had connections to Philadelphia. Cardinal Bevilacqua, who covered up abuse allegations in Pittsburgh and transferred priests between diocese to conceal allegations, served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1987-2003 and died while at St. Charles Seminary in Wynnewood. In the past few weeks, a woman accused him of groping her when she was a girl at a Pittsburgh parish school. Monsignor William Lynn, Cardinal Bevilacqua’s secretary of clergy, is awaiting a retrial for covering up abuse in Philadelphia. Nine other priests who served in the Philadelphia area have also been accused, including one who paid teenage prostitutes from the church collection box. Downingtown, PA, is home to the St. John Vianney Center, where priests are given “therapy” for their abuse. Their absences were often described to congregations as “sick leave” or a “nervous collapse.” After undisclosed treatment, they were returned to ministry elsewhere.
There are a few accounts from the report that stand out as particularly cruel. One priest raped a seven-year-old girl who was in a hospital after having her tonsils removed. Often, sympathy was directed toward the priest, not the victim. The report states, “a priest raped a girl, got her pregnant, and arranged an abortion. The bishop expressed his feelings in a letter: ‘This is a very difficult time in your life, and I realize how upset you are. I too share your grief.’ But the letter was not for the girl. It was addressed to the rapist.” In Harrisburg, Father Augustine Giella abused five girls in one family. In Pittsburgh, a ring of priests gave children gold crosses to indicate to each other that they were prime targets
The psychological impact of child sexual abuse is immense. Upper School psychologist Nicole Chaikin said, “It can really impact people’s sense of trust, especially for children… It’s pretty damaging to our overall sense of self.” Kevin Sporici ‘20 feels celibacy could be a factor, saying “One has to wonder if celibacy has an influence on these kind of incidents.”
Unfortunately, this abuse is not unique to the Catholic Church—such incidents have even happened in the past at Episcopal Academy. From 1970-1998, Richard Perkins Smith ‘66 worked at Episcopal’s Devon campus as a fourth-grade teacher, a volunteer archivist, and later as a researcher in Development. At least 11 former EA students claim Smith sexually abused them, and Smith told investigators that he abused at least one student. When the investigation began in 2012, he claimed to have confessed this abuse to Jay Crawford, headmaster at the time. Now 70 and in poor health, Smith has never been prosecuted for abusing Episcopal students. However, he was was sentenced to four years in Massachusetts prison and lifetime probation for the abuse of summer campers in 1981. He was also charged with possession of child pornography in Delaware County. Episcopal has stated that another teacher abused students around the same time, but the abuser is deceased and has not been named.
Currently, Episcopal’s policy for dealing with an accusation of sexual misconduct is not listed in the student handbook. Upper School Head Michael Letts emphasized that the subject must be taken seriously. Law enforcement must be contacted to conduct their own investigation, and the rights of the accused and the accuser must be respected. Typically, higher educational institutions use counseling programs, disciplinary policies, and law enforcement to deal with accusations by and against members of the community. Ultimately, under Title IX, a law protecting the rights of students in educational institutions, it is the accuser’s right to decide which of these policies, if any will be used. Title IX also requires that every institution of higher learning that receives federal funding must have a policy on sexual misconduct.
So what is the difference between the Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church, which has never had a major abuse scandal? Reverend Gavin said “I think the difference is the Catholic Church took very young people, teenagers, into the priesthood, into seminary schools, and I think they didn’t quite have their own identities formed.” In contrast, the Episcopal Church requires a college education before anyone goes into seminary. Long term impact is uncertain. But since the Pennsylvania investigation, similar efforts have begun in New York, New Jersey, Nebraska, and Missouri. Perhaps there will be improvement and policy changes in the future. Currently, Pennsylvania legislators are discussing opening a window for abuse victims whose cases have expired under the statute of limitations to sue their abusers and establishing a compensation fund for victims.