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 -- Catholic Hierarchy is Told Protesters Circulate a Fact Sheet about Roman Catholic Abuse St. Patrick's Cathedral Becomes the Site of Historic Gathering |
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Compiled By GayToday New York, New York-Community activists converging Sunday morning on St. Patrick's Cathedral circulated the following flyer, a 'Fact Sheet' addressing shameful attempts by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church to blame gay sexuality for its own sins: Don't Blame Gays for Your Sins! The nation now knows that for decades the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has shamefully mishandled cases of sexual abuse by priests of children and minors. Complaints have been disregarded, minimized, and not reported to the authorities. Known abusers have been shuffled from one parish to another, where they continued their abuse. The harm to young people and their families has been compounded by the church's aggressive legal tactics when victims have sought redress through the courts. Cardinal Edward Egan has been a central figure in this scandal. Church officials in Bridgeport were forced to admit the diocese kept a secret file on sexual assaults of children by priests and that only then-Bishop Egan had the key. While in Bridgeport, Egan used every possible legal tactic to fight survivors, and even today is fighting the release of documents that show his mishandling of abuse allegations. Brooklyn's Bishop Thomas V. Daily has a similar, abysmal record both here and in Boston. Rather than accepting responsibility and moving aggressively to deal with abusers, church leaders are engaged in an orchestrated and cynical campaign to blame this moral and public relations disaster on gay people and gay men in the priesthood. Last Sunday, from the pulpit of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Msgr. Eugene Clark, said that homosexuals are "disordered" and are to blame for the church's scandal. The Bishop of Detroit said the current crisis is "not truly a pedophilia-type problem, but a homosexual-type problem," and the head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said, "it is an ongoing struggle... to make sure that the Catholic priesthood is not dominated by homosexual men." Reports about the American cardinals meeting with Pope John Paul II this week once again quote church officials who cast gay people as emotionally disturbed and link our community with pedophilia. Witch hunts against gay seminarians and priests have already begun. The media has fueled these attacks by repeating as fact unsubstantiated proclamations of the church and through unbalanced and sensationalistic reporting. The Facts: * There is not one shred of scientific evidence linking homosexuality to pedophilia. * There is not one shred of scientific evidence indicating that that gay people are a greater risk to children or young people than heterosexuals. * Experts state that priests who have sexually abused children and young people are not disproportionately gay, and that having sex with boys is often deemed "safer" by priests, not an expression of their sexual orientation. * Thousands of lesbians and gay men are serving the Catholic Church as priests and nuns, carrying out its mission with absolute integrity, self-sacrifice and devotion. * Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people abhor and condemn sexual abuse of any person at any time. * Our anger is not directed at Catholic people, but at the hurtful words and deeds of the church's hierarchy. We demand that: * The church hierarchy cease making gay people scapegoats for its own failure to protect children. * The church hierarchy apologize for any statements that implicitly or explicitly link homosexuality and pedophilia or sexual abuse of young people. * The church hierarchy stop covering up acts of sexual abuse and cease opposing legislation that would require immediate reporting to law enforcement of reports of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. * The church hierarchy cease its witch hunts of priests, nuns, and seminarians. * Msgr. Eugene Clark be removed as Rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral for his attacks on gay people. * The media stop restating unsubstantiated claims by the church and report this issue in a balanced, professional, and non-sensational way. |
