Fresh Calls for Cupich to Resign. He knew about predator priests living in his diocese

Friday, January 4, 2019

Fresh Calls for Cupich to Resign. He knew about predator priests living in his diocese

by Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D. • ChurchMilitant.com • January 4, 2019

Cardinal confirms he knew about predator priests living in his diocese

CHICAGO (ChurchMilitant.com) - Catholics are renewing calls for Cdl. Blase Cupich to resign after reports reveal he knew about sexual predators living in his former diocese of Spokane and failed to act.

On Dec. 17, Reveal News reported that at least 20 credibly accused Jesuit priests were sent to live at Cardinal Bea House near the campus of Gonzaga University, in the diocese of Spokane, Washington.

The scandal led to the abrupt resignations of two Gonzaga administrators four days later — Vice Presidents Frank Case and Pat Lee.

Now Catholics are calling on Cdl. Cupich of Chicago, who served as bishop of Spokane from 2010–2015 and was aware of the presence of the predator priests, also to step down for his inaction.

Cardinal Bea House: Home for Predator Priests

Over the course of more than 30 years, abusive priests were moved to Bea House, and neither police, Gonzaga University nor the public were informed by the Jesuits of their presence. The Spokane Police Department confirmed it never received any reports about the sexual predators from the Jesuit order or from Gonzaga.

Neither police, Gonzaga University nor the public were informed by the Jesuits of their presence.Tweet

"Safety plans" put together by the Jesuits to restrict abusive clergy's movements were routinely ignored. For example, although Fr. John Whitney, Jesuit provincial for the Oregon Province at the time, ordered Fr. James Poole, a notorious abuser, not to have unsupervised contact with minors or to meet alone with women, Reveal News reports that "Poole moved freely throughout campus and, at least on one occasion, met alone with a female student."

Depositions from a lawsuit reveal that Poole attended university basketball games and often went to the campus library, once even meeting alone with a female student for an interview at Bea House.

"We love being right in the middle of campus," said Fr. Joseph Obersinner — another Jesuit accused of molesting a minor — to Gonzaga's student newspaper. "It's a blessing to see the active energy and happiness of youth every day."

Cardinal Cupich Complicit

Cardinal Cupich became aware of the living arrangments at Bea House in 2011. He failed to inform law enforcement, Gonzaga or the public of the presence of sexual predators.

In response to Church Militant's query, archdiocesan communications director Anne Maselli confirmed Cupich knew of the accused clergy living at Cardinal Bea House.

As he prepared to submit data for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops audit in the spring of 2011, that is, his first audit report there, the Jesuit provincial at the time informed then-Bishop Cupich that since the early 2000s, men with substantiated allegations of abuse had been living at the Bea retirement home under a safety plan created by Praesidium, Inc., and that among the safety plan's provisions was that no man under a safety plan was to leave the home unaccompanied. These men also did not have faculties to minister as priests. Praesidium audited compliance with the plan annually, and each year certified that the province was in compliance. Then-Bishop Cupich passed on this information from the provincial to the diocese's safe environment office for inclusion in the annual audit.

Maselli confirmed that the diocese did use the Bea House on occasion for meetings, and "it is possible that then-Bishop Cupich may have encountered some of these men, but he has no recollection of doing so and can affirm that he never met with any of them in a formal way."

Information about the accused Jesuits was not given to the current bishop of Spokane, Thomas Daly, whose diocese issued a statement making clear Daly was not privy to the information given to his predecessor Cupich.

"[T]he Jesuit Provincial, Father Patrick Lee, informed then-Bishop Blase Cupich that seven priests with safety plans in place were living at Bea House," the Dec. 21 statement reads. "Bishop Thomas Daly — who was installed in 2015 — was not informed by the Jesuits or Gonzaga University that these men were living at Cardinal Bea House."

Complicit Clergy, a site devoted to exposing sex abuse cover-up, published an article titled "Two Gonzaga Admins Resign — So Why Not Cupich?" which links to a petition urging that the Chicago cardinal resign for a number of reasons:

You and other IL bishops have been accused by the IL Attorney General of withholding the names of least 500 priests accused of sexual abuse;

As Chairman of the USCCB Committee on the Protection for Children and Young People, many cases of clergy sexual abuse took place which are just now coming to light;

Your appointment to Cardinal and Archbishop of Chicago was largely due to the now disgraced Theodore McCarrick;

You blame the abuse crisis on "clericalism," evading the issue of homosexuality;

In an interview with NBC, you stated the Pope has "got to get on with other things, of talking about the environment and protecting migrants";

You later repeated this claim while addressing a group of seminarians; and

You forced Fr. Paul Kalchik into hiding by claiming he needs mental health treatment. These facts demonstrate a pattern of negligence and a lack of respect for faithful Catholics in your charge.

A Church Militant petition demanding Cupich's resignation garnered 25,000 signatures and was submitted to the papal nuncio in November.

Since news broke of the scandal at Gonzaga, the Jesuits West Province has promised no clergy accused of molesting a minor will be assigned to live at Gonzaga.

Priests who abuse adults are not addressed in the statement, leaving the possibility that clergy who have sexually assaulted adults may still reside at Bea House.Tweet

"Jesuits West guarantees that no Jesuit with a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor is currently or will ever be knowingly assigned to Gonzaga University or the Jesuit community on its campus, nor to any Jesuit work in the Province," reads their Dec. 19 statement.

Priests who abuse adults, however, are not addressed in the statement, leaving the possibility that clergy who have sexually assaulted adults may still reside at Bea House.

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We will recognize them by their fruits.

Prayer to St. Michael

Please protect us, St. Michael the Archangel, against violence, murder, and robbery. In your goodness preserve us today from all the malice of sinful and wicked persons. In your sleepless vigilance watch over the safety and welfare of our homes, and keep guard over our possessions. Ever hold in your special care, most triumphant St. Michael, the forces of public order against the crimes of evil people, and defend all honest citizens in time of peril. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Novena Prayer to St. Michael

(Pray for nine consecutive days)
Saint Michael the Archangel, loyal champion of God and His Catholic people, I turn to thee with confidence and seek thy powerful intercession. For the love of God, Who hast made thee so glorious in grace and power, and for the love of the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of the Angels, be pleased to hear my prayer.
Thou knowest the value of my soul in the eyes of God. May no stain of evil ever disfigure its beauty. Help me to conquer the evil spirit who tempts me. I desire to imitate thy loyalty to God and Holy Mother Church and thy great love for God and men. And since thou art God’s messenger for the care of His people, I entrust to thee this special request: (here mention your request).
Saint Michael, since thou art, by the will of the Creator, the powerful intercessor of Christians, I have great confidence in thy prayers. I earnestly trust that if it is God’s holy will, my petition will be granted.
Pray for me, Saint Michael, and also for those I love. Protect us in all dangers of body and soul. Help us in our daily needs. Through thy powerful intercession, may we live a holy life, die a happy death and reach Heaven where we may praise and love God with thee forever. Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.
St. Michael, Guardian of souls, Vanquisher of rebel spirits, Pray for us.

St John Chrysostom

Our Lord having reproached the Jews with blindness, they might have said, We are not blind, but we avoid you as a deceiver. Our Lord therefore gives the marks which distinguish a robber and deceiver from a true shepherd. First come those of the deceiver and robber: Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. There is an allusion here to Antichrist, and to certain false Christs who had been, and were to be. The Scriptures He calls the door. They admit us to the knowledge of God, they protect the sheep, they shut out the wolves, they bar the entrance to heretics. He that uses not the Scriptures, but climbs up some other way, i.e. some self-chosen, some unlawful way, is a thief. Climbs up, He says, not, enters, as if it were a thief getting over a wall, and running all risks. Some other way, may refer too to the commandments and traditions of men which the Scribes taught, to the neglect of the Law. When our Lord further on calls Himself the Door, we need not be surprised. According to the office which He bears, He is in one place the Shepherd, in another the Sheep. In that He introduces us to the Father, He is the Door, in that He takes care of us, He is the Shepherd. (Catena Aurea)

LIBERTAS ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE NATURE OF HUMAN LIBERTY
35. And as to tolerance, it is surprising how far removed from the equity and prudence of the Church are those who profess what is called liberalism. For, in allowing that boundless license of which We have spoken, they exceed all limits, and end at last by making no apparent distinction between truth and error, honesty and dishonesty. And because the Church, the pillar and ground of truth, and the unerring teacher of morals, is forced utterly to reprobate and condemn tolerance of such an abandoned and criminal character, they calumniate her as being wanting in patience and gentleness, and thus fail to see that, in so doing, they impute to her as a fault what is in reality a matter for commendation. But, in spite of all this show of tolerance, it very often happens that, while they profess themselves ready to lavish liberty on all in the greatest profusion, they are utterly intolerant toward the Catholic Church, by refusing to allow her the liberty of being herself free.

“If you want to be certain of being in the number of the Elect, strive to be one of the few, not one of the many. And if you would be quite sure of your salvation, strive to be among the fewest of the few; that is to say, do not follow the great majority of mankind, but follow those who enter upon the narrow way, who renounce the world, who give themselves to prayer, and who never relax their efforts by day or night, so that they may attain everlasting blessedness.” -Saint Anselm, Father and Doctor of the Church

PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH, THE PROTECTOR OF CHRISTIAN FAMILIES Great Saint Joseph, who wast chosen of God to be the head of the holiest and most august of families, deign to cast thy eyes upon us, and take us this day under thy special protection. Holy Patriarch, model of the holiest faith, and of the most perfect virtues, obtain for all the members of this family grace to withstand the dangers and seductions of the world, and to remain stedfastly attached to the LORD. Obtain for us that, always united by the bonds of the most tender charity, and encouraging one another mutually in good works, we may taste under thy auspices the sweetness of that peace which JESUS has promised to His true disciples. But above all, when our last hour shall come, obtain for us that we may find grace before the Sovereign Judge, so that, reunited in heaven at the foot of Thy Throne, we may celebrate everlastingly the glory of GOD and thy praise. Amen.

St. Vincent Ferrer -- Sermon on the Last Judgment: In the same way, in the time of Antichrist, the Sun of justice will be obscured by the interposition of temporal goods and the wealth which Antichrist will bestow on the world, inasmuch as the brightness of faith in Jesus Christ and the glow of good lives will no longer shine among Christians. For, lest they should lose their dominion, temporal rulers, kings and princes will range themselves on the side of Antichrist. In like manner, prelates for fear of losing their dignities, and religious and priests to gain honors and riches, will forsake the Faith of Christ and adhere to Antichrist.

Neither living nor lifeless faith remains in a heretic who disbelieves one article of faith. The reason of this is that the species of every habit depends on the formal aspect of the object, without which the species of the habit cannot remain. Now the formal object of faith is the First Truth, as manifested in Holy Writ and the teaching of the Church, which proceeds from the First Truth. Consequently whoever does not adhere, as to an infallible and Divine rule, to the teaching of the Church, which proceeds from the First Truth manifested in Holy Writ, has not the habit of faith, but holds that which is of faith otherwise than by faith. Even so, it is evident that a man whose mind holds a conclusion without knowing how it is proved, has not scientific knowledge, but merely an opinion about it. Now it is manifest that he who adheres to the teaching of the Church, as to an infallible rule, assents to whatever the Church teaches; otherwise, if, of the things taught by the Church, he holds what he chooses to hold, and rejects what he chooses to reject, he no longer adheres to the teaching of the Church as to an infallible rule, but to his own will. Hence it is evident that a heretic who obstinately disbelieves one article of faith, is not prepared to follow the teaching of the Church in all things; but if he is not obstinate, he is no longer in heresy but only in error. Therefore it is clear that such a heretic with regard to one article has no faith in the other articles, but only a kind of opinion in accordance with his own will. (Saint Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 5, a. 3)

Friday, January 4, 2019