Thousands of pages from files on nine Roman Catholic priests who settled high-profile clergy abuse lawsuits six years ago are being made public Wednesday, providing a detailed look at sordid accusations as well as instances when priests were allowed to interact with children despite their superiors knowing about the allegations.
Two of the former priests whose histories are detailed in the documents are Gus Krumm and Gary Pacheco, both defrocked Franciscan priests who served at Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Church in Huntington Beach in separate assignments covering most years from the mid-1970s through the late 1990s.
The article provides a link to scanned documents. Two stand out for me from Krumm's file:
This is Gus Krumm's letter to the Pope, asking to be released from his vows as a priest. I am not suggesting he should not have been released - indeed, it was necessary, especially in light of the fact he admitted what he called "indiscretions." But I read this letter with great sadness. How does it get this far? How does it even get here? For a moment, I imagined this letter with a different name substituted, a priest I knew, and I actually experienced a wave of nausea. I hope I never have to see a letter like this with any of the priests who have been or are in my life, even if their decision is based on something other than legal malfeasance. It is heartbreaking to consider that possibility.
The other thing I noticed was in the deposition transcript of one of the victims, when he was questioned why he went to a seminary high school:
Q: With what was your reason for attending there?
A: To escape an abusive household at home with my stepfather.
Do seminaries recruit prey? It makes me wonder that when young men apply to become priests and enter a seminary, are there those "gatekeepers" who look for the weak and the vulnerable, and bring them in, with the expectations they will become targets. I know from the personal account of one priest how his rector singled him out for attention and made a move. The thought of such individuals being allowed to occupy positions of trust and authority is sickening.
I hope the Diocese of Orange gets a new bishop who is faithful and unafraid to clean house, if needed. It will not be pretty, but if some priests need to draft that letter above, it is best it be done.
I continue to pray for priests, that they choose always to act in such a way so as to protect their Bride, Mother Church, from scandal.
3 comments:
I can only say from my experience, that the people that I entered seminary with in the religious order we went into....all of us came from pretty fractured situations....I can only speak in regards to myself.
I don't have the results of all the psych tests that I had to take (nor do I really want them). It would be absolutely sickening if I ever found out they did something to take advantage of my particular situation at that time. All hell would break lose if I found out.
Of course...once the prof from seminary insulted my intelligence and work ethic..it was all over for me...I don't care if someone has a collar, no one does that and gets away with it to me, period.
These sickening things were going on at seminaries in the early 60's I could see then that things were not right.
At seminary camp one kid was staying in the room of the brother - I was approached, by a surrogate, to have the "privilege" of doing the same - I declined. I was 13 at the time, who would listen to me?
I knew Gus Krumm. He was a good man to many people, and he admitted to me that he entered the minor seminary at least in part to escape an unstable family situation.....but he forcibly raped boys younger than my 16 year old son. He had to be laicized whether it was not his choice. Such troubled men cannot be in the priesthood. I am sorry, but the children come first. Being a priest doesn't make you holy no matter what Church's doctrine is. Your actions make you holy or, in this case, unholy.
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