Witness the toll of the sodomite infiltration of the priesthood.

The Morning Call: Abuse victims to address priests

On the Feast of Our Mother of Sorrows, (Friday September 15, 2006 - F.G.)sexual abuse victims in the Philadelphia Archdiocese will recount their stories of helplessness and horror at the hands of priests during an unusual gathering Friday called by Cardinal Justin Rigali.

Hundreds of priests are expected to attend the session in the auditorium at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood where two adults, who were abused by priests as children, and a parent of two victims will talk about the pain of having been betrayed by those they were taught to trust.

Mary Achilles, who was hired by the archdiocese in January as a victims' advocate, organized the meeting as a ''small, first step'' toward changing the culture of the Roman Catholic Church in its five-county region, which includes Bucks and Montgomery counties.

''The cardinal and his brother priests will gain a greater understanding of the lifelong trauma of being sexually abused by a priest,'' she said. ''They need to understand that, and the best way is to hear it from victims. It's not the same as reading it in the newspaper.''

But victims' rights advocates say the meeting is nothing more than a public relations gimmick designed to detract from the real issues of sexual misconduct by priests and the church's complicity in covering it up.

''We admire the survivors who will bravely share their experiences and hope that the priests will listen with compassion and open-mindedness,'' said Barbara Dorris, national outreach director of SNAP, the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests. ''But the long-standing, deep-rooted insensitivity and corruption in the archdiocesan hierarchy is the real problem and won't be ameliorated by this event.''

Achilles said that for the past 10 months, archdiocese officials have been looking ''inward'' at how the church handled reports of sexual abuse and its treatment of victims.

''We have a lot of changes to make,'' she said.

The meeting comes a year after a Philadelphia grand jury identified 63 archidiocesan priests as abusers and concluded that the region's former archbishops, Cardinals Anthony Bevilacqua and John Krol, covered up the abuse. Seventeen priests were defrocked, and others were relieved of their duties. Criminal charges can't be filed against the pedophile priests because Pennsylvania's statute of limitations on reports of sexual abuse has expired.

The victims' testimony will be broadcast live on the diocese's Web site at http://www.archdiocese-phl.org so parishioners and others can ''participate spiritually,'' according to the archdiocese.

Marie Whitehead, head of the Philadelphia chapter of SNAP, was invited to attend the meeting, but isn't sure she wants to sit in church with hundreds of priests and bishops.

''They're going to be in priestly garb,'' she said. ''They don't get how traumatic this can be. For some of us, it's like returning to the place where we were raped.''

Whitehead said she wasn't asked to share her story, and she questions how the archdiocese chose its speakers.

''None of the victims who have been very verbal were called,'' she said. ''I think it was a selective process. Who was invited and who wasn't doesn't make sense to me. I'd be curious as to why Cardinal Rigali is doing this now. I'm kind of cynical. A lot of things are done in response to something else.''

The only agenda the archdiocese has is to highlight the intense suffering of victims, Achilles said.

''It's not about anything other than victims talking about sexual abuse and their experiences since then,'' she said. ''Whether they are critical or not of the archdiocese wasn't a factor in their selection. They were people we knew. We have some level of connection with them.''

Archilles declined to say who would be speaking, but said Rigali regularly meets with victims.

Monsignor John B. Wendrychowicz of St. Agnes Church in Sellersville isn't sure if he can attend Friday's session, but hopes victims find comfort in sharing their stories of abuse.

''I think it's sort of cathartic, getting something that's not a pleasant experience out so others can understand their feelings and what they're going through,'' he said.


1990-96: Six parents complain to McAdoo police that Monsignor Stephen T. Forish tried to ''lure'' their children. Police keep watch on him, but no charges are filed.

Sept. 22, 1996: A 22-year-old Bethlehem man accuses Forish of approaching him and offering money for sex. When he refuses, the man says, Forish asks him if he knows any 15-year-olds who would be interested. Forish is arrested on prostitution charges.

How does a pervert like the man described below become a Catholic priest in the first place? That is simple. The Church caved in to the pressure of the zeitgeist and, in violation of its own rules and traditions, looked the other way as homosexuals entered the seminaries so they could gain access to underage boys.

Jan. 16, 1998: Forish is acquitted of all charges in Northampton County Court, partly because some jurors don't believe his accuser, an admitted drug user.

2002: Forish asks the diocese for permission to withdraw from active ministry so he can pursue his doctorate in psychology. He eventually takes post-doctoral residency in Westmoreland County and gets a counseling job in Armstrong County.

Aug. 6, 2006: Forish approaches a 26-year-old man in Greensburg and asks for ''sexual favors,'' according to state police in Westmoreland County. The man is one of four men Forish approached that night, police say. On Sept. 7, he is charged with harassment and disorderly conduct.

Have mercy, Lord, on this man and all others with disordered sexual desires masquerading as faithful priests.