Religion - a respectful discussion, for those interested

http://www.abqjournal.com/675088/news/two-suits-allege-sex-abuse-by-priests.html

Two suits allege sexual abuse by three priests

Two lawsuits filed this week against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe allege that three priests sexually abused boys at a church in Mountainair and a Catholic elementary school in Albuquerque.

The lawsuits, filed in 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque on behalf of two unidentified men, bring to 49 the total number of clerical abuse suits filed by Albuquerque attorney Brad Hall, most naming the archdiocese. Both suits allege negligence in hiring the priests and seek unspecified damages.

A Bernalillo County man alleged that he was sexually abused as a first-grade student at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic School by the Rev. Edward Rutowski, who was a teacher and administrator at the school, according to one lawsuit.

Rutowski was named pastor of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in 1954, according to his obituary. He died in 2004 in Albuquerque.

He was accused in two 1994 civil lawsuits of molesting two minor boys in 1967 and 1971.

Rutowski was ordained in 1945 in Massachusetts where he pastored several churches before coming to New Mexico in 1951 “for reasons of health,” the obituary said. He served in pastoral posts in Hobbs, Santa Rosa, Vaughn and Albuquerque and held several administrative posts in the archdiocese.

In a second lawsuit filed this week, a New Mexico native alleged that when he was an altar boy at St. Alice Church in Mountainair in the late 1960s, he was raped by two priests, Bernard Bissonnette and James Porter.

Both Bissonnette and Porter were sent to New Mexico for treatment by the Servants of the Paraclete, a religious order that ran a facility in Jemez Springs. Both priests later were transferred to Mountainair, according to the lawsuit. The suit also names the religious order as a defendant.

Porter was sent to New Mexico in 1967 by his diocese in Massachusetts, according to news reports. In 1993, he pleaded guilty of sexually assaulting 28 children in parishes in Massachusetts and was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. He died in prison in 2005.

Bissonnette was ordained as a priest in 1958 in the Diocese of Norwich, which sent him to Jemez Springs in 1963. He died in 2009 in Belen.
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http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_29072065/priest-sex-abuse-victim-wins-8-million-from

Duluth diocese priest sex-abuse victim awarded $8 million

In a landmark clergy sex abuse lawsuit, a jury ruled Wednesday that church officials were negligent in their oversight of a priest who abused a boy in the Diocese of Duluth in the 1970s.

The lawsuit, filed by "Doe 30" in early 2014 in Ramsey County District Court, was the first to go to trial under Minnesota's Child Victims Act.

The victim testified that he was molested by the Rev. James Vincent Fitzgerald for two weeks and that church officials failed to adequately supervise the priest, leading to the sex assault.

The six-person jury decided in favor of the victim, finding the Diocese of Duluth liable for negligent supervision, and awarded Doe 30 more than $8.16 million.

The jury determined that the diocese was 60 percent liable and that the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the religious order to which the priest belonged, was 40 percent liable. The two are responsible for their respective portions of the settlement.

The oblates order was not a party at trial; it had been named in the initial lawsuit, but was dismissed after reaching a settlement with the victim so will not be liable for the 40 percent payout. The Diocese of New Ulm was also initially named, but was dismissed by the court this year.

Mike Finnegan, who tried the case alongside Jeff Anderson and Elin Lindstrom, said the case -- already significant because it was the first to go to trial under the Child Victims Act -- will likely have a major impact.

"I'd say it has huge impact statewide ... that all institutions have to take this extremely serious for the safety of all kids," Finnegan said. "And for the courageous survivors who have come forward, this validates the harm and suffering they all go through."

For Doe 30, now 52 years old, the case was cathartic, Finnegan said.

"Through coming forward and standing up to them and taking this case to trial, that whole process was transformative for this survivor," Finnegan said. "That was a really important part of this. ... The other piece of it was for him to have an opportunity to have the truth told."

The diocese had argued that it had no information about Fitzgerald or any other allegations against him until years after Doe 30 was abused.

Fitzgerald, now deceased, was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1950 and belonged to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, an order of missionaries.

He was placed in various locations throughout his career, including Illinois, South Dakota (where he was also accused of abusing minors) and Minnesota parishes.

In the late 1970s, Fitzgerald participated in a clinical pastoral education program at a hospital in Willmar. While there, he worked in a New Ulm parish and spent time working in a Duluth parish, according to court filings.

In 1978, he traveled to the St. Catherine Parish in Squaw Lake, Minn., part of the Diocese of Duluth.

He brought Doe 30, then a teenager, with him for the two-week trip. That's when the sexual abuse occurred, the jury heard. The victim was then a 13-year-old parishioner at St. Thomas More Church in Lake Lillian, Minn.

Doe 30's lawsuit was filed under the Child Victims Act, a Minnesota law passed in 2013 that expanded the statute of limitations for claims of past sexual abuse, even if it occurred decades ago. The deadline to file lawsuits will pass in May.

This report includes information from the Duluth
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THAT'S JUST THIS MONTH.

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So you continue to stick your head up your rectum and ignore the rampant sexual abuse perpetrated by Catholic priests on the very children they are supposed to protect.

It's all fake. All made up.

Pathetic.

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But did the Catholic Charities provide medical care to altar boys whose sphincters were destroyed by priests?

 

Will these hospitals provide free care to children infected by venereal disease spread by pedophile priests?

 

Nothing like...um...er...blowing one's own horn.

 

Hmmm, who to believe? Mr. Truth or the guy in the white suit?:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/w...ues-apology-for-scandals-at-vatican.html?_r=0

Please tell us why you, Mr.Truth, a self-purported god-fearing Catholic, have no reservations about committing a constant stream of mortal sins in lying about the history of widespread pedophilic child abuse by priests that even the Vatican has admitted to, decried and paid millions of dollars in recompense for?

 

Autofellatio ... very disrespectful.

 

LOL. That's hilarious.


Sorry, I may be in the wrong thread... On second thoughts, maybe the post above is the one in the wrong thread.

 

Come on, dude, the pope isn't a REAL Catholic. Duh.

 

good work sir! thank you for that. good looking out

 

Over 8000 pedophile priests according to your pope. Current, not past, not future but right now.

 

Any time, can't give the pedophile denier any of what he may think helps his argument even though it would have been very weak on his end to try.

 

not to mention, i love being taught, you're a smart cat dude!

 

Cowchips, it was the alter boys who were waay overblown.