Vivificat is following the story of a priest in the Altoona-Johnstown, PA, diocese who sued his diocese because he says he was molested as a child by a now-deceased priest and was subsequently removed from his parish and stripped of his faculties. The priest says he’s being punished for reporting abuse, but the diocese says he can’t very well serve the bishop and diocese he’s suing.
The blogger Teofilus examines the canon law and concludes that the diocese is technically right, even if the diocese is wrong on the larger issues. They key is that the priest sued in civil court rather than pursuing the canonical channels first. I’m the first to admit there’s some wackiness in those central Pennsylvania dioceses, but in this case, Teofilus concludes it’s not the bishop who’s wacky.
Of course the priest should have expected to be placed on leave after suing his bishop. Right or wrong, it would have been silly for him to have a working relationship with a guy he’s suing.
That being said, it helps to know just how bad things are in the Altoona-Johnstown diocese. Adamack has succeeded in alienating any Catholic who even remotely faithful, and is personally responsible for the desecration of an altar at a church in Northern Cambria, PA, a town mentioned in the story. I know the area, which is steeped in Catholic tradition, with beautiful little parish churches that His Immenseness apparently can’t wait to white-wash.
And that’s just the stuff I can mention here.
You can assure Teofilus that Adamec will find a way to be “wacky in this case” before it’s over. Just give him enough time…
Whoa! I don’t know much about Altoona-Johnstown, but I am also in a “central PA” diocese that is anything but “wacky”. We were one of the least affected by the recent “unpleasantness” thanks be to God and our late bishop Nicholas Dattilo. We now have a wonderful new bishop, Kevin Rhoads, former rector of Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary.
Signe
When was the last time that justice was obtained by a victim of sexual abuse by a priest in a court run by the Church?
Why is it ok for a bishop to sue a priest in secular court, but not for a priest to sue a bishop?
To answer your last question first, it isn’t okay for a bishop to sue a priest in a secular court either.
And while an abuse victim may not have found justice in the past, a priest has an obligation to at least run up the chain first before he seeks other remedies. It appears that this one didn’t bother, at least from what I’ve seen.
I’m on the outside looking in on the Catholic Church’s recent scandal, since I’m not Catholic. So forgive me on this point, but I’m wondering about this priest bringing charges against another priest who is dead. These are very grave charges. How does a dead man defend himself against them? Are there other charges against the deceased priest?
I think the fact that the priest being charged with abuse is dead is all the more reason why Fr. Nesbella should have pursued his case internally rather than making it a public civil trial.
Sorry, Signe. Bishop Dattilo of Harrisburg (God rest his soul) may not have been the liberal that Adamec and his homosexual cronies in Altoona are, but he treated traditional Catholics attached to the Tridentine Mass in his own diocese like dirt. He permitted a once a month Tridentine Mass in a nasty modernist high school chapel. Only recently has the new bishop, a noted conservative from Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary, allowed the Tridentine Mass to be said weekly and in the Cathedral, no less! Cleaning up the mess Dattilo left will take time, but Bishop Rhoads is off to a great start!
As to Adamec, the crimes (those that we know of for certain) committed against the Church are well known. Desecrating a cradle of Catholicism in Western Pennsylvania is certainly high on the list. Scores of churches have been “rensacked” under his direct orders. Some of these vicious attacks have occured at night. See the following link highlighting a story covered in the Bishop’s local paper.
http://www.unavoce.org/cambria_destruction.htm
These are desperate times with Bishops like Adamec who operate on daily basis above the law (canon law). With the new Holy Father firmly in command, perhaps Fr. Nesbella will withdraw his civil suit and seek resource in the Ecclesiastical courts of Rome.
http://www.unavoce.org/cambria_destruction.htm
Yep. That’s the one.
I know that town. It was once two towns, Barnesboro and Spangler, and a few years ago, was combined to form the town of Northern Cambria. The desecration occurs in one of the several ethnic Catholic churches on the Barnesboro side. Over in Spangler, there’s a magnificent Ukrainian Catholic church that’s worth a look-inside if you’re ever there. The town was once a peaceful place, a Lake Wobegon kind of existance where time moves slowly—till Adamec took a sledgehammer to it.