Reply #45: ...during my 72 years of living I've came across quite a few nasty [View All]

[0007]

Catholics.

Here are some I never got to meet.

1984
The Rev. Gilbert Gauthe of the Lafayette, La., diocese pleads guilty to molesting 11 boys and admits victimizing dozens more. In a widening scandal, 19 other priests are accused of abuse, and the diocese negotiates costly out-of-court settlements with victims.

1985
The Rev. Thomas Doyle, a canon lawyer for the Vatican embassy in Washington, writes a confidential memo for the nation's Catholic bishops citing 30 cases with 100 victims and projecting a cost to the church of $1 billion over 10 years. Also, journalist Jason Berry writes a nationwide survey of the problem for the National Catholic Reporter, drawing the secular media's attention to it.

1989
Hawaii's Joseph Ferrario becomes the first U.S. bishop accused of molestation. A court dismisses the charges because they were filed too late, but Ferrario, who denied the charges, retires early in 1993.

1990
The Rev. Bruce Ritter, celebrated leader of Covenant House for teen runaways, steps down amid a scandal. He denies an accusation of molestation from one youth, but others step forward to accuse him and the Covenant House board reports extensive misconduct. Ritter's Franciscan superiors in Rome approve a transfer to India, but outrage following a news report about the move forces the plan to be scrapped.

1992
The U.S. bishops take their first major collective action, endorsing a set of principles for handling cases. At the same time, Berry's history of the scandals, "Lead Us Not Into Temptation," estimates 400 priests have been accused, costing the church some $400 million.

1994
The growing victims' rights movement suffers a credibility setback when Steven Cook recants his sensational claim that Chicago's Cardinal Joseph Bernardin had molested him. Bernardin's former archdiocese in Cincinnati paid a settlement to Cook over a seminary teacher's abuse

1997
A Dallas jury hears charges from 11 victims of ex-priest Rudy Kos and returns a $120-million verdict. The award was later cut to about $30 million, but the diocese needs to take out mortgages and sell property to cover the judgment.

1999
Bishop J. Keith Symons of Palm Beach, Fla., becomes the first U.S. bishop to resign after admitting molestation. That scandal was greatly compounded in 2002 when Bishop Anthony O'Connell, the successor Rome appointed to clean house, resigns for the identical reason.

2000
The Rev. Andrew Greeley, an author and sociologist, writes an introduction for a new edition of Berry's history. The sex abuse situation, he contends, "may be the greatest scandal in the history of religion in America and perhaps the most serious crisis Catholicism has faced since the Reformation."

Jan. 18, 2002
Defrocked Boston priest John Geoghan, 66, is convicted of indecent assault and battery as a priest sex scandal in the archdiocese widens. Geoghan, 66, has been accused of abusing 130 children while he was actively serving as a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston over a 30-year period. He faces more criminal and civil suits.

Feb. 21, 2002
Geoghan is sentenced to 9-10 years in prison as the archdiocese continues to reel from the scandal. The extent of the cover-up and the sheer number of priests involved has shocked Boston's large Catholic community, leading to calls for Cardinal Bernard Law to step down. Meanwhile, new cases are being reported in several other states.