A man and woman who say they were sexually abused by Iowa priests as
children called Tuesday for more reforms in the Roman Catholic Church.
Tim
Lennon of San Francisco and Joan Hillman of Omaha made their case at
62nd and Dodge Streets, outside the Omaha Archdiocese headquarters.
They criticized local Catholic officials' handling of two cases.
Archbishop
George Lucas recently removed a priest, the Rev. Perry Robinson, from
St. Gerald Catholic Church in Ralston and barred him from ministry after
learning of a 1980s controversy involving the possession of nude
photographs in Milwaukee.
St. Gerald parishioners weren't told why
until after a national advocacy and support group, Survivors Network of
those Abused by Priests, made the issue public.
Lennon, 64, and Hillman, 52, are members of SNAP.
They also criticized how Omaha Catholic officials handled the case of the Rev. John Fiala.
Despite
several complaints and red flags in the 1980s and 1990s in Nebraska,
Fiala went on to work as a priest in Texas, where he is accused of
raping a teenage boy at gunpoint and of trying to hire a hit man to kill
a youth after he went to authorities.
Last year, the Omaha
Archdiocese announced that it was told in 2002 that Fiala had made
sexual advances toward a child in the 1980s. SNAP leaders have been
critical of leaders for not divulging the report sooner.
Lennon
said his purpose was to “bring this issue up and make church officials
step up, notify people so parents can protect their children, and reach
out to survivors.”
Deacon Tim McNeil said the archdiocese is proud
of its efforts, which include developing a safe environment program
used in 1,500 parishes and 500 schools.
He said archdiocese
officials “take seriously any allegation that the church is faced with,”
including taking allegations to lay-clergy doctors, mental health
experts and law enforcement.
He said annual audits have found the
Omaha Archdiocese in compliance with U.S. bishops' child safety policies
since the bishops enacted the Charter for the Protection of Children
and Young People in 2002.
McNeil defended Lucas' handling of the
Robinson matter. He said the archbishop, who came to Omaha in 2009,
quickly removed the priest from ministry after learning of the Milwaukee
controversy from a former high school student of the priest.
The student also alleged that the priest had given him a back rub, which the archdiocese considered a new allegation.
McNeil
said Lucas acted decisively to protect children, followed policy and
was correct in not immediately divulging the reason Robinson left St.
Gerald.
“There have been enough false allegations in the church
that you have to be discreet and prudent in what you say to a parish,”
McNeil said.
“The allegations could be false, and it could ruin
someone's reputation and career.”
In the Fiala case, McNeil said
church officials, upon learning in 2010 of accusations against him in
Texas, contacted all the parishes where Fiala had worked in the Omaha
Archdiocese to inform the public and invite them to report any
misconduct.
McNeil said it is unclear exactly what was reported to
archdiocese officials in the past about Fiala and what information they
passed on to Texas church leaders.
He said it didn't appear enough
information was shared.
The Omaha Archdiocese recently settled a lawsuit
with the youth who accused Fiala of raping him.
“We felt that we had an obligation to make the situation as right as we could by settling,” he said.