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The church settles

Two serial criminals plus appalling supervision equals tragedy

Rocky Mountain News

Published July 2, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Years ago at the height of publicity regarding the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, when dioceses such as Boston, Dallas and Louisville seemed to be imploding under the weight of devastating accusations, it appeared that Denver was one of the fortunate oases to escape such turmoil.

The mirage was not to last. It was shattered three years ago when lawsuits began to be filed against the archdiocese regarding the conduct of two priests, one dead and the other soon to die - Leonard Abercrombie and Robert White - dating back to the 1950s.

Other lawsuits followed alleging the sexual abuse of minors by both men. They pushed Denver into the ranks of dioceses facing wrenching decisions over how to handle the predatory behavior of priests and the apparently complacent reaction by their superiors at the time - who in this case also happen to be deceased.

Tuesday, the archdiocese managed to put most of the crisis behind it when it announced that it had agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle 18 claims of sexual abuse, all but one of which involved Abercrombie and White, dating from 1954 to 1981. The announcement follows the settlement last year of a number of other claims involving the same two men - bringing the total church outlay to more than $8 million.

Only two sexual abuse claims remain unresolved, one of which also involves Abercrombie and the other Thomas Barry, who is also dead.

What to make of this tragic saga?

To begin with, sexual predators who wear a clerical collar, just like their counterparts elsewhere, tend to be serial offenders who individually are capable of wreaking harm upon a shocking number of victims. There have been many priests in the Denver diocese during the past 54 years - indeed, there are more than 300 today - but the grotesque, repeated criminal behavior of two of them managed to inflict lasting damage not only to the victims who emerged in the past few years but to the image, mission and economic vitality of the entire institution they once allegedly served.

Second, even allowing for the fact that the claims involve incidents that occurred a minimum of 27 years ago, when the general understanding of how to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct was clearly different from today, the decision to keep the likes of White and Abercrombie in active ministry at the time is almost unfathomable.

Archbishop Charles Chaput, who arrived in Denver only in 1997, says he can't explain the decisions, either, and is reluctant to speculate what those in authority were thinking because they aren't around to speak for themselves. That's understandable, but we'll take a stab at characterizing their appalling lapse in judgment. Those church leaders who failed to report White and Abercrombie to the police were either woefully naive - convinced, for example, that the culprits would reform themselves given a second, third or fourth chance and a dose of stern counseling - or they were self-protective, self-deluded or perhaps outright cynical.

Indeed, maybe the motives involved a combination of all of the above.

Chaput is confident that a similar scandal involving multiple incidents of sexual abuse could not occur today if any were reported to the archdiocese. That's because its policy is to take such reports immediately to authorities. Indeed, the archdiocese wised up nearly 20 years ago and adopted procedures to minimize the likelihood that another serial offender would be indulged.

Although those policies were too late for the victims of sexual abuse during previous decades, they may comprise the most notable positive legacy to emerge from the church's scandal of sexual abuse.

Comments

  • July 2, 2008

    4:49 a.m.

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    LOUIE writes:

    I have a measure of great respect, knowing the honor Archbishop Chaput has carried himself, to see him humbled by the cardinal crimes against humanity greatest gift, the children. Folks, I can kick many a man for thier actions, but this archbishop is coming clean to the house for something even he adhors. What these priests have done throughout the church, is make the road of honor, for so many who truly bow to God, that much harder. Now as I profess my belief before others as a catholic, I know, as the well as the archbishop knows, the crimes of these priests, will never truly be paid for. The church and her faithful servants, will suffer the rebuke of all, for a crime that prevails in every disipline of human endeavor; with only one exception I know of: none of the Godfathers of the ruling crime families of Sicily and America, nor the made men of these families, has ever been convicted of child molestation. Wonder why that is? Every profession but the mob elite. Must be the whacking you get by your own pals...

  • July 2, 2008

    8:07 a.m.

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    Faux_Noise writes:

    More than 30 years ago when one of my science teachers was accused of innaprorpiate behavior on a camping trip, he was gone so fast you could feel the breeze.

    Were allegations of sexual abuse so mysterious 27 years ago that the church couldn't figure out how to handle them, or is that a pathetic rationalization by Vince and the Ed board? Let's Think.

  • July 2, 2008

    1:14 p.m.

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    vudumom writes:

    I am in NO WAY making excuses for the church or it's abusive backgrond. That being said, if you change the names and the names of the institution in the editorial and replace them with the words society, police, lawyers , our lawmakers, our judges and our parole boards, the editorial paints a picture that is happening all over America and right here in the state of Colorado. The sexual abuse of children by ANYONE is horrible. Not only was it denied and hidden by the church, at the same time it was reflective of what was and is still going on in our society.
    Nothing has changed. We still live in a society where even though we know for a fact that child sexual predators cannot be rehabilitated and leave a trail of victims behind them and will work on mastering their skills after the get out of prisons, we continue to deny, give them chance after chance and a dose of stern counsiling. The judges ,lawyers, legislators and parole boards continue to put children at risk because of self protective,self delusion and outright cynacism of the justice system in this country.
    If the Catholic Church can pay victims of sexual child abuse monetary damages. Shouldn't our government and justice system be held liable for allowing the very same thing the Catholic Church is being denounced for. What is the difference?

    If you change the names to lawyers,judges, legislators parole boards etc... The story is the same. Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.

    As far as the church is concerned. In my opinion, ANYONE who is still a practicing catholic now contributing to the continued abuse of children. You cannot forgive something so henious that went on for so many years. It's unforgivable. Everytime a catholic walks into church, I feel they are condoning what the church did for so many years. I for one cannot get my head around that. Even the Pope at the time was condoning it. How can anyone worship in a church of unspeakable horrors? I cannot get my head around that.

  • July 2, 2008

    1:28 p.m.

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    CoLoradoCitizen writes:

    Professor: Atheists are more intelligent than believers

    Statistically, atheists have a higher intelligence than people with a strong religious faith. The difference is 5.8 points, according to a new study by the Danish professor of developmental psychology, Helmuth Nyborg.

    The type of intelligence that he measures is the so-called g-factor, which is a measure of the ability of the brain to handle complex information.

    The study was conducted at Aarhus University using American data from more than 7000 subjects.

    Is atheism a new leap in evolution or is the concept of "god" a delusion as Dawkins claims? A controversial Danish professor now hints that people with lower intelligence may be attracted to religion.

  • July 2, 2008

    1:44 p.m.

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    rightwingnut writes:

    CoLoradoCitizen
    You honestly expect us to respect a study using someone else's data whithout wanting to know a little more about the integrity of said data?

  • July 2, 2008

    1:49 p.m.

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    vudumom writes:

    I'm not so sure about atheist's being more intelligent than church goers but it has been my experience that church goers definately lack critical thinking skills.

  • July 2, 2008

    2:36 p.m.

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    jjez writes:

    Being Catholic and not inclined to marry meant that you were EXPECTED by your family and local parish priest to become a priest. Or a nun. If you weren't going to marry and have kids, you had no other alternative, except to be forsaken by your family & church. And being forced to suppress any normal urges for the sake of your "vow" of celebacy causes all sorts of problems! Sadly, the Catholic church is run by an old man who was elected by other old men who have absolutely no clue about the world. They're so cloistered that they think that if the Pope says it must be so, then it must be so. But people who belong to organized religion aren't the only "sheeple" on the planet. Anyone who blindly follows the views of another is no more intelligent than someone who blindly follows a religion. Just because someone is an "athiest" doesn't mean they're any smarter that someone who is "religious". Just look at all the Dems & Reps who argue so vehemently for their views, not being willing to consider any other point of view.

  • July 2, 2008

    8:45 p.m.

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    Sweetpickle writes:

    Well, so far we have "but they do so much good" and "everybody is doing it" as excuses.
    Has anyone found a Bible passage that says it's OK yet?
    Where are the folks that thought the death penalty was a good solution?