Father Groeschel Goes

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The American Conservative

September 6, 2012, 9:25 AM

By Rod Dreher

Catholic cable giant EWTN has retired Father Benedict Groeschel in the wake of his controversial comments about the sex abuse scandal, which included the following:

“Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer.”

Some Groeschel defenders have said that this is a case in which a 79 year old man who survived a terrible car accident a few years back is mentally off his game, and saying things he doesn’t really mean. Possibly. I think it’s more plausible, however, to believe that Groeschel was in fact less guarded than he normally would be, and said what he actually believes.

That’s the view of a traditionalist Catholic friend of mine who passes along information about Fr. Groeschel’s role in recycling an accused sexual abuser, a priest now running an orphanage in South America. I had lost track of Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity after covering the Society of St. John scandal in Pennsylvania for National Review back in 2002 (links to those stories are no longer available, I’ve discovered this morning). Urrutigoity and the Society stood accused in lawsuits and by others of running a kind of ultraconservative Catholic cult in which boys at a Catholic boarding school served by the Society were sexually abused or at least exposed to extremely inappropriate “grooming” behavior. Bishop James Timlin of the Diocese of Scranton allegedly let them get away with it. His successor as bishop, Joseph Martino, apparently found the accusations credible, in part because of a 2003 letter a traditionalist Catholic priest and former Society member wrote, in which he described the Society as ”a homosexual cult centred on its leading light, Fr. Urrutigoity.” That priest, Fr. Richard Munkelt, added:

“Eventually, I came to realize that there was involved here – as incredible as this may seem – a pedagogy, indeed even a theology of pederasty.”

Martino suppressed the Society, forcing its disbandment. From a recent newspaper account of the mess [see Catholic sex scandal touched Milford on Father Eric Ensey page], which is still in the courts:

The society’s Shohola project imploded after a federal lawsuit was brought in 2002 by “John Doe,” a Saint Gregory’s student, and his parents, against Urrutigoity, Ensey, Timlin, the Diocese of Scranton and others.

The suit alleged that Urrutigoity and Ensey offered “spiritual direction” to the student by sleeping with him at Saint Gregory’s Academy and at the Shohola property, and that both priests sexually assaulted him.

Testimony in that case brought at least three similar claims of bed-sharing and sexual advances to light.

In 2002, Timlin suspended Urrutigoity and Ensey from their ministries and sent them to Southdown Institute in Canada for psychological evaluations.

Southdown specializes in treating clergy who have sexual boundary problems.

Attorneys for the diocese fought to keep the results of those evaluations out of evidence in the federal suit, which was settled in 2006, reportedly for more than $400,000.

Results of those evaluations are revealed in a stack of evidence in Bond’s Pike County case.

Minutes from a March 2002 Diocese of Scranton independent review board, summarize the evaluations by Southdown Institute:

The institute “strongly recommended that (Ensey) undergo residential treatment to address severe anxiety and depression” that was the result of repressed sexuality. The evaluation said Ensey’s sexual attraction toward adolescent boys is “a stage he appears to be locked into.”

And it recommended Ensey “be strictly prohibited from any public ministry of any kind; he should have no contact with any young person.”

The evaluation of Urrutigoity said: “In view of the credible allegation from the seminarian (John Doe), his admitted practice of sleeping with boys and young men and the troubling evaluation by the Southdown Institute, Father Carlos Urrutigoity should be removed from active ministry; his faculties should be revoked; he should be asked to live privately.”

These recommendations did not bring an immediate end to their priesthoods or the society, however.

Bishop Martino released Urrutigoity to go to Paraguay, but according to a 2011 Vancouver Sun report, Martino wrote to his Paraguayan counterpart and warned him against Urrutigoity. The Paraguayan bishop, a member of Opus Dei, nevertheless allowed Urrutigoity to reconstitute the Society under his authority, and made him a monsignor. Today, incredibly, Urrutigoity and company operate an orphanage. Eric Ensey, Urrutigoity’s American friend and Society cohort, was defrocked by the Church last year over sex abuse allegations, and has been raising money for the orphanage and the Society’s seminary in Paraguay.

So where does Fr. Groeschel come into all this? Here is a Spanish-language document containing a 2008 statement by the Paraguayan bishop attesting to Urrutigoity’s good character and denying the accusations against him as a smear campaign. Note this part (the translation is via Google):

8.8. ’As is standard in such cases, also carried extensive psychological evaluations Urrutigoity Father. For more objetivad and independence of criteria, there were two independent evaluations of one week each: one conducted by the Rev. Father Benedict Groeschel, a Franciscan priest and psychologist renowned in the U.S., and the second, by the Psychological Southdown Institute in Canada. The two agree categorically clear in priest’s heterosexuality, and that there are pathologies. To not unduly, quote only one passage of the reports (Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, Ed.D., Counseling Psychologist, 27 October 2001): “With respect to the concerns raised against him about sexual immorality some have argued, there is no indicator of something like this … some right-wing conservatives are so paranoid that they are perfectly capable of killing someone’s good name, with absolutely no evidence but their own suspicions … I have not seen anything in these tests and reports that may indicate a hint of homosexual tendencies.”

That is not what the Southdowns report says, if the press accounts are accurate. I would like to see Groeschel’s entire evaluation of Urrutigoity. I find it remarkable (to use the most diplomatic word I can find) that Fr. Groeschel apparently dismissed the testimony of a number of Catholics with direct personal knowledge and experience of Urrutigoity and his modus operandi as the product “right-wing paranoids.”

Father — sorry, Monsignor — Urrutigoity, with all those pederastic red flags waving in his background, is today allowed to run an orphanage (!) in Paraguay in part because Fr. Benedict Groeschel professionally vouched for his character and psychological soundness. This raises several questions:

1. What role has Groeschel, a priest and psychologist, played over the years in psychologically evaluating accused priests, and giving them a release (or not) to serve in active ministry?

2. How good has Groeschel’s judgment in these cases been? That is, what is his record?

3. What are Groeschel’s true beliefs about the nature of clerical sexual abuse, and how did they affect his professional evaluation of troubled priests?

4. To what extent has Groeschel’s status among conservative Catholics given his professional judgments about particular priests and the abuse scandal in general authority among conservative-leaning bishops and others?

UPDATE: Here is Dallas Morning News reporter Brooks Egerton’s 2003 story on the role Fr. Groeschel played in the scandal to that point. To repeat something I posted here the other day: in 2002, Egerton contacted me at National Review, introduced himself over the phone, and told me he was working on a story about Groeschel. He said that he had been trying for some time to reach Groeschel to get his (Groeschel’s) side of the story, but Groeschel was dodging him. Did I have any contact with Groeschel, Egerton asked, and if so, would I be willing to call Groeschel and encourage him to respond to the reporter’s questions? I didn’t know Groeschel and had no contacts with him, so I couldn’t help Egerton. The point of my bringing this up here is that despite Groeschel’s later claims, after the story came out, the reporter made multiple efforts to reach him to get his side. Groeschel tried to impugn the integrity of a journalist who was doing his best to be fair.

From the 2003 piece:

In the world according to Father Benedict Groeschel, the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal is largely the stuff of fiction. Reporters “doing the work of Satan” are driven to lie, the New York priest says, because they hate the church’s moral teachings.

These are not the opinions of a marginal figure. Indeed, Father Groeschel is one of the most prominent priests in America, reaching millions with his books, tapes, parish lectures and regular appearances on the Eternal Word Television Network.

… For all his commentary on the crisis, Father Groeschel has revealed few details about his role as a player in it: He has been a key figure for 30 years in the loose-knit nationwide network of therapists who have helped troubled priests keep working.

More below the jump:

The Franciscan friar’s base is a mansion on Long Island Sound, where he runs the Archdiocese of New York’s spiritual development office and Trinity Retreat Center for clergy. There, according to his own written account, he has counseled hundreds of his brethren and “happily, 85 priests have returned to the active ministry.”

… Leaders of the neighboring Diocese of Paterson, N.J., one of several that sent business to Father Groeschel, blamed three “unfortunate” reassignments on his advice. Two of those priests were subsequently accused of misconduct in their new jobs.

“We relied on his recommendations,” said Marianna Thompson, spokeswoman for Paterson Bishop Frank Rodimer. Father Groeschel used words such as “transformation,” she said, and helped arrange transfers between dioceses.

More:

Mark Serrano, who also has said that Father Hanley abused him as a boy, questioned Father Groeschel’s sincerity. His skepticism, he said, is based on an experience he had after his family’s complaints led Bishop Rodimer to suspend Father Hanley.

In 1986, the year after the abuse complaints, Mr. Serrano agreed to talk to Father Groeschel, who was counseling Father Hanley. Mr. Serrano, who was then a college student, said he thought the counselor “wanted more information” for therapeutic purposes. Instead, Mr. Serrano said, Father Groeschel lashed out at him.

“He said, ‘Why don’t you stop harassing this poor priest? He’s a sick man. You are wrong for what you’re doing to him.’ ”

Monsignor Kenneth Lasch, a Paterson diocesan priest, said he had urged Mr. Serrano to talk with Father Groeschel because the friar had expressed pastoral concern for Mr. Serrano – “something like, ‘Mark seems to be a troubled person.’ ”

Hearing Mr. Serrano’s account of what ensued “left me very, very uncomfortable,” Monsignor Lasch said, “and made me wonder what was going on” at Father Groeschel’s retreat center.

More:

 Officials in the Diocese of Paterson, N.J., blame these three reassignments on Father Benedict Groeschel’s advice.
The Rev. John Picardi transferred from Boston to the Paterson Diocese in the early 1990s after being accused of raping a man. Father Groeschel wrote Paterson Bishop Frank Rodimer a letter saying that “there was no indication of any involvement with a minor or a nonconsenting adult,” although he apparently knew that the accuser felt violated. Another church document indicates that while supervising the priest’s treatment, Father Groeschel had once called a Boston archdiocesan official to ask whether the accuser was “still angry” and “in a litigious stance.”

Marianna Thompson, spokeswoman for Bishop Rodimer, said he learned of the rape allegation only after Father Picardi was accused in 1995 of touching a girl improperly in the Paterson Diocese.

Father Picardi has denied abusing anyone. Neither allegation resulted in criminal charges, although Ms. Thompson said that Bishop Rodimer and New Jersey child-welfare authorities concluded that the priest should not work in a parish.

Father Picardi later got a job in the Phoenix Diocese, which removed him last month after Boston attorney Roderick MacLeish Jr., who represents many of the victims in that archdiocese’s sex abuse scandal, obtained and released his personnel file. Father Picardi could not be located for comment.

The Rev. Patrick D. Browne transferred from the Paterson Diocese to the New York Archdiocese in the mid-1990s because of affairs with two women, said Ms. Thompson. He allegedly repeated the misconduct with a woman who was seeing him for marriage counseling and was cited in a legal action brought in New York by her husband.

Father Browne was removed again and is not working as a priest currently, Ms. Thompson said. He did not return a message left for him with his diocesan superiors. The spokeswoman said Bishop Rodimer told the New York Archdiocese about Father Browne’s past, and relied on Father Groeschel’s feeling that his client could recommit himself to celibacy.

The Rev. James Hanley moved in the mid-1980s from the Paterson Diocese to the Diocese of Albany, N.Y., after admitting he had sexually abused boys. He then suffered a physical collapse while working as a hospital chaplain and was recalled to New Jersey.

Before the transfer to Albany, “Groeschel told us that the basis of [Father Hanley’s] problem was alcoholism,” Ms. Thompson said, “and that once he was treated he felt he would be fit for ministry.” He has not been criminally charged. Father Hanley, who recently asked to be removed from the priesthood, could not be reached for comment.

Fr. Groeschel’s response to this article is here. [see below]

___________________________

Fr. Benedict Groschel: Response to Brooks Egerton’s March 2, 2003 Article in Dallas Morning News

Free Republic website

http://www.franciscanfriars.com/ ^ | Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel CFR, Ed. D.

Posted on March-06-03 11:29:10 AM by Polycarp

Response to Brooks Egerton’s Article of March 2, 2003 in the Dallas Morning News

The headline of this article claiming that I played down the abuse crisis is an absolute untruth. Anyone reading my books or listening to my talks on this subject knows that this is utterly untrue, that it is a smear.

I must respond carefully to the rest of Egerton’s article because of professional confidentiality. I cannot even acknowledge that I spoke to certain people because of their right to privacy.

A few obvious points:

Egerton says that according to me the sexual abuse scandal is “largely the stuff of fiction”. Any honest person reading my book From Scandal to Hope (Our Sunday Visitor Press 2002) will see that this is a complete distortion, an almost incredible denial of what my book is about. I do stand by my statement that the secular media have taken the scandal out of proportion, ignored many charges of abuse of minors and committed by others in professional roles, created the impression that this is only a problem of Catholic clergy. Writers as varied as George Weigel, Philip Jenkins, Andrew Greeley, Richard Neauhaus and Peter Steinfels have all been critical of the media coverage of these scandals.

I agree with the assessment of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Dean of the College of Cardinals on this issue:

“In the United States, there is constant news on this topic, but less than 1% of priests are guilty of acts of this type. The constant presence of these news items does not correspond to the objectivity of the information nor to the statistical objectivity of the facts. Therefore, one comes to the conclusion that it is intentional, manipulated and that there is a desire to discredit the Church. It is a logical and well-founded conclusion.” Cardinal Ratzinger characterizes the media coverage as a planned campaign.

A number of factual distortions should be indicated. Egerton mentions that 85 priests have returned to the active ministry through Trinity Retreat, implying that some of these priests had difficulties with minors. These were priests on leaves of absence, not priests who had been accused of any misbehavior at all.

I have not been the director of Trinity Retreat for ten years. This retreat for priests has never has been referred to before as a mansion. In fact, I don’t even live in the building, I have lived for years in the garage.

I did not decline to be interviewed. I never spoke to Mr. Egerton because I was not at home when he called. After this article I am grateful to God I did not talk to him.

Fr. Richard Brown never assisted in the management of Trinity Retreat. He did typing and recorded reservations for priests coming on retreat. He lived a most prayerful and ascetical life while here and he had done so for many years before as many people have said. He did no pastoral work in the New York Archdiocese, nor did anyone ever request permission for him to do so.

I cannot comment on the allegations of the representative of the Paterson Diocese, except to say that my role is significantly misrepresented. I have requested a formal clarification.

I can say Morgan Kuhl never received any treatment from me and was in fact directly enrolled in a formal treatment program elsewhere. We provided a supervised residence, which the court agreed to continue.

As to the issue of my not having a license: a Doctor of Psychology does not need a license unless he is receiving third part payments for instance from an insurance company or an agency. I never intended to receive any pay doing psychological counseling or spiritual direction, so I never bothered about a license. In fact I have never been paid a cent for my services that Mr. Egerton refers to as “business”. It is not uncommon for professors of psychology not to obtain licenses to practice, because clinical practice is not our principal vocation.

I stand by what I have written in From Scandal to Hope.

Mr. Egerton’s article is a prime example of the hostility, distortion and planned attack on the Catholic Church in the United States by certain segments of the media.

I also wish to acknowledge the support and encouragement of countless numbers of people whom I meet in my preaching travels and who only recognize me as a Catholic priest and religious. People when they warmly greet me they are at least four times more friendly than they were two years ago. The American people have a sense of fair play and many of them, including many clergymen of other denominations have indicated to me that they believe Catholic priests are being victimized by an abuse of the power of the media.

Of course I will keep Mr. Egerton in my prayers for himself and his personal intentions. This is required by the gospel. He’s also done me a favor proving the adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity. In the Sermon On The Mount, (Matthew 5:11) Jesus reassures us when He says, “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is very great in heaven.”

2 Responses to Father Groeschel Goes

  1. Sylvia says:

    Here is a good account of Father Groeschel and his dealings with the Society of Saint, specifically Father Urrutigoity. Note the following quote which is a google translation from Spanish:

    To not unduly, quote only one passage of the reports (Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, Ed.D., Counseling Psychologist, 27 October 2001): “With respect to the concerns raised against him [Father Urrutigoity] about sexual immorality some have argued, there is no indicator of something like this … some right-wing conservatives are so paranoid that they are perfectly capable of killing someone’s good name, with absolutely no evidence but their own suspicions … I have not seen anything in these tests and reports that may indicate a hint of homosexual tendencies.”

    I am in the process of trying to get a copy of the original English Groeschel report.

    Father Groeschel was wrong.  As you will see when I get articles and legal documents posted on the Father Eric Ensey page. Father Urrutigoity had indeed been involved in immoral sexual behaviour. There is no lack of accounts of the such behaviour.  Regardless, he has since been promoted to Monsignor and is in charge of an orphanage in Paraguay.

    Note the quote in which Father Greoschell lashed out a a victim:

    ‘Why don’t you stop harassing this poor priest? He’s a sick man. You are wrong for what you’re doing to him.’ ”

    As I said before, I recall Father Groeschel trying to minimize the sex abuse scandal in the Church many years ago.  Here is just a little background which is in keeping with such an attitude.  

    I will not here that I have opened a page for Father Eric Ensey which will eventually contain information on him and the Society of Saint John in General.  There is one article there right now “Catholic sex scandal touches Milford,” but it’s a pretty decent account of the scandal.

  2. Mike Fitzgerald says:

       To find out that the former Fr. Urrutigoity, the owner of a VERY troubling title from Southdown, who has a penchant for “sleeping” with young boys, was promoted and now runs an orphanage, makes my blood run cold.
         What person in their right mind would put an obviously seriously disordered and troubled man in this position? Oh My God!!!!!! This is akin to taking a serious alcoholic, making him or her go “dry” for a couple of days, then promoting them to manager of the local liqour store!!!
         The church continues to deny the absolutely horrible effects of sexual abuse on our young people. The harm lasts a lifetime, and it appears the church doesn’t care.  Mike.

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