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PATERSON, N.J. -- Emotions ran high in New Jersey last weekend when a defrocked priest came face-to-face with his alleged victims and their families.

Several men who claim they were molested as boys by Roman Catholic priests came to a New Jersey neighborhood Sunday to warn residents about one of the clerics, who has recently moved into the area. They eventually were confronted by the priest, who said he had abused some children during his career, but claimed the protesters had exaggerated his actions.

Many of the men claim they were abused from 1968 to 1982 by James T. Hanley, who served at three northern New Jersey parishes. Hanley was removed from the priesthood in 2002, 17 years after church officials learned of complaints against him.

The men, along with several supporters from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), were distributing fliers that detailed their accusations against Hanley when he drove by and saw them.

The chance encounter was caught on tape as Hanley confronted angry members of his community and stared down the father of three molested boys.

"You are sick. You are a rapist. You raped my son when he was 9 years old," the man said.

"You're a liar," Hanley responded.

Hanley told the group they had been exaggerating his actions. He also said some of those who claimed they were abused by him were not being honest.

More than two dozen men who said they were abused by Hanley sued the Paterson Roman Catholic Diocese and agreed to a $5 million settlement last year. They claimed that church officials, including former Bishop Frank Rodimer, failed to take action to protect the youths.

Hanley was not sued because he cooperated with the plaintiffs, providing a statement detailing sexual acts he did with about 20 of the boys. The statement also said he admitted to Rodimer in 1984 that he had molested about a dozen boys.

Prosecutors said they could not bring criminal charges against Hanley because the statute of limitations had expired.

They eventually were confronted by the priest, who said he had abused some children during his career, but claimed the protesters had exaggerated his actions.
dam n them, sue them i think
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There is an edit button... :cryhug_1_:

Edited by GreasyTech
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hey now when you reply to yourself it goes in another post

darn

Quite a conversation you're having excie ;)

So they can bring a civil suit 20 years later and sue for money, but too late for criminal charges? I guess they had help from the one guy confessing. Was there any sex with juvenilles from the twi gang? Or is this not even the point of this topic?

I do remember one young teen girl on the microphone (from the audience, with VP and all sitting up front) bragging at Corps week ('84 or '85?) about the sexual exploits of the younger teen Corps kids. Something about how they did everything ... she got a huge applause as I recall. That seemed pretty odd to me even then ... I never heard of adults with underage kids though, of course VP liked to call us his kids yuch ...

How would you feel giving money to a church that just paid out millions for their priests' molesting children? :( What a mess.

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I find it amazing, that the *mother church*

Catholicism

won't allow their priests to marry,

and relieve themselves of all this unneccesary

CRAP that they are subjecting themselves to.

But then again -- I left the Catholic church

in the 1970's.

They haven't changed for centuries.

Who am I to expect them to do so in decades???

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Detroit bishop reveals he was once abused by priest

By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

A 75-year-old Detroit Catholic bishop stunned his church, Ohio legislators and victims of sexual abuse nationwide Wednesday when he revealed one reason he supports victims' rights to sue, no matter how long ago the abuse occurred: He was molested by a priest more than 60 years ago.

bishop-inside.jpg Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, 75, of Detroit speaks Wednesday at a press conference in Columbus, Ohio.

By Kiichiro Sato, AP

"I have more insight into why it is so difficult for victims to come forward within the legal time limits, to expose themselves, open up their privacy to the public," Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton said.

When he was a 14-year-old student in a high school seminary, Gumbleton said, a professor in his 40s took him to a cottage, wrestled with him and put his hands down his pants.

"I knew it wasn't right, and I didn't want it to happen anymore," he said in a telephone interview before a news conference in Columbus, Ohio.

There, he joined with the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests in lobbying the Ohio House of Representatives. The House is considering legislation, already passed unanimously by the state Senate, to open a one-year window in the statute of limitations on sexual abuse by clergy.

Gumbleton is the first bishop to publicly support such a window. Ohio bishops, like the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, are adamantly opposed.

"I am not out to get the Ohio bishops, but I care about these victims. I have a deep sense of compassion for how difficult it has been for them," he said.

As a teenager, he said, he was troubled but not traumatized, and he never told his parents about the incident. The professor, whom he did not identify, died a decade ago, he said. He thought but never knew for certain that no one else was victimized.

"We all think we were the only one," said Barbara Blaine, founder and president of the abuse survivors network.

Gumbleton argued that full disclosure of the abuse is essential to hold perpetrators and the church accountable, heal victims and restore the church's "moral credibility" at a time when "more than a few feel that church social teachings ring with hypocrisy."

In a written statement released earlier, Gumbleton said he spoke only for himself, as a priest for 49 years, a bishop for 37 years, and "out of my own experience of being exploited as a teenager through inappropriate touching by a priest."

"It might seem easier to keep the evils hidden, to move on and trust that the future will be better. But I am convinced that a settlement of every case by our court system is the only way to protect children and to heal the brokenness within the church," he wrote.

But Mark Chopko, general counsel for the bishops group, said Wednesday that creating a window for litigation is "fundamentally unjust," and he wondered whether Gumbleton "thought through all the implications" of such legislation.

"His whole life has been committed to helping the poor and those disserved by society. What happened to him was wrong. But this 'window' is also wrong," Chopko said.

"It won't protect one more child in the USA."

The abuse scandal has cost the church more than $1 billion in settlements with victims, care and counseling for victims and priests, and prevention programs.

Three dioceses facing claims — Portland, Ore., Tucson and Spokane, Wash. — have filed for bankruptcy, and the Archdiocese of Boston shuttered dozens of parishes. In California, which changed its law in 2003 to allow more than 800 accusers to file suit, hundreds of negotiations are stalled in a battle between the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and insurance companies over liability for claims.

More than 5,000 priests abused more than 11,000 minors in a 55-year period, according to a study sponsored by the bishops and conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The bishops also instituted an elaborate prevention and reporting program in every parish and an annual national audit of bishops' compliance.

"The church is fundamentally committed to a just resolution of these claims," Chopko said, even when they are "desperately out of date and barred by the statute of limitations."

Chopko said the window "undermines these efforts" while prompting "an outpouring of litigation," driving dioceses to or over the edge of bankruptcy.

"It could result in an disruption in parish life, or cutback in services to save money. The people who bear the brunt sit in the pews today and those, by and large, are the poor and the vulnerable."

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grease tech i just did the same thing on another post and it included it in my original post

rhino, you're so funny

what was my point ? friggin priests and "fathers" in the whatevers i guess

token catholic, there will always be 1 or maybe 2 who show remorse or compassion or who have been there whatever

if we ever did a study about how many pedophiles / perverts are priests, forget it

with plenty of p's in my family, believe me

but hey, i'm coming from a way different place than you are

what does that make me ? your token person who knows just how f'd up the catholic church is ? wink

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