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CNN Live At Daybreak
Church Abuse Scandal Leaves Paper Trail
Aired December 04, 2002 - 05:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Back in the United States and turning to the crisis in the priesthood that just won't quit, a shocking picture of clergy's sexual misconduct is emerging from a mountain of church documents that have just been released.
CNN's Boston bureau chief Bill Delaney follows the paper trail of abuse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of pages of documents newly made public from the files of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
DAVID CLOHESSY, ALLEGED VICTIMS' ADVOCATE: What's striking to me, at least, about these documents, the cardinal and other top archdiocesan officials knew far more, far earlier about far more priests and their abusive behavior than the officials have ever let on.
DELANEY: Paper trails in these new documents concerning in all eight priests, like Father Robert Burns, first mentioned in 1982 in the Boston Archdiocese in notes from a meeting of church officials. Highlighted even back then, the priest's "problem with little children." Burns would come to Boston anyway from Ohio in 1982 and serve in two parishes.
RODERICK MACLEISH, PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: I think it's an extraordinary insight into the functioning of this archdiocese.
DELANEY (on camera): How many victims in all in the Archdiocese of Boston in the past quarter century?
MACLEISH: Thousands and thousands and thousands. And we don't know. And we're still counting. And we just don't know.
DELANEY (voice-over): In 1991, after repeated allegations of sexual misconduct, Cardinal Law removed the priest. In 1996, Father Burns was convicted for sexual abuse of a minor. Accusations against another priest in the documents related to his alleged sexual misconduct with young girls. One document marked "personal and confidential" noting "Allegations all revolve around spiritual advice given to vulnerable young girls, which encouraged literal interpretation of the scriptural image of the bride and bridegroom."
The priest wrote this rambling response to the accusations against him that ended his Boston ministry in 1996, saying, "I live my life now as a prisoner of love, not because I chose it, but because Christ permitted it," signing it, "prisoner of love."
Cardinal Law, in his sympathetic reply, wrote, "It is important that all of us be reminded of the pain of those who have been accused."
Plaintiffs' attorneys believe the priest, now in his '70s, lives somewhere in Massachusetts. The archdiocese has declined comment on the new documents.
(on camera): Attorneys who won release of the documents say they plan to depose Cardinal Law about them in coming weeks, as they continue to sift through in all 12,000 documents with information on more than 80 priests.
Bill Delaney, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 4, 2002 - 05:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Back in the United States and turning to the crisis in the priesthood that just won't quit, a shocking picture of clergy's sexual misconduct is emerging from a mountain of church documents that have just been released.
CNN's Boston bureau chief Bill Delaney follows the paper trail of abuse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of pages of documents newly made public from the files of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
DAVID CLOHESSY, ALLEGED VICTIMS' ADVOCATE: What's striking to me, at least, about these documents, the cardinal and other top archdiocesan officials knew far more, far earlier about far more priests and their abusive behavior than the officials have ever let on.
DELANEY: Paper trails in these new documents concerning in all eight priests, like Father Robert Burns, first mentioned in 1982 in the Boston Archdiocese in notes from a meeting of church officials. Highlighted even back then, the priest's "problem with little children." Burns would come to Boston anyway from Ohio in 1982 and serve in two parishes.
RODERICK MACLEISH, PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: I think it's an extraordinary insight into the functioning of this archdiocese.
DELANEY (on camera): How many victims in all in the Archdiocese of Boston in the past quarter century?
MACLEISH: Thousands and thousands and thousands. And we don't know. And we're still counting. And we just don't know.
DELANEY (voice-over): In 1991, after repeated allegations of sexual misconduct, Cardinal Law removed the priest. In 1996, Father Burns was convicted for sexual abuse of a minor. Accusations against another priest in the documents related to his alleged sexual misconduct with young girls. One document marked "personal and confidential" noting "Allegations all revolve around spiritual advice given to vulnerable young girls, which encouraged literal interpretation of the scriptural image of the bride and bridegroom."
The priest wrote this rambling response to the accusations against him that ended his Boston ministry in 1996, saying, "I live my life now as a prisoner of love, not because I chose it, but because Christ permitted it," signing it, "prisoner of love."
Cardinal Law, in his sympathetic reply, wrote, "It is important that all of us be reminded of the pain of those who have been accused."
Plaintiffs' attorneys believe the priest, now in his '70s, lives somewhere in Massachusetts. The archdiocese has declined comment on the new documents.
(on camera): Attorneys who won release of the documents say they plan to depose Cardinal Law about them in coming weeks, as they continue to sift through in all 12,000 documents with information on more than 80 priests.
Bill Delaney, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
