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American Morning
Man, Lawyer Discuss Priest Abuse, Pope
Aired April 05, 2002 - 09:09 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Our big question this hour, will the pope be held responsible for pedophile priests? Well, two lawsuits filed just yesterday claimed the Vatican and the pope are among those responsible for moving pedophile priests, not just to other dioceses but also to other countries to avoid prosecution.
Now, previous lawsuits naming the Holy See have failed because of the Vatican sovereign status. But the plaintiffs claim there is evidence here of an international obstruction of justice.
One of the alleged victims, Rick Gomez, says he was 11 when he was molested by a priest at a Tampa boarding school. The priest was later transferred to a parish in New Jersey. Rick Gomez joins us now from Los Angeles.
Good morning. Thanks for being with us Rick.
RICK GOMEZ: Good morning.
ZAHN: Also joining -- our pleasure.
Also joining us, from Minneapolis, his attorney, Jeffrey Anderson.
Good to see you as well, sir. Thank you for being with us.
JEFFREY ANDERSON, ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF: Good morning.
ZAHN: Rick, describe to us what happened at that boarding school.
GOMEZ: Basically, my abuse started at Mary Christian I'd say about a month after enrolling in the school, after Father Bill, who was a brother at the time, built my trust, built up my respect and slowly started to begin a series of abuse that really lasted all year. Because it was boarding school, it happened at night, during the day.
ZAHN: And you, obviously, felt uncomfortable and you probably new it was inappropriate. Was there anybody there that you could complain to?
GOMEZ: I didn't complain to anyone at the time because these are the people that I looked up to. These are -- I mean this was my priest. This is my mentor. Bill was really the only father figure or dominate male role model in my life at the time. So this is something that, you know, I knew it was wrong. I felt it was wrong but I don't see how it could have been wrong at the time based on the position he held.
ZAHN: And did you express your discomfort to him or did he have so much power over you, you couldn't even do that?
GOMEZ: No. No. I didn't -- I don't think I was able to express my discomfort to him. He really -- he really built up my trust with him. He showed a genuine caring for me. He -- I mean he was truly preying on me. He built up my trust in him. Told me how special I was. Told me how much he cared about me. You know all of that is pretty convincing for a young adult.
ZAHN: So Rick, at what point did you simply get fed up?
GOMEZ: Well, I actually came to terms with it two years after the abuse. In 1989, I filed charges at the Eastern Police Department in Maryland where we lived at the time. Those charges -- I had a statement taken from me at Eastern Maryland. That information was given to the Tampa Police Department.
They, according to the information given to me by the Eastern Police Department, they approached Brother Bill at Mary Christian School. They were told he was not on premises at the time and to come back. Upon return, Brother Bill was sent to New Jersey I believe to avoid prosecution and I was told that the charges didn't warrant the cost of extradition at the time.
ZAHN: I know this has been a very painful process for you and you have described before how this priest would award you with water skiing or special trips if you followed through with what he wanted you to follow through with.
GOMEZ: Right.
ZAHN: What has been at stake for you to take this story publicly?
GOMEZ: Well, something had to have been done. I really felt defeated after being told that my case didn't warrant the cost of extradition. The children around the world, around the country are being molested by priests. There's -- it's not an isolated incident. My case is not special. My case is not any different than the millions of children around the world being abused every day by priests. And it's being completely covered up.
If I molest a child, I go to jail. If you molest a child, you're going to go to jail. And God forbid the media cover any child molestation in the state, whether it's by just a civilian, a Protestant priest, a Methodist minister, a rabbi. They're all going to be caught, convicted and sent to jail. This happens on a daily basis with Catholic priests, and it's being covered up. They're being moved around from parish to parish to parish, across state lines, out of the country at times and they're continuing to be accused of molestation in different parishes. ZAHN: Rick, I know that people have been apathetic towards you and they feel a great deal of sorrow you've been through what you been through. But some of them now feel you've crossed the line in taking on the pope in this case. What do you say to them?
GOMEZ: I can completely understand why a lot of people would say that. I am entering a territory where a lot of people -- I mean, this is -- this is territory that really nobody has gone to and there are a lot of followers of the catholic religion who feel very strongly for and against what I'm doing. And my take on that is people have gone after the priests. People have tried to get justice from the archdiocese. People have tried to get justice from the cardinals and the bishops. Nothing has been done.
Regardless of the outcome of my case, the fact that you had me on, thank you -- the fact that it's getting this much public attention is hopefully raising awareness to the parents of these children, to the children themselves, if they're watching this. And that's really my primary motivation for this is I know if acquaintances of mine who have already come forward since my press conference two days ago saying the abuse has happened with them. And that's really my primary motivation for it.
ZAHN: All right, Jeffrey, we want to bring you into the discussion now. How are you going to try to prove that the pope and the Vatican directed a global conspiracy here?
ANDERSON: Well, I've been working with courageous survivors like Rick for almost two decades. And we've assembled a body of evidence that shows conclusively that is in the Vatican that they make the decisions to move these priests around, ultimately, from country to country, from diocese to diocese and parish to parish.
And the Vatican is also the entity; the pope is the one that requires every bishop in the world to keep secret files of pedophile priests for their use and eyes only and not to release them to authorities anywhere. And frankly, all the evidence leads there and that's why we feel now we have to make the leap and expose the problem both in this country and worldwide.
ZAHN: Jeffrey, we only have about 20 seconds left on the bird. What are the chances -- satellite bird for people who don't understand the silly TV language we use. What are the chances that you'll succeed with Rick?
ANDERSON: Well, I think the chances of success are good. He's already succeeded in telling this story. He's already come forward in breaking the secret and the silence. And I think if we can get the church to do the same thing and open up the way Rick has in a courage and honest way, we have succeeded.
In terms of the legal success, I think that we -- we -- when we sued him 20 years ago here in the USA, they said it couldn't be done. Now that we've sued the Vatican, people are saying it can't be done. I think it can. I think it should. And now is the time to do it. We have the evidence and we're looking forward to a chance to bring it to jury down in there in Florida over and there in Oregon.
ZAHN: All right, Jeffrey Anderson, thank you for stopping by this morning and Rick Gomez I appreciate your candor. I know it's not easy to talk about what you've endured.
GOMEZ: Thank you.
ZAHN: Thank you, again, to both of you. Have a good weekend.
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