Boston archdiocese offers $55 million to settle lawsuits
BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Archdiocese, after more than a year of embarrassing revelations and arduous efforts to deal with them, has offered $55 million to settle more than 500 clergy sex abuse lawsuits, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.
The offer came Friday, just nine days after Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley was installed as head of the fourth-largest diocese in the United States. Lawyers who represent hundreds of alleged victims said it is unlikely the offer will be accepted in its present form, but they called it a hopeful sign that a resolution was near.
"I look at this as the first responsible proposal that has been made to try to resolve these cases," said Roderick MacLeish Jr., who represents more than 200 alleged victims. "It's certainly not going to be the final one, but it's constructive and it's worth having a dialogue about."
The settlement would resolve claims from men and women who said they were abused as children by about 140 clergy within the Boston archdiocese while church hierarchy routinely ignored the misdeeds. A recent report from the state attorney general estimated that more than 1,000 children were abused over six decades.
The Rev. Christopher Coyne, spokesman for the archdiocese, declined to comment on the proposed settlement, saying both sides had agreed to not publicly discuss negotiations.
If approved, it would be by far the largest deal to settle allegations of clergy abuse since the scandal broke in early 2002. In June, the archdiocese of Louisville agreed to pay $25.7 million to 243 people who said they were abused.
Last year, the Boston archdiocese reached a $10 million settlement with 86 victims of a single priest whose offenses helped touch off the scandal. A previous $20 million to $30 million settlement with those victims fell apart when the church said it couldn't afford it.
It was unclear where the archdiocese would get the money to pay the proposed $55 million settlement. Insurance was expected to cover some of it. Insurance covered all of the $10 million deal.
Some critics have called on the church to sell assets to raise funds. Church officials have repeatedly said they will not use money donated by parishioners to settle claims.
Friday's proposal was delivered during the afternoon by two mediators to about 30 lawyers for the plaintiffs meeting at a downtown Boston hotel. Plaintiffs have 30 days to accept the offer; it would go into effect only if at least 95% of the claimants accept it.
Gary Bergeron, one of 54 people who say they were sexually abused by the late Rev. Joseph Birmingham, called the proposal "a very positive sign," but said it was only a starting point.
"I don't think that any survivor of clergy abuse can be fairly compensated with a check," Bergeron said.
Still, he said, "It's the first time since the scandal was uncovered that I've seen a willingness on the part of the archdiocese to work toward a settlement. I think it's a clear indication that O'Malley came here with one agenda in mind, which was to settle these claims and start some closure and healing for the survivors and for the church as well."
Lawyers for victims, while praising O'Malley for making the offer, made it clear that the terms of the agreement would have to change before it would be accepted by victims.
"It's a step in the right direction, but by no means the end of the journey," said attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents 140 alleged victims.
Attorney Jeffrey Newman, a law partner with MacLeish, said a committee made up of five plaintiffs' lawyers will review the proposal and respond to the archdiocese. He said all the plaintiffs' lawyers will gather Wednesday to discuss the proposal.
A resolution to the cases has been elusive since the crisis exploded in early 2002. It forced Cardinal Bernard Law to step down as archbishop in December, apologizing as he did so for the church's failure to protect children and punish priests.
The sex abuse scandal had gripped the archdiocese, leading to the release of thousands of pages of personnel files late last year that detailed a range of misdeeds by clergy that went unpunished by church hierarchy driven to keep allegations secret to avoid scandal.
Law's interim successor, Bishop Richard Lennon, consistently said a settlement was a priority. In February, lawyers for the archdiocese and the alleged victims agreed to suspend action on about 400 cases for 90 days in hopes that negotiations would yield a settlement.
But that lull in legal action came and went without an agreement, and it took until O'Malley's installation last week before negotiations bore fruit.
O'Malley's appointment brought new hope — particularly since the 59-year-old Franciscan friar had successfully negotiated a settlement with victims of the Rev. James Porter in Fall River in the early 1990s.
"The whole Catholic community is ashamed and anguished because of the pain and damage inflicted on so many young people and because of our inability or unwillingness to deal with the crime of sexual abuse of minors," O'Malley said in his homily during his installation.
The $10 million settlement reached in September 2002 was to compensate victims of former priest John Geoghan. The crisis was touched off by Law's admission that he reassigned Geoghan despite accusations of sex abuse.
It quickly mushroomed as similar cases were brought to light, and then spread to other dioceses as Catholics demanded greater accountability from their leaders.
At least 325 priests of America's 46,000 priests were removed from duty or resigned in the year following the Geoghan case because of molestation claims.
In the Boston archdiocese alone, an investigation by state Attorney General Thomas Reilly indicated that more than 1,000 children were likely victimized by more than 235 priests and church workers from 1940 to 2000.
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Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Friday, August 8, 2003
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Boston Archdiocese Installs New Leader
Boston archdiocese installs new leader
BOSTON (AP) — Sean Patrick O'Malley begged forgiveness from the victims of clergy sexual abuse Wednesday as he was installed as the new Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston and promised a new start for a community fractured by scandal.
Newly-installed Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley prepares communion during his first mass as the new archbishop of Boston.
By David Ryan, AP
During a ceremony marked by simplicity and humor, O'Malley asked for prayers and help as he tries to rebuild the archdiocese, heal the wounds of victims and restore the confidence of ordinary Catholics.
O'Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan friar, also made it a point to thank "so many good priests struggling to make sense out of it all," a remark which drew sustained applause from the approximately 900 clergymen in the audience at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
"The whole Catholic community is ashamed and anguished because of the pain and damage inflicted on so many young people and because of our inability or unwillingness to deal with the crime of sexual abuse of minors," O'Malley said in his homily.
"To those victims and to their families, we beg forgiveness and assure them that the Catholic church is working to create a safe environment for young people."
O'Malley, 59, is the sixth archbishop of Boston, and has one of the best reputations among national Catholic leaders for dealing with abuse-related issues.
He succeeds Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in December as evidence mounted that church leaders shuffled abusive priests from parish to parish to keep allegations against them secret and spare the church scandal.
More than 500 lawsuits are pending from people who claim they were sexually abused by priests over the past six decades. A report by the state attorney general said it's likely more than 1,000 people were abused by hundreds of priests since 1940.
The installation ceremony at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross was low-key in comparison to the usual pomp and circumstance, in keeping with O'Malley's humble demeanor as a friar and in deference to the victims of abuse.
O'Malley also asked to be called by his first name, and will be known as "Archbishop Sean."
Gary Bergeron, 41, who said both he and his younger brother were sexually abused by the late Rev. Joseph Birmingham in the 1970s, was one of dozens of alleged victims who were invited to attend the installation ceremony. Some chose to decline the invitation, but Bergeron attended with his parents.
"I think that his message was on target on all aspects," Bergeron said of O'Malley's homily. "Today is the first time I've felt a compassion from a church official in a long, long time."
The ceremony had some light moments, as when O'Malley — who has had assignments in Florida and the Caribbean — talked about the "lovely vacation spots" where he has served as bishop.
"My Provincial used to say, 'O'Malley, when will get a real job?' Well, Brother Paul, does this count?" O'Malley said, prompting laughter from the crowd of 2,500.
Several dozen protesters were stationed outside. It's been a familiar scene outside the cathedral — where the archbishop traditionally celebrates Mass — and many returned to remind the church they remain skeptical of its efforts to heal those harmed by decades of abuse.
One sign read: "Different robe, same secrets," a reference to O'Malley's trademark brown robe of the Capuchin order.
John Harris, 45, of Norwood, who says he was abused by the Rev. Paul Shanley, was among those outside the cathedral.
"Inside there, nothing holy is going on," Harris said. "This is damage control. There will be no justice until we see people behind bars."
O'Malley was tapped by the pope in 1992 to clean up the mess left in the Fall River Diocese by serial pedophile priest James Porter. Last October, he was sent to Palm Beach, Fla., where his two immediate predecessors resigned after confessing to molesting children.
In Fall River, O'Malley was praised for reaching out to victims and instituting reforms that included mandatory background checks and abuse prevention training.
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Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.
BOSTON (AP) — Sean Patrick O'Malley begged forgiveness from the victims of clergy sexual abuse Wednesday as he was installed as the new Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston and promised a new start for a community fractured by scandal.
Newly-installed Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley prepares communion during his first mass as the new archbishop of Boston.
By David Ryan, AP
During a ceremony marked by simplicity and humor, O'Malley asked for prayers and help as he tries to rebuild the archdiocese, heal the wounds of victims and restore the confidence of ordinary Catholics.
O'Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan friar, also made it a point to thank "so many good priests struggling to make sense out of it all," a remark which drew sustained applause from the approximately 900 clergymen in the audience at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
"The whole Catholic community is ashamed and anguished because of the pain and damage inflicted on so many young people and because of our inability or unwillingness to deal with the crime of sexual abuse of minors," O'Malley said in his homily.
"To those victims and to their families, we beg forgiveness and assure them that the Catholic church is working to create a safe environment for young people."
O'Malley, 59, is the sixth archbishop of Boston, and has one of the best reputations among national Catholic leaders for dealing with abuse-related issues.
He succeeds Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in December as evidence mounted that church leaders shuffled abusive priests from parish to parish to keep allegations against them secret and spare the church scandal.
More than 500 lawsuits are pending from people who claim they were sexually abused by priests over the past six decades. A report by the state attorney general said it's likely more than 1,000 people were abused by hundreds of priests since 1940.
The installation ceremony at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross was low-key in comparison to the usual pomp and circumstance, in keeping with O'Malley's humble demeanor as a friar and in deference to the victims of abuse.
O'Malley also asked to be called by his first name, and will be known as "Archbishop Sean."
Gary Bergeron, 41, who said both he and his younger brother were sexually abused by the late Rev. Joseph Birmingham in the 1970s, was one of dozens of alleged victims who were invited to attend the installation ceremony. Some chose to decline the invitation, but Bergeron attended with his parents.
"I think that his message was on target on all aspects," Bergeron said of O'Malley's homily. "Today is the first time I've felt a compassion from a church official in a long, long time."
The ceremony had some light moments, as when O'Malley — who has had assignments in Florida and the Caribbean — talked about the "lovely vacation spots" where he has served as bishop.
"My Provincial used to say, 'O'Malley, when will get a real job?' Well, Brother Paul, does this count?" O'Malley said, prompting laughter from the crowd of 2,500.
Several dozen protesters were stationed outside. It's been a familiar scene outside the cathedral — where the archbishop traditionally celebrates Mass — and many returned to remind the church they remain skeptical of its efforts to heal those harmed by decades of abuse.
One sign read: "Different robe, same secrets," a reference to O'Malley's trademark brown robe of the Capuchin order.
John Harris, 45, of Norwood, who says he was abused by the Rev. Paul Shanley, was among those outside the cathedral.
"Inside there, nothing holy is going on," Harris said. "This is damage control. There will be no justice until we see people behind bars."
O'Malley was tapped by the pope in 1992 to clean up the mess left in the Fall River Diocese by serial pedophile priest James Porter. Last October, he was sent to Palm Beach, Fla., where his two immediate predecessors resigned after confessing to molesting children.
In Fall River, O'Malley was praised for reaching out to victims and instituting reforms that included mandatory background checks and abuse prevention training.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.
Monday, July 21, 2003
No Charges for Boston Church Leaders
BOSTON (AP) — Top officials in Boston's Roman Catholic Archdiocese will not face criminal charges for keeping abusive priests in church parishes, a spokesman for the attorney general said — a major blow for alleged victims who hoped church leaders would be held accountable.
Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for more than 100 alleged abuse victims, expressed disappointment upon hearing word that a state attorney general's report to be released this week would rule out charges.
"Given the number of tragedies that have occurred by these sexual molestations and the allowance of these sexual molestations, many of my clients were hoping that there would be indictments so church leaders and individuals would be held responsible," he said.
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly's report, based in part on an investigation by the state grand jury he convened, suggests changes to prevent future abuse but stopped short of charges, according to WBZ-TV of Boston, which cited an unidentified source who has reviewed the document.
Reilly spokesman Corey Welford told The Associated Press on Sunday that the attorney general would not immediately release the document, but confirmed that the television report was accurate.
Archdiocese spokesman the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne said he could not comment until the report was made public.
Gary Bergeron, 41, one of 54 men who say they were abused by the late Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham, said he never expected top church officials to be charged.
"I am not surprised there are no indictments because of the way the laws were written," Bergeron said. "But it's unfortunate that, for all intents and purposes, men who agreed to sanction the abuse of children throughout the years cannot be indicted."
The grand jury investigated whether the former Boston archbishop, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, and many of his top aides, some of whom are now bishops in other dioceses, could be held criminally responsible for moving priests from parish to parish even when they knew of abuse allegations. Law was among those who testified before the grand jury.
Reilly said in April that it would be difficult to indict church supervisors for allowing abusive priests to remain in parish work because of weak child protection laws in Massachusetts when the abuse took place. Reilly came to the same conclusion after the grand jury investigation, according to the report.
Law resigned as archbishop in December, after nearly a year of criticism over his role in allowing abusive priests to remain in parish work. Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley was named July 1 as his successor, and will be installed as archbishop at the end of the month. Bishop Richard Lennon has served as interim head of the archdiocese since Law's resignation.
In addition to Law, at least eight other top officials in the Boston Archdiocese were subpoenaed to answer questions about their handling of complaints against priests, including the Rev. Thomas V. Daily, now bishop in Brooklyn, N.Y.; the Rev. Robert J. Banks, now bishop in Green Bay, Wis.; and the Rev. John B. McCormack, now bishop in Manchester, N.H.
The attorney general's report suggested ways to prevent future abuse, including increasing penalties for failing to report suspected abuse and getting the church and laity to work more closely together to prevent abuse.
The archdiocese has instituted its own abuse policies, which Reilly has criticized as not tough enough.
After the abuse crisis broke last year, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law that requires clergy members to report child sex abuse to state officials. Physicians, social workers, police officers and other professionals already had been required to make such reports.
The archdiocese is facing about 500 civil suits from alleged victims of clergy sex abuse. Church officials have repeatedly said they remain committed to working toward an out-of-court settlement.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.
Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for more than 100 alleged abuse victims, expressed disappointment upon hearing word that a state attorney general's report to be released this week would rule out charges.
"Given the number of tragedies that have occurred by these sexual molestations and the allowance of these sexual molestations, many of my clients were hoping that there would be indictments so church leaders and individuals would be held responsible," he said.
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly's report, based in part on an investigation by the state grand jury he convened, suggests changes to prevent future abuse but stopped short of charges, according to WBZ-TV of Boston, which cited an unidentified source who has reviewed the document.
Reilly spokesman Corey Welford told The Associated Press on Sunday that the attorney general would not immediately release the document, but confirmed that the television report was accurate.
Archdiocese spokesman the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne said he could not comment until the report was made public.
Gary Bergeron, 41, one of 54 men who say they were abused by the late Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham, said he never expected top church officials to be charged.
"I am not surprised there are no indictments because of the way the laws were written," Bergeron said. "But it's unfortunate that, for all intents and purposes, men who agreed to sanction the abuse of children throughout the years cannot be indicted."
The grand jury investigated whether the former Boston archbishop, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, and many of his top aides, some of whom are now bishops in other dioceses, could be held criminally responsible for moving priests from parish to parish even when they knew of abuse allegations. Law was among those who testified before the grand jury.
Reilly said in April that it would be difficult to indict church supervisors for allowing abusive priests to remain in parish work because of weak child protection laws in Massachusetts when the abuse took place. Reilly came to the same conclusion after the grand jury investigation, according to the report.
Law resigned as archbishop in December, after nearly a year of criticism over his role in allowing abusive priests to remain in parish work. Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley was named July 1 as his successor, and will be installed as archbishop at the end of the month. Bishop Richard Lennon has served as interim head of the archdiocese since Law's resignation.
In addition to Law, at least eight other top officials in the Boston Archdiocese were subpoenaed to answer questions about their handling of complaints against priests, including the Rev. Thomas V. Daily, now bishop in Brooklyn, N.Y.; the Rev. Robert J. Banks, now bishop in Green Bay, Wis.; and the Rev. John B. McCormack, now bishop in Manchester, N.H.
The attorney general's report suggested ways to prevent future abuse, including increasing penalties for failing to report suspected abuse and getting the church and laity to work more closely together to prevent abuse.
The archdiocese has instituted its own abuse policies, which Reilly has criticized as not tough enough.
After the abuse crisis broke last year, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law that requires clergy members to report child sex abuse to state officials. Physicians, social workers, police officers and other professionals already had been required to make such reports.
The archdiocese is facing about 500 civil suits from alleged victims of clergy sex abuse. Church officials have repeatedly said they remain committed to working toward an out-of-court settlement.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
A Priest's Accusers Find Solace in Numbers
A Priest's Accusers Find Solace in Numbers
By PAM BELLUCK
Published: December 31, 2002
New York Times
BOSTON, Dec. 30— Every year, Gary Bergeron has a Christmas party at his home in Lowell, a working-class city about 25 miles northwest of Boston. But this year, the guest list was markedly different.
There was Bernie McDaid, who remembers being molested by the Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham as an 11-year-old altar boy at St. James church in Salem -- sometimes in the sacristy, sometimes in the cloakroom and sometimes in the priest's gold Plymouth.
There was Thomas Blanchette, who says Father Birmingham molested him and his four brothers at Our Lady of Fatima church in Sudbury. And Olan Horne, who says he was molested by Father Birmingham at St. Michael's church in Lowell. And Paul Ciaramitaro, who says the priest molested him at the beach and on the rectory couch at St. Ann's church in Gloucester.
''Ninety percent of the guys who were at the party this year were guys who were victims of Father Birmingham,'' said Mr. Bergeron, who says the priest repeatedly assaulted him and his brother in the Lowell church. ''Before March, I'd never seen them before, but now I feel I've known some of them my entire life.''
Drawn together by their claims of devastation at the hands of a single priest, more than 50 men formed the Survivors of Joseph Birmingham this spring as they and other accusers of Father Birmingham, who served in half a dozen parishes until his death in 1989, came forward in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal.
Since then, the group, whose members are plaintiffs in abuse lawsuits against the archdiocese, has been the most organized group of abuse plaintiffs. They meet virtually every week, press for the archdiocese to pay for victims' psychological counseling, and have lobbied Cardinal Bernard F. Law to apologize to victims and take responsibility for his part in allowing abusive priests to serve in parishes.
An archdiocese spokeswoman has in the past declined to discuss the accusations against Father Birmingham because they are in litigation. The archdiocese has settled at least one case involving Father Birmingham, paying $60,000 in 1996 to a man who claimed he was molested as an altar boy in the 1960's.
Following Cardinal Law's resignation earlier this month as archbishop of Boston, the Survivors of Joseph Birmingham have turned their attention to those who served as the cardinal's top aides and went on to run their own dioceses. The group plans to try to meet with each of the bishops and ask that they explain their actions in abuse cases.
''The clergy have to be accountable to us for what happened,'' Mr. McDaid said. ''They owe us an apology and we don't want a public statement or to read it in the newspaper. We want it personal.''
The group's first priority is Bishop John B. McCormack of Manchester, N.H., who they believe could have stopped Father Birmingham's abuse as far back as the 1960's because Bishop McCormack went to seminary with Father Birmingham, served as a priest and lived in the rectory with him at the Salem church, and later was one of Cardinal Law's administrators handling complaints of sexual abuse.
They have also set their sights on Bishop Robert J. Banks of Green Bay, Wis., and Bishop Thomas V. Daily, who heads the diocese in Brooklyn.
When Bishop Banks, who was vicar for administration for the archdiocese in the 1980's, was informed in 1987 of a mother's accusations that Father Birmingham molested her son, he wrote a memorandum that seemed to express insufficient urgency, Father Birmingham's accusers say. ''I spoke to Joe Birmingham,'' he wrote. ''He admitted there had been some difficulty. He agreed it would be helpful to resign from the parish and to seek assessment and therapy.''
Church documents do not indicate that Bishop Daily played a direct role in dealing with Father Birmingham, but Father Birmingham's accusers believe the bishop bears some responsibility as chancellor and vicar general from 1973 to 1984.
But the group's activism has not followed the traditional route of the angry protester. Unlike many accusers of other priests and many victims' advocates, the Survivors of Joseph Birmingham were not among those calling loudly for Cardinal Law's resignation or demonstrating outside Boston's cathedral.
Instead, the Birmingham group has taken a decidedly more diplomatic approach. Individual members met several times with Cardinal Law, sometimes bringing family members who they felt deserved an apology.
They persuaded the cardinal to attend a meeting in October of dozens of accusers of Father Birmingham and their families, the first and only time the cardinal ventured out of the chancery to meet with a large group of abuse victims. At that meeting, they told the cardinal that a more sincere public apology was needed and the next Sunday he delivered one in an emotional statement from an altar in the cathedral.
Members of the group even crossed protest lines to attend Mass on occasion, where they would sit in front and buttonhole Cardinal Law to express their concern about, say, the possibility that the archdiocese might file for bankruptcy.
''We never set out to put Law out of business or take him down,'' Mr. McDaid said.
Mr. Bergeron said: ''We realized that if we were going to get anything done we would have to open up a dialogue. We needed to let the archdiocese know that somebody had to take a high road here.''
That approach has angered other victims and more confrontational advocacy groups, to the point that, Mr. Bergeron said, the group has gotten nearly 100 ''hate mail'' lettersand e-mail messages.
''We've taken a lot of whacks on the head,'' Mr. Horne said. ''A lot of the people are saying 'They're just playing you for public relations. You're working with the enemy.' We say, 'You got to be kidding me. We're victims. We're not going to be conned again.' ''
It is not that the Birmingham group has had any particular background in what Mr. Horne called its ''more tactical'' strategy of dealing with church officials. Most of the Survivors of Joseph Birmingham are working men: a butcher, a house painter, a construction worker.
''This is like the Bowery meeting Cardinal Law,'' Mr. Horne said. ''We're not eloquent statesmen. This is Joe Sixpack coming to see you.''
But, mostly in their 40's, they are some 10 years older than many of the other priest accusers who have come forward publicly. And, unlike other notorious figures in the abuse scandal, like the Rev. John J. Geoghan and the Rev. Paul R. Shanley, the villain in their stories is dead.
''The younger a man is, the more likely he is to lash out,'' Mr. McDaid said.
Mr. Bergeron said that perhaps unlike younger men, ''I realize I'm not going to live forever, and there's been enough destruction in my life.''
In fact, Mr. Ciaramitaro, at 31 the youngest member of the group, conceded he was initially the angriest. But now, he believes ''the way we go about doing things is a lot smarter because we're talking, we're not yelling and screaming. It's the only way they'll listen to us.''
Several members said they wished Father Birmingham were still alive and could face criminal charges like Father Geoghan and Father Shanley. Mr. Horne said that at least 10 members have relatives buried near Father Birmingham, an especially disturbing encroachment of their nightmares onto their personal lives.
And several said they believed their devout parents had anchored them with a sense of respect for the hierarchy, though at least a few long ago stopped attending church.
When group members began calling the archdiocese, ''they were in total lockdown,'' ducking the calls, Mr. Horne said. ''We just kept saying: 'Well, there's more guys out here than you think. If you would just communicate with us you'd tone things down a little.' ''
At first, the group was mostly concerned about the way people reporting abuse accusations were treated. The members helped persuade the archdiocese to move its victim outreach office off chancery grounds, set up a 24-hour hot line, and pay for inpatient therapy and other services.
Eventually, Cardinal Law agreed to meet with them and their families.
''If Reagan and Gorbachev can sit in a room and make an agreement to end the cold war, I could sit in a room with this man who I didn't agree with and I didn't have to like in order to get something accomplished,'' Mr. Bergeron said.
He said he came away ''convinced that if the cardinal had the opportunity to meet other people like he had met me and they had open and honest discussions with Bernard Law the man as opposed to Bernard Law the archbishop, that there was some healing to be achieved.''
After Cardinal Law resigned, the group focused on Bishop McCormack, holding a news conference in New Hampshire to distribute church documents its members say incriminate him. One member, James Hogan, insisted that then-Father McCormack saw Father Birmingham take him to his bedroom in the Salem rectory in the 1960's.
The group said that in 1970, when some Salem mothers met with Father McCormack to complain about Father Birmingham, he told them to contact Father Birmingham's new parish in Lowell.
And in 1987, after a complaint about Father Birmingham in Gloucester, the archdiocese sent him to treatment, but later allowed him to return to a parish. In one 1987 letter, Father McCormack appeared to take Father Birmingham's word that there was no reason for a father to be concerned that his son might have been molested.
A spokesman for Bishop McCormack, Patrick McGee, said that the bishop ''never saw or suspected any abuse on Father Birmingham's part'' in Salem and that in 1970, when the mothers complained he contacted Father Birmingham's pastor in Lowell. Mr. McGee said he did not have enough information to comment on the 1987 documents.
While most Birmingham group members believe Bishop McCormack should resign, they have, for now, not called for him to do so. Instead, they have been granted a meeting with the bishop.
''We want to put the facts out and say to him, 'Stand there and tell me you should be in charge for this reason,' '' Mr. Horne said. ''If it's a good reason, I'll listen. But I feel McCormack should take an example from Law and say, 'You know what, I shouldn't be doing this job.' And if he does that, that starts a trend for other bishops to follow.''
By PAM BELLUCK
Published: December 31, 2002
New York Times
BOSTON, Dec. 30— Every year, Gary Bergeron has a Christmas party at his home in Lowell, a working-class city about 25 miles northwest of Boston. But this year, the guest list was markedly different.
There was Bernie McDaid, who remembers being molested by the Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham as an 11-year-old altar boy at St. James church in Salem -- sometimes in the sacristy, sometimes in the cloakroom and sometimes in the priest's gold Plymouth.
There was Thomas Blanchette, who says Father Birmingham molested him and his four brothers at Our Lady of Fatima church in Sudbury. And Olan Horne, who says he was molested by Father Birmingham at St. Michael's church in Lowell. And Paul Ciaramitaro, who says the priest molested him at the beach and on the rectory couch at St. Ann's church in Gloucester.
''Ninety percent of the guys who were at the party this year were guys who were victims of Father Birmingham,'' said Mr. Bergeron, who says the priest repeatedly assaulted him and his brother in the Lowell church. ''Before March, I'd never seen them before, but now I feel I've known some of them my entire life.''
Drawn together by their claims of devastation at the hands of a single priest, more than 50 men formed the Survivors of Joseph Birmingham this spring as they and other accusers of Father Birmingham, who served in half a dozen parishes until his death in 1989, came forward in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal.
Since then, the group, whose members are plaintiffs in abuse lawsuits against the archdiocese, has been the most organized group of abuse plaintiffs. They meet virtually every week, press for the archdiocese to pay for victims' psychological counseling, and have lobbied Cardinal Bernard F. Law to apologize to victims and take responsibility for his part in allowing abusive priests to serve in parishes.
An archdiocese spokeswoman has in the past declined to discuss the accusations against Father Birmingham because they are in litigation. The archdiocese has settled at least one case involving Father Birmingham, paying $60,000 in 1996 to a man who claimed he was molested as an altar boy in the 1960's.
Following Cardinal Law's resignation earlier this month as archbishop of Boston, the Survivors of Joseph Birmingham have turned their attention to those who served as the cardinal's top aides and went on to run their own dioceses. The group plans to try to meet with each of the bishops and ask that they explain their actions in abuse cases.
''The clergy have to be accountable to us for what happened,'' Mr. McDaid said. ''They owe us an apology and we don't want a public statement or to read it in the newspaper. We want it personal.''
The group's first priority is Bishop John B. McCormack of Manchester, N.H., who they believe could have stopped Father Birmingham's abuse as far back as the 1960's because Bishop McCormack went to seminary with Father Birmingham, served as a priest and lived in the rectory with him at the Salem church, and later was one of Cardinal Law's administrators handling complaints of sexual abuse.
They have also set their sights on Bishop Robert J. Banks of Green Bay, Wis., and Bishop Thomas V. Daily, who heads the diocese in Brooklyn.
When Bishop Banks, who was vicar for administration for the archdiocese in the 1980's, was informed in 1987 of a mother's accusations that Father Birmingham molested her son, he wrote a memorandum that seemed to express insufficient urgency, Father Birmingham's accusers say. ''I spoke to Joe Birmingham,'' he wrote. ''He admitted there had been some difficulty. He agreed it would be helpful to resign from the parish and to seek assessment and therapy.''
Church documents do not indicate that Bishop Daily played a direct role in dealing with Father Birmingham, but Father Birmingham's accusers believe the bishop bears some responsibility as chancellor and vicar general from 1973 to 1984.
But the group's activism has not followed the traditional route of the angry protester. Unlike many accusers of other priests and many victims' advocates, the Survivors of Joseph Birmingham were not among those calling loudly for Cardinal Law's resignation or demonstrating outside Boston's cathedral.
Instead, the Birmingham group has taken a decidedly more diplomatic approach. Individual members met several times with Cardinal Law, sometimes bringing family members who they felt deserved an apology.
They persuaded the cardinal to attend a meeting in October of dozens of accusers of Father Birmingham and their families, the first and only time the cardinal ventured out of the chancery to meet with a large group of abuse victims. At that meeting, they told the cardinal that a more sincere public apology was needed and the next Sunday he delivered one in an emotional statement from an altar in the cathedral.
Members of the group even crossed protest lines to attend Mass on occasion, where they would sit in front and buttonhole Cardinal Law to express their concern about, say, the possibility that the archdiocese might file for bankruptcy.
''We never set out to put Law out of business or take him down,'' Mr. McDaid said.
Mr. Bergeron said: ''We realized that if we were going to get anything done we would have to open up a dialogue. We needed to let the archdiocese know that somebody had to take a high road here.''
That approach has angered other victims and more confrontational advocacy groups, to the point that, Mr. Bergeron said, the group has gotten nearly 100 ''hate mail'' lettersand e-mail messages.
''We've taken a lot of whacks on the head,'' Mr. Horne said. ''A lot of the people are saying 'They're just playing you for public relations. You're working with the enemy.' We say, 'You got to be kidding me. We're victims. We're not going to be conned again.' ''
It is not that the Birmingham group has had any particular background in what Mr. Horne called its ''more tactical'' strategy of dealing with church officials. Most of the Survivors of Joseph Birmingham are working men: a butcher, a house painter, a construction worker.
''This is like the Bowery meeting Cardinal Law,'' Mr. Horne said. ''We're not eloquent statesmen. This is Joe Sixpack coming to see you.''
But, mostly in their 40's, they are some 10 years older than many of the other priest accusers who have come forward publicly. And, unlike other notorious figures in the abuse scandal, like the Rev. John J. Geoghan and the Rev. Paul R. Shanley, the villain in their stories is dead.
''The younger a man is, the more likely he is to lash out,'' Mr. McDaid said.
Mr. Bergeron said that perhaps unlike younger men, ''I realize I'm not going to live forever, and there's been enough destruction in my life.''
In fact, Mr. Ciaramitaro, at 31 the youngest member of the group, conceded he was initially the angriest. But now, he believes ''the way we go about doing things is a lot smarter because we're talking, we're not yelling and screaming. It's the only way they'll listen to us.''
Several members said they wished Father Birmingham were still alive and could face criminal charges like Father Geoghan and Father Shanley. Mr. Horne said that at least 10 members have relatives buried near Father Birmingham, an especially disturbing encroachment of their nightmares onto their personal lives.
And several said they believed their devout parents had anchored them with a sense of respect for the hierarchy, though at least a few long ago stopped attending church.
When group members began calling the archdiocese, ''they were in total lockdown,'' ducking the calls, Mr. Horne said. ''We just kept saying: 'Well, there's more guys out here than you think. If you would just communicate with us you'd tone things down a little.' ''
At first, the group was mostly concerned about the way people reporting abuse accusations were treated. The members helped persuade the archdiocese to move its victim outreach office off chancery grounds, set up a 24-hour hot line, and pay for inpatient therapy and other services.
Eventually, Cardinal Law agreed to meet with them and their families.
''If Reagan and Gorbachev can sit in a room and make an agreement to end the cold war, I could sit in a room with this man who I didn't agree with and I didn't have to like in order to get something accomplished,'' Mr. Bergeron said.
He said he came away ''convinced that if the cardinal had the opportunity to meet other people like he had met me and they had open and honest discussions with Bernard Law the man as opposed to Bernard Law the archbishop, that there was some healing to be achieved.''
After Cardinal Law resigned, the group focused on Bishop McCormack, holding a news conference in New Hampshire to distribute church documents its members say incriminate him. One member, James Hogan, insisted that then-Father McCormack saw Father Birmingham take him to his bedroom in the Salem rectory in the 1960's.
The group said that in 1970, when some Salem mothers met with Father McCormack to complain about Father Birmingham, he told them to contact Father Birmingham's new parish in Lowell.
And in 1987, after a complaint about Father Birmingham in Gloucester, the archdiocese sent him to treatment, but later allowed him to return to a parish. In one 1987 letter, Father McCormack appeared to take Father Birmingham's word that there was no reason for a father to be concerned that his son might have been molested.
A spokesman for Bishop McCormack, Patrick McGee, said that the bishop ''never saw or suspected any abuse on Father Birmingham's part'' in Salem and that in 1970, when the mothers complained he contacted Father Birmingham's pastor in Lowell. Mr. McGee said he did not have enough information to comment on the 1987 documents.
While most Birmingham group members believe Bishop McCormack should resign, they have, for now, not called for him to do so. Instead, they have been granted a meeting with the bishop.
''We want to put the facts out and say to him, 'Stand there and tell me you should be in charge for this reason,' '' Mr. Horne said. ''If it's a good reason, I'll listen. But I feel McCormack should take an example from Law and say, 'You know what, I shouldn't be doing this job.' And if he does that, that starts a trend for other bishops to follow.''
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