The following article by Marie Coady was
published today, Feb. 4, 2005, in the Daily Times Chronicle, Woburn,
Massachusetts. The article is timely in light of the Shanley trial in MA which
is currently under jury deliberation.
Permission has been granted by the author to forward
this article.
ONE EX-NUN BELIEVES SHANELY TRIAL IS TEST BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL
By Marie Coady
At the end of every e-mail ex-nun Pauline Salvucci sends winging its way across
the Internet is this call to action: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph
is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke
I first came in contact with Pauline Salvucci, a Sister of Divine Providence
from 1961-1979, via the Voice of the Faithful message board more than 2 years
ago. At the time Voice of the Faithful was a fledgling organization formed in
response to the Catholic Church crisis in the Archdiocese of Boston. It was also
a lone voice just beginning to rev up the volume on the church crisis. Since
then that volume has reached decibels loud enough to spread its influence all
over the world.
That was also just about the time that Paul Shanley was handcuffed and brought
before the court to answer for unspeakable crimes. And because Salvucci had had
some direct contact with Shanley between 1971 and 1977 she felt particularly
vindicated by his arrest.
As she said in an interview I conducted with her back in 2002, “I had begun to
see a part of Shanley that I didn't like. He and his friend Rev. Jack White were
closed off, and always seemed so vague. I saw Shanley again when I lived at
Warwick House in Roxbury in 1975, where Jack White was administrator. My
suspicions about them were later confirmed when I read in the newspapers that
White and Shanley had gone to a place in Thailand well known for a wide variety
of sexual traffic, including with young children.”
For Salvucci that was the straw to break the camel’s
back. Since then she has kicked her effort to right the wrongs done by the
Catholic Church up a notch and formed a group called Voices of Outrage. The
centerpiece of her Voices of Outrage Web site (http://www.voicesofoutrage.com)
is her Campaign for Survivor Justice spearheaded by her RICO petition presented
to the President of the United States and the Director of the FBI, a bold move
that has made many, who otherwise support her cause, reticent to put their
signature on the petition.
It is a bold step because the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organization Act) law was initiated to fight organized crime and for many
Catholics, as angry as they are at the actions of the Church, it’s difficult for
them to believe that the hierarchy has become a criminal enterprise.
But as Salvucci explains, “As you learn about the scope of this tragedy, ask
yourself, “Where’s the Justice?” Our RICO Campaign for Survivor Justice Petition
demands that the federal government open an investigation into the Roman
Catholic Church in the United States and you can make a difference by just
signing it.”
And so far more than 800 people have stepped boldly forward and put their
signature where their heart is, with the children who have been irreparably
damaged by sexual abuse. That after all is a goal everyone can stand behind.
Like Salvucci, those who have signed her RICO petition have come to agree that
framing the issue by the RICO definition gets at the heart of the matter. That,
as Salvucci points out “. . . the hierarchy have lied about and covered up these
crimes” against children in their charge. And that, in Salvucci’s estimation,
constitutes a criminal enterprise.
When I asked Salvucci why she initially launched Voices of Outrage, she
explained, “I wanted to focus on the issues that the Catholic abuse scandal
raise for me. Child abuse is a national and an international tragedy. The sexual
abuse of kids in the United States and around the globe has got to be taken more
seriously.”
And she encourages people to think globally punctuating her point with this:
“Add to that the fact that war and natural disasters become a breeding ground
for the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children. I wanted people to be
more aware of these issues, especially Roman Catholics, and I wanted to offer
them a vehicle, the RICO Campaign for Survivor Justice Petition. I also wanted
to highlight the fact that where there's “kiddie” porn there's sexual
trafficking of kids, not just somewhere over there but here in this country as
well.”
But getting people onboard has been a year long struggle by some very dedicated
volunteers and in spite of contacting hundreds of organizations, sending out
information packets and making phone calls, many have been frightened away by
the political ramifications of supporting anything as drastic as a RICO
petition.
As Salvucci explains, “The majority of those I spoke with said it was too much
of a political hot potato and their boards wouldn't support the petition. Other
groups — predominantly Catholic — said that they simply were not interested.
Some Catholic organizations refused to talk with me. As far as individual
Catholics are concerned, my sense is the majority of them, like the hierarchy,
want the world to think the issue of sexual abuse has been resolved in the
church. It hasn't been. Until the federal government opens an investigation into
the American Catholic Church, children will continue to be abused and the
cover-ups and stalling by bishops will continue.”
In light of the uphill battle she faces Pauline Salvucci fights on. She is
indeed on a mission. But recently her dedication paid off when SNAP (Survivors
Network of those Abused by Priests) agreed to join her in her battle by posting
a link to her Voices of Outrage Web site and RICO Campaign for Survivor Justice
petition on their Web site.
Confined now to a wheel chair as the result of a debilitating disease, Pauline
Salvucci remains steadfast in her determination not to be deterred from her
mission to save the children of the world from sexual abuse. She firmly believes
that the battle will not be won unless the Catholic hierarchy is held
accountable for their complicity in the current sexual abuse scandal.
“My mission is to help people understand that working to resolve the issue of
sex abuse by priests, bishops and even nuns is going to take a concerted
political effort. If the laity wants to share in the decision making in the
church, they have to begin to use their voice to make things happen at the
political level. The statutes of limitations have to be changed so that criminal
trials can go forward. Parishioners need to report current sex crimes to the
police and not the diocese. And maybe people have to be a lot less concerned
with what other people in the parish think of them for taking an unpopular
stand.”
Salvucci feels that if the Catholic laity will at least stay informed they will
come to understand the gravity of the situation. They will also come to
understand that the Church will never make things right unless their feet are
held to the fire. She encourages all Catholics, whether they are true believers
or merely filled with deep-seeded doubts, or fear to speak out aloud for fear of
retribution or of being ostracized, that they at least keep informed.
One way to do that is to “read the National Catholic
Reporter Sex Abuse Tracker (http://www.ncrnews.org/abuse/)
and see what's going on in dioceses all over the country. Likewise they should
read The Bishop-Accountability Web site (http://www.bishop-accountability.org/)
and the Survivors First Web site (http://www.survivorsfirst.org/)
“.
But for now, as she watches the Paul Shanley trial unfold, her biggest fear is
that if he is found not guilty, the Church will feel they no longer have to
worry that they too will be held accountable. If that happens, then evil will
indeed triumph over good and good men will learn nothing.
_______________________________
Voices of Outrage: Where's the Justice?
Web site:
http://www.voicesofoutrage.com
E-Mail:
pauline@voicesofoutrage.com
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that
good men do nothing - Edmund Burke