This entire posting was sent out as a US group mailing prior to posting here on the Thalamus Center.
FedEx -- Sent to:
Casa Santa Marta
Piazza Santa Marta
00120 Citta del Vaticano
*****************************************************************************
December 30, 2013
Appealing Canonical Proceedings against
Fr. Martin S. Kurylowicz by Bishop Walter Hurley
Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan USA
Dear Pope Francis,
My name is Fr. Marty Kurylowicz, ordained for the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan USA on June 16, 1979. I have always remained an honest and faithful Catholic priest.
I. Introduction
Immediate Need - “Protection of Children” 1997
In March 1997, in good conscience, I felt morally obligated I come out, as a gay Catholic priest, specifically for the immediate need for the protection of children from the lifetime harm caused by antigay social and religious norms based on objective facts. My coming out was well planned out to be educational and informative process that lasted for 8 weeks. It was acclaimed, as being successful by parishioners, the news media and there was no mass exodus from the parish. There was no drop in the parish’s weekly or monthly building debt collections. I made a “wave” risking my life for the protection of children and regrettably the only harsh reactions I received came directly from the Vatican, two months after I came out. I was to be sent way to be re-educated on sexual orientation, lost status for future assignments in the diocese, among a number of other “adverse actions” taken against me - all making it clear to me that my safety and well being was in question remaining in the diocese. Since then for the past 16 years I had endured the severe consequences inflicted on me by the curia of the Vatican. An important note: Bishop Walter Hurley was ordained as a titular bishop of the curia and remains a part of the identified corruption of the curia. In the1980s Hurley also work for Cardinal Ratzinger on the investigation of the co-founders of the New Ways Ministry, a gay Catholic professional educational organization. In October 1997, Ratzinger condemned the work of the co-founders of the New Ways Ministry.
The Consequences for Making “Waves”
Hurley - Manufactures Canon Law Technicality
To Falsely Remove a Priest & Leaves Children Unprotected
I am writing to you personally to appeal Bishop Walter Hurley’s canonical proceedings to remove me from the priesthood. The reason for this appeal is because Hurley completely eliminates from his canonical proceedings the “adverse actions” taken against me after I came out 1997 by the Vatican as having no bearing on removing me from the priesthood. This is Hurley’s arbitrary decision to eliminate the relevance the harsh treatment I received by the Vatican 1997 that completely threatened the future of my safety and well-being remaining in the diocese. This is Hurley’s dishonest manipulation of canon law to eliminate pertinent information in my case in order to then focus on a legal technicality to prosecute me on to remove me from the priesthood. This dishonest manipulation of the law is used endlessly in the secular corporate world to convict people on legal technicalities. However, that does not make it right and it is definitely anything harmless. It hurts everyone. Look at the world today - profits are valued more than people. It may be a legal strategic use of the law, but it is immoral. It is unconscionable immoral when it leaves millions of children globally unprotected from the lifetime harm and violence. It is far worst when it is the Catholic Church that does it and allows it to happen, it only teaches the world that it is okay to do it.
2008 Hurley - Informed - I had No Chance of Appealing to the Curia
I am a nobody, of little consequence to anyone, I am just one of the many little ones in the world. Hurley is arrogant in his use of canon law against me, because he knows with his connections in the curia he can get away with it. Hurley had previously thought it necessary to assure me in 2008 that any appeal I made to the curia concerning him would be delayed, likely indefinitely for years and if I ever did received a ruling it would be his favor. I believe Hurley wanted to impress the fact on me that he was a titular bishop officially representing the curia and his ruling was absolute - meaning I had no other recourse. However, this was before your confirmation 2013 that there is a stream of corruption running through the curia. Here is the outreach of the corruption of the curia and it is lethal not just to me - but to millions. Hurley believes he has complete immunity in the USA. I have done my part to try to expose Hurley’s corruption. He is a problem that needs to be corrected.
It is as important to publicly make known Hurley’s deceptive manufacturing of legal technicalities, as it was for me to come out for the protection of children. We, the Catholic Church, cannot expect the secular world to clean up their act - to start respecting human beings more than profits, if we do nothing to clear up our act, like Hurley and his inside curia accomplices.
Hurley’s US Immunity Discriminating Against Gays & Gay Priests
Hurley believes he has complete immunity in the USA from discriminating against gays including gay priests. However, with the majority of US Catholics supporting the US Senates passing the bill to include sexual orientation as part of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) on November 7, 2013, despite the US Catholic Bishops strong opposition against it - the US Bishops, especially Hurley may felt a shock wave of the imminent threat of losing their immunity for discriminating gays. The US Catholic Bishops would instead be prosecuted for their malicious discrimination against gays, including gay priests. Hurley may have the most to fear, because he began his discrimination against gay people starting in the 1980s working for Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) investigating the New Ways Ministry, co-founders. On February 2, 2010, in a speech Benedict XVI, expressed the same shock wave about the imminent threat of the proposed U.K. Anti-Discrimination Laws, he specifically raised his fears that Vatican could be prosecuted for its stances against gay people.
The US Catholic Bishops were unsuccessful to politically intimidate the US Senate from passing the ENDA bill to included sexual orientation, November 7, 2013. It was again another indication that the powerful political clout that US Catholic Bishops once had has significantly dwindled. They no longer have the backing of the majority of US Catholics supporting their unsubstantiated antigay discrimination tactics. It would seem likely that the US Catholic Bishops are guilty of malicious discrimination against gay people, priests and supporters of gays might be in a panic over the possibility as Benedict XVI indicated in 2010 of being prosecuted for the harm they caused gay people. After this lost to the US Senate on November 7, four days later, from November 11-14, 2013, the US Catholic Bishops met for their fall Conference in Baltimore, which they discussed their fears.
It is likely, not a coincidence that I was sent the intensely forceful threatening and humiliating letter dated November 26, 2013, which I received on December 10, 2013, was a directly related to the fear of the US Catholic Bishops’ failed attempt to successfully intimidate US Senate regarding ENDA. This letter informing me of Hurley’s ultimate attempt to discredit me based on his deceptive use of a canon law technicality to convict me of some wrong doing to remove me from the priesthood seems was sent to me as attempt to regain some political clout back.
The letter dated November 26, 2013 is a no win situation for me and for the protection of children, globally. Returning to the diocese and allowing the formal public humiliation to take place, as if I did something wrong, deserving of removal it would be forcing me to personally denounce the objective facts of sexual orientation for which I came out in 1997 for the protection of children.
Refusing to return would be Hurley’s ultimate attempt to discredit me by removing from the priesthood and thereby discredit the objective facts why I came out - for the protection of children. This would be Hurley’s deceptive actions for which he bears the moral responsibility. However, unlike returning - morally I would not be personally denouncing the objective facts that initiated the immediacy for my coming out 1997 for the protection of children.
The Immediacy of My Appeal - Protection of Children Globally
The reason for the immediacy of my appeal to you - it is directly related to the global protection of children growing up gay. In March 1997 I made a “wave” which the US Conference of Catholic Bishops labeled as “unprecedented.” Based on authoritative data I put my life at risk by ”coming out” as a gay Catholic priest solely to focus on drawing the public attention to the immediate need to protect children growing up gay from the lifetime harm caused by antigay social and religious norms.
Pope Francis Gets The Immediacy - For the Protection of Children
The global public respect you have fearlessly shown, as the leader of the Catholic Church, to all gay people, including gay youth has been “unprecedented.” It has been and continues to be so powerfully healing to all gay people, most especially to children, including their parents, siblings, relatives and friends. You accomplish this by globally reminded everyone how much God loves us all and the degree of love and respect we are to have for every human being. If you were Pope Francis in 1997, I would have had no immediate need to come out as a gay Catholic priest. Every human being beginning from conception needs to feel that they are loved - to grow and love others. We know this as a scientific fact to be true, from retrospective studies of infants orphaned during World War II. Infants having all their physical needs meet, but were otherwise left alone, the death rate was extremely high, a third of the infants died within the first year. The appreciation for your outward expression of love for gay people was shown by the oldest gay publication “The Advocate” in the US listing you as their person for the year 2013. Astounding! Love like water to a dry plant flourishes.
However, in 1997 gay people, especially children at an early age had been forced into a desert to live there for the rest of their lives, with hardly any water. In addition, for nearly the 3 previous decades before they were needlessly being kept in the desert by antigay social and religious norms that were being proven to be unsubstantiated by the emerging authoritative data on sexual orientation.
II. “Coming Out” 1997 - Protecting Children
In March 1997, in good conscience I felt intensely morally obligated to “come out” as a gay Catholic priest to my parishioners at Holy Family Parish in Sparta, Michigan USA. There were two fundamental reasons why I felt so strongly about the decision to come out. First, I knew that my thoughts and reflections were not just passing whims or personal bias. They were based on objective facts. I learned from years of university study, academic research, attendance at national professional conferences, association with community organizations, individual psychotherapy, spiritual direction, and endless prayer, that homosexuality is a normal part of human development. I am aware that this statement is still upsetting to many people.
The second reason why I decided to come out is that I wanted to give people the information I had gained, so that there could be an honest discussion. Above all I wanted people to know that children suffer lifelong harm from being told that they are sinful, bad, defective, or intrinsically disordered. As a priest ordained to bring Christ to others, I knew this was a fundamental duty that I could not escape. I wanted to walk away from it, but I knew I could not sidestep it. To neglect my duty would be to renege on Christ, and how could I live with myself if I did so?
The following is a brief excerpt from an enclosed letter dated July 2010 that I sent to a large number of US public officials including President Obama, Vice President Biden and the Supreme Court Justices:
In March 1997, after attending a National Symposium of the New Ways Ministry that was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I learned that children as young as 4 and 5 years of age know that they are different. This feeling "different" is only identified in their adult years as being gay. However, the harmful influence of antigay social and religious norms -- in particular, for Catholics, the Vatican’s unsubstantiated antigay teachings -- are severe and last throughout a child’s lifetime. The harmful effects are not isolated only to these children who grow up to be gay, but also affect their families, siblings, friends and anyone whom they might consider special in their lives. They are a prescribed societal sentence of implicit isolation, which place at risk of suicide so many innocent adolescents and young adults. They stifle an enormous amount of human potential in the world that otherwise could be put to use for finding cures for diseases, offering better ways of maintaining peace among people and improving the quality of life for everyone in the world...
The thought about coming out had never occurred to me, until I learned how severely children are harmed for life by antigay social and religious norms. It was only then I fully realized the immediacy of my moral obligation to protect children that in good conscience I could not escape I decided to do my duty, as a priest. I professionally planned in great detail the process of my “coming out” to help protect children by educating people on the authoritative facts of early childhood psychological development regarding sexual orientation. I led the open discussions that followed the presentation of these facts, including answering an endless number of questions that seemed for some to relieve them of years of unnecessary stress caused by misinformation and confusion. The whole “coming out” process was surprisingly successful, with no mass exodus from the parish or public protest. I will explain more of the details in this letter.
III. Curia’s “Adverse Actions” Taken - Against Me
After “Coming Out” 1997
It was what followed two months later, after I had come out, that became the only violent reaction to the “wave” I made to protect children globally. My coming out was entirely based on authoritative data, though the adverse reaction to it that I am about to describe has remained ongoing for the past 16 years.
The Force of the Curia’s
Threats, “Adverse Actions,” “Character Assassinations,” & Coverups
On May 19, 1997, I had a meeting with Bishop Robert Rose, because I had reached the end of my 12-year term as pastor at Holy Family Parish, Sparta, MI, and we needed to discuss my next parish assignment or whether I would take a sabbatical first. The meeting was cordial and began with the bishop asking me what I was considering for my next assignment. I explained that I was torn between taking a sabbatical to continue studying psychology or agreeing to be a pastor at a parish in Grand Rapids. Bishop Rose had sent a letter to diocesan clergy presenting a list of open parishes.
Status Plummeted
The bishop responded to me without a hesitation that the parish I was considering might be too complicated for me and that a small parish somewhere up north would be better for me. I was quite surprised by his statement, because previously he had asked me to consider being the rector of the cathedral. The cathedral parish is significantly more complex than the parish I was considering, because the cathedral is not only a parish but also the center for nearly all major diocesan celebrations and activities. I was also surprised by the fact that the bishop did not name any specific parish up north that was open for a pastor.
I was still inwardly reeling from the drastic drop in what had been until then his overall expressed assessment of my pastoral abilities and spiritual integrity; especially in handling extremely difficult and unique situations, as recent as my coming out for the protection of children. Including my demonstrated ability managing to lead an unprecedented parish wide educational process for several weeks on an incredibly controversial social taboo topic - gay sexual orientation in children, as young as 4 and 5 years of age, while at the same time maintaining the stability and spiritual focus of the parish.
Re-education Sabbatical on Sexual Orientation
The bishop then replied about my wanting to taking a sabbatical. He casually informed me that I would be sent away on a sabbatical that would be put together to re-educated me on sexual orientation for a period of six months or more. I was stunned that he would say this to me, after having commenting me for my coming out process. He said as if I would not only notice the striking change in his attitude, but also the unethical and illegal implications of his making such a statement. Though outwardly I maintained the same projected causal manner, as one would do when unintentionally encountering a questionable situation while attempting to assess the degree of danger involved. I did not outright refuse to submit. I respectfully started asking questions, desperately looking for even a nanoscopic grain of sane rational thinking in such an absurd order.
Even though, I was well acquainted with some of best and the brightest people in the field, I never heard and could not even begin to imagine where such a place existed. This was a serious threat made against my personal safety and well being.
Realizing that I was not receiving from the bishop any rational explanation, I then felt a tinge of fright flash through me alerting me of the serious nature of what was happening to me. This process was a violation of my fundamental human rights, taking place behind close doors. I regrettably knew that the future of my safety remaining in the diocese had also plummeted. However, I had no intention of leaving the priesthood.
No US Civil Law Protection - Vatican’s “Adverse Actions”
I then calmly requested to study psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This request caused an uncharacteristic outburst of frustrated anger from the bishop. He said: “I’m not sending you to that secular school.” He then forcefully conveyed to me that my life was in danger. I could be severely hurt by the Vatican, though I foolishly thought to myself at that time in 1997: what could happen to me? After all, I am a US citizen. However, after 16 years I have learned quite well, how a foreign entity, the Vatican’s Curia, has been able to pass through our national defense and severely attack US citizens and then have immunity from prosecution for their crimes because of the separation of church and state. And US citizens who are attacked, like myself, are then not protected by any US civil laws, even if a person has risked his life to protect the lives of defenseless children.
Shortly after the bishop’s outburst he tersely remarked to me, as if the last resort, I thought that you were going to join the monastery. I got the feeling that they just wanted me to quietly get lost, apparently I was too much of a bother for them, because they did know what to do with me. Then like it is now Catholics have much less a problem with gay people than the hierarchy and curia. However, the sexually repressed are dangerous and harmful to others, like the gay closeted sandals of the curia.
Major Shift in My Future Status in the Diocese
It was at this point that I realized a major shift had taken place regarding my future status in the Grand Rapids Diocese and that I was going to be treated as if I had done some serious wrong. It was becoming quite clear to me that I was no longer safe in the diocese. My credibility was being threatened. The fact that the bishop, whom I had known and had been on friendly terms with for nearly 30 years until this meeting, was suddenly telling me such ponderous news in such a nonchalant tone was disturbing to me. It was easy to detect a disingenuous tone in what he was saying, even though his manner was cordial. Anyone who knows this bishop will attest that this kind of severity has never been his style. For this reason, I believe the bishop was not conveying his own personal directives; instead he received his orders from someone in the Vatican.
This shift was so drastic and so camouflaged in pleasantries that it was alarming. If I had done something wrong by “coming out” then the bishop should have said so. No accusation was ever made to me about me personally or about any aspect of my coming out process and yet I was being treated as if there had been. No one said directly: “We are throwing you out of the priesthood because you came out publicly as a gay Catholic priest.” It would have been impossible to make any accusation stick, because I had lived a faithful priestly life. If such a statement had been made, I still would have disagreed with it, but at least it would have been honest and there could have been an open discussion on the issue. However, to eliminate any open discussion is exactly what was and is intended by the curia, even if as a consequence of secrecy, children would left unprotected. But I had not done anything wrong by my “coming out,” unless telling the truth and educating people about protecting children is to be considered wrong. In any organization or business, I along with most people of course would expect such unethical behavior. But we are in the business of the Catholic Church: truth is our foundation and we are especially concerned about the safety and well-being of children.
I received a letter from Bishop Robert Rose commenting me on my pastoral leadership, as pastor of Holy Family Parish, dated May 20, 1997, stating:
I am grateful for the twelve years of pastoral leadership that you have provided to the people of Holy Family. You have given them a sense of stability and progress that they have much appreciated.
I then wrote a letter to Bishop Rose dated June 2, 1997 regarding our meeting on May 19, 1997. Because of his favorable comment in the above letter, I thought it might be an indication that the bishop may have realized his embarrassment for having made such a bizarre and unethical statement to send me away to be re-educated on sexual orientation at our meeting on May 19, 1997 and he just soon not refer to mentioning it again. I thought perhaps he meant be thinking I would be mentioning to the news media reporters that I still had to deal with. I felt embarrassed just being associated with such an absurdity even though it was not my idea. Therefore, I included in this letter I was sending to him, a listing of Catholic Universities that had psychology programs, as alternatives, since he objected to the University of Michigan being too secular. In answer to my letter to Bishop Rose I received his reply in his letter dated June 5, 1997, only to find out that being sent away to be re-educated on sexual orientation was to be enforced. He states,
...what you need, if you are to take a parish assignment in this diocese, is some kind of program that will give you credibility with our priests and people.
Even more starling to me in the same letter he states,
...I am trying to keep you in the priesthood and help you prepare for an assignment in the Diocese in due time.
There had never been any mention that there ever was a problem with my credibility, in my whole life, before or after I was ordained a priest, until Bishop Rose questioned it in his letter to me dated June 5, 1997.
In this letter, he is alluding to our meeting on, May 19, 1997,regarding the extremely intense frustration that was created by his announcement that I would be sent away to re-educated on sexual orientation. Because his re-education announcement was, once again, a complete about-face in his attitude regarding me and my “coming out” that only few days prior he commended me on my 12 years of pastoral leadership at Holy Family Parish, including how much it was appreciated by the parishioners, which was also expressed later in the Grand Rapids Press, June 28, 1997.
I immediately responded to Bishop Rose’s letter dated June 5, 1997, in my letter to him, dated June 9, 1997, stating
I was surprised that you raised the issue of my credibility. The feedback from priests and people has been wide spread support. I have not done anything wrong. I have been and plan on remaining a celibate priest. The issue of homosexuality is quite disturbing for many people. However, I believe we are seeing a much more tolerant view on the issue than ever before. I believe it is the difficulty of this issue itself and not my credibility that is the real challenge.
“Character Assassinations” Threats
My credibility had never ever been in question before or after I came out among colleagues, related pastoral and business associates, medical and mental health professionals, university professors, researchers, and other people who knew me, including previous employers, co-workers and clientele. Raising the issue about my credibility may have likely been meant as a threat to me, to force me into being compliant with the Vatican's directives to be reeducated on sexual orientation. Because when I was first told the directives in the meeting referred to above, I was still enrolled in the same graduate course in psychology at the University of Michigan that I started in January 1997. Therefore, having given up all my free time as a pastor for the past several years to study at the U of M, and having come from that intense academic environment, I hope I can convey just how completely aghast I was at how unbelievably irrational and unethical the whole idea was: being ordered to be sent away to be re-educated on sexual orientation.
Vatican’s Distortion of Reality
What was clear from this point in time 1997 and it remained ongoing to the present, that the issue was not about the Vatican’s concerted effort of discerning truth and responsible leadership in the Catholic Church. Instead, it was about the Vatican’s Curia and the hierarchy's ironclad unanimous acceptance of the distortion of reality (1) of the documented facts of the past 47 years of my life, by questioning my credibility (2) of the authoritative facts on sexual orientation verified by every major medical and mental health associations worldwide and (3) the immediate need to protect children.
IV. My Returning to Diocese - a “Lose, Lose, Lose” Situation
In order for me to protect my life “financially”, however (1) give up my “credibility” the Vatican was forcing me to willingly submit to the unwarranted “adverse actions” of being sent away to be re-educated on sexual orientation, and then in due time to accept assignments in the diocese known to be given to priests with problems. The reason the Vatican was forcing me to submit their unwarranted “adverse actions” because it would be taken as (2) my public denouncement of the authoritative facts on the sexual orientation of early childhood years and the lifetime harm caused to children by antigay social and religious norms for reason why I came out. And if I do not submit to their demands they will destroy my credibility and thereby they hope it would then destroy the reason why I came out to protect children. In either way it is (3) a basic violation my and that of children fundamental human rights.
Refused to be Complicit
Vatican’s Child Abuse Coverup & Criminal Activity
In good conscience, (1) I cannot return to my diocese because by doing so I would be turning my back on the innocent lives of children, for which I risked my life to protect. Returning to my diocese (2) I would also become complicit allowing the life threatening criminal activity of members of curia and their hierarchical accomplices in the USA to go free to continue harming and destroying the lives of other innocent people in the Church. By my refusing (3) to become complicit in the Vatican’s curia criminal activities and instead go public to expose them, it may help to others victims to come forth. It may help to (4) identify the aggressors involved from the curia and hierarchy and see that they are brought to justice, to prevent other innocent people from being so brutally attacked. Also, (5) my refusing to return to my diocese I would not become complicit in yet an even larger global of not only covering up this form of child abuse, but one that the Vatican's curia and hierarchy continually are committing by refusing to renounce the Vatican’s unsubstantiated antigay teachings.
“Twilight Zone” of Vatican
It was shocking for me to all of sudden find myself trapped in this incredulous violent situation that was a blatant violation of all that it means to be Catholic, a priest of Christ. It was like crossing over into the “Twilight Zone,” a place sinister and dangerous, because nothing is the same as it was once known to be making it a place of uncertainty, unpredictability, and fill with ambiguities. Regrettably, this describes the major complaint about the obscurity, the lack of transparency of the Vatican’s Roman Curia’s activities, including the Vatican Bank.
In 1997, the above was hard to believe, but not today 2013 with the Vatican’s child sexual abuse cover-ups exposed in 2002 ongoing thru 2010, the Vatileaks of 2012 and your confirmation that corruption exists in the Curia 2013.
In 1997 and 2006, as it is now 2013, I had no recourse to report the “adverse actions” that were taken against me by the Vatican for risking my life protecting children. There are no USA civil laws to protect the rights of a USA citizen, who is a gay Catholic priest, even if he is risking his life to protect children. On November 7, 2013, the US Senate passed the ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) to include sexual orientation, which was opposed by the US Catholic Bishops, even though there is an exemption made for religious groups.
V. Appealing Bishop Walter Hurley’s Canonical Proceedings
Eliminates the 1997 - Curia’s Attacks against me
I am appealing to you because of the adverse action that was taken against me by the Vatican, beginning in 1997 when I came out. In 2013, at the end stage of the long sequence of actions against me are the current canonical proceedings, orchestrated by Bishop Walter Hurley, aimed at removing me from the active priesthood. However, Hurley omits from his canonical proceedings the adverse action taken against me by the Vatican in 1997, after I came out for the protection of children, as described above. This omission is the root cause that explains my reaction and the behavior that followed, which was self-protective, losing my regular priest salary, I needed to fine employment to support myself. Hurley was aware of this fact. He wanted me to give up my employment working in a mental health clinic to return to diocese - so I would be again dependent on the diocese for financial support. It would put me in the same position I was in 1997 when they threatened my safety and well-being, only now I would be in my mid fifties, which would make it harder to fine employment.
Hurley distorts the truth of my innocence - leaves children at risk
My returning to the diocese without any guarantee of protection from a repeat of the past adverse actions being taken against me would be foolish. And worst it would place children at the risk of life threatening harm, because I would be allowing Hurley to distort the truth of my innocence and thereby publicly discrediting the reason (based on facts) why I came out 1997 - for the protection of children from the unsubstantiated antigay teachings of the Vatican.
Hurley was then able to portray me to the public as obstinate and defiant, unwilling to be obedient to him as my bishop and return to the diocese, need of canonical discipline. This is a malicious tactic that is used over and over again by the curia in the Vatican as revealed in the Vatileaks of 2012. This the stream of corruption that exists in the curia and by extension includes Hurley, as a titular bishop of the curia.
Hurley - Manufactures Canon Law Technicality
Hurley omits the adverse actions taken against me by the Vatican in 1997, but he keeps one fact but separates it from the extenuating circumstances that explains it. He pulls this one fact out of context of the adverse actions taken by the curia against me 1997. This one fact, in context is a self-protective measure necessitated by the harsh reaction taken against me by the curia of the Vatican. Hurley has taken this one fact out of context and then misrepresents it as a willful act of defiance and disobedience on my part. First, in 1997, I am harshly attacked by the curia of the Vatican for “coming out” for the protection of children, then in 2006, and in 2013, I am blamed by the curia, represented by Hurley, for taking measures to protect myself from being attacked by the curia. It is disturbing how similar these attacks of the curia are to the brutality that took place in the Nazi concentration camps, where prisoners were made to work hard passed the point of exhaustion, and if they fell from exhaustion they were beaten or worst shot.
As I explain in this letter, this is the same pattern of repetitive of attacks I have had to endure from members of the curia, like Hurley that has continued ever since I came out for the protection of children. In 1997, I am attacked by the curia, having no recourse then, the same as it is now 2013 - to seek any legal protection, I was left to seek my own protection and when I took measures to protect myself - the curia then blames me for protecting myself from being the attacked by the curia. This is an example of what Hurley is doing by compiling his canonical proceedings to have me remove from the priesthood. This is a corrupted use of canon law that has been a part of the identified corruption of the curia. It is not only dishonest - it is lethal. Hurley’s corrupt use canon law is not just life-threatening to me personally, but he is using it to silence me from speaking out publicly - making “waves” for the protection of children from the life-threatening harm caused by antigay social and religious norms. Hurley’s corrupt use of canon law leaves children globally unprotected.
Hurley’s - Dehumanizing Canon Law Technicalities - Profits Over People
The false account that Hurley gives to this one fact he takes out of context makes it into a severe double attack against me. This is a one-two punch, (1) in May 2006, Hurley uses it to falsely casts me as a disobedient priest, who is refusing to return to my dioceses, which is another severe attack to incriminate me publicly, destroying my credibility. Then (2) in 2012 Hurley uses it as a technical point of canon law as his reason to have me removed from the priesthood. However, the supporting authoritative facts regarding sexual orientation will never be eliminated and will expose Hurley’s strategic use of canon law technicalities to manipulate and obscure the truth. This same type of devious manipulations of legal technicalities to secure a desire outcome regardless of the truth of the situation is used flagrantly in the global secular corporate world - valuing profits over human beings. The global secular world rampantly gets a way using these dehumanizing legal technicalities to ensure their profit while discarding the importance of human life. However, it should absolutely never be used in the Catholic Church, especially when it discards the protection of children like the way Hurley is using it against me.
Dehumanizing Cost Making “Waves” For the
Protection of Children
I made a significant “wave” 1997 for the protection of children, all based on authoritative data, instead of being supported by the Vatican, besides having my regular priest salary taken away - my reputation was severely attacked to destroy my credibility. This has led to the ongoing ramifications that sabotaged my ability to support myself, causing me an unnecessary financial crisis of being debt, left homeless, and the constant related stress has seriously harmed my physical health, now at the age of 63 years old. It has caused me to need multiple hospitalizations in recent years. The details of these facts are all well documented and readily available. It is embarrassing for me to list the damage caused to me for making a “wave” to protect children from of all places - the Vatican. However, this is the only way I am able to afford to expose the effects of this kind of devastating corruption of the curia in the Vatican. Not to expose this devastating corruption of the curia would be immoral. By not doing my best in attempting to expose this lethal corruption of the curia to help stop it, I would then be responsible for all the harm they continue to cause.
I am seeking: (1) the appeal of Hurley’s canonical proceedings to remove me from the priesthood, (2) a plead for the protection for children globally from the unsubstantiated antigay pronouncements, (3) to expose this heinous corrupt use of canon law that has been ongoing, (4) the need for safeguards for sexual orientation to prevent this type victimization by the Vatican, (5) the need for a just reparation made to me to compensate me for the harm, damages caused, to help deter this type violence from happening again and to encourage the safety others who risk making “waves” for the protection and well being those least among us, the fringes of humanity.
VI. Curia’s Covert Attacks Against - Sexual Orientation
US Bishops - Discrimination - Against Gay People
The curia of Vatican made attacks against me beginning in 1997 and for the past 16 years were solely all based on my sexual orientation. I had then, as it has remained for the past 16 years, no legal recourse anywhere to seek legal protection neither from the Vatican or as a US citizen from the United States government.
It has been an ongoing “hate crime” started by the Vatican in 1997 and followed through by Bishop Walter Hurley, all shrouded in the verbiage of deceptive canon law technicalities proceedings. All lasting over 16 years destroying my reputation, means to support myself, causing the foreclosure of my home, the repossession of my car, isolating me from family and friends, leaving penniless and homeless.
The US Catholic Bishops, as recent as November 7, 2013 opposed the US Senate passing a bill to include sexual orientation as part of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). This is continual evidence of the same type hostility directed against gay people by the US Catholic Bishops that is the same as Hurley’s manipulated canonical proceedings to remove me from the priesthood and that is same antigay hostility that has been continuously streaming out from the curia of the Vatican obsessively for the past 3 decades. The curia of the Vatican and US Catholic Bishops voluntarily chose to remain oblivious to lifetime harm caused to children by their obsessive hostility directed towards gay people.
The Corruption & Devastating Harm to Children Caused by
“NOT MAKING WAVES”
I wrote an article, December 17, 2009, describing a major ongoing problem with the hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church that there are no “checks and balances.” This means that there is no oversight monitoring the overall global administration activities of the curia and the hierarchy. When the necessary “checks and balances” are not in place to protect any organization, it leaves "not making waves" the rule that governs the hierarchy and opens the way to many devastating mistakes harmful to everyone and allows corruption to grow.
Key - Curia’s Power - Hiddenness - Groupthink
The corruption of the curia has been infamous for decades, as reported by past and present members of the hierarchy and it the news media. From research data, the key to the curial’s power is dependent upon their hiddenness exercising their organizational oversight, having direct access to the pope at the same time denying access to others. Curial officials stay in power by effectively carrying out orders presumingly from the pope discretely without alienating anyone as they make people fall in line. The curia’s lack of transparency has been verified endlessly regarding their pervasive identified corruption stemming from: the Vatican bank scandals, the global cover-ups of child sexual abuse cases, the character assassinations of their opposition, the gay closeted sex scandals. The curia’s dependency on secrecy in order maintain their power, isolates and insulates them from any needed and valuable outside input. It is a sure-fire recipe for them to become victims of the concept from social psychology known as “groupthink,” resulting in their making decisions that are unintentionally devastatingly violent. The curia, the bureaucracy of one of the world largest religion to fall victim to groupthink can and has had global lethal consequences.
VII. Not Anti-Catholic Church
Exposing Curia Corruption - For Protection of Children
Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis
It is because of the possibility of such global lethal consequences that the curia is capable of causing, especially concerning children, I, therefore, do not believe that it is at all disrespectful or sacrilegious or blasphemous to vocalized to members of the curia - the lifetime harm that is caused to children by their antigay pronouncements. However, not to vocalize such validated life and death concerns to the curia would be a grave unconscionable immoral act of negligence. This would be especially true for me being a Roman Catholic priest, ever more so that I am a gay Roman Catholic priest. Because not only do I have personal experience of this kind of harm, but I also have acquired through the process of removing the plank from my own eye, first, a sizable amount knowledge on the topic of sexual orientation (I explain below). In vocalizing such lethal concerns I followed Christ’s words, of speaking directly to the person, if that fails, then involve 2 or 3 other people in the conversation and if that also fails I then was obligated to speak out publicly.
Many people might find it is much easier to keep silent and “not make waves,” but this is simply not true. Because when people keep silent about such grave issues, especially when children are involved; they are contributing to the dehumanization of all human beings. It is as you have stated, profits have become more valuable than human beings.
Pope Francis - Honesty - Making Waves
First Step to Recovery
It is well known in dealing with any type of addictive behavior, like substance abuse, sexual addiction, etc, and attending such groups as alcoholics anonymous, narcotics anonymous that the first step to breaking the cycle of addiction to allow recovery to begin is dependent on one’s ability of admit there is a problem. Whether it is an individual, or a group or an organization nothing can be begin to change for the better or improve until someone can step back and identify that there is a problem. Then working together to resolve the problem, so that new life can begin.
From research studies from organizational psychology there are ways to setup an organization to build in self-correcting mechanisms. For the past 32 years, regrettably there were no operative self-correcting mechanisms in the curia and we have witness the devastation that ensued.
Pope Francis Identified
Stream of Corruption Running Through the Curia
You had confirmed 2013 that there is a real stream of corruption runs through the curia. Speculating, I would think that your statement was a flashed of light through the darkness in the curia paralyzing much of their power. Your global public statement broke through the thick wall of the lack of transparency surrounding the curia, their hiddenness clearly acknowledging the corruption, though not by self-righteously demonizing anyone and respectfully recognizing the saints who are working in the curia. Your same statement, also, validated those who have been severely victimized, harmed (like myself) by the curia and that is crucial to help and allow healing to begin for victims, including for me. Thank you. You were able to instill hope, by acknowledging and identifying the reality of the problem. This is the first step needed to resolve any problem and to begin rebuilding. From the global exposure of your papal office, the rebuilding you have initiated will progress on many levels, simultaneously.
“Who Am I To Judge?” - Pope Francis
It has been proven over and over again that secrecy is a killer. Jesus had plenty to say on secrecy, hiddenness and roof tops. The Church is durable even though the people inside are flawed, at times severely flawed that is because the Church is built on Christ not on the people. A major confirmation of this that was instantly heard around the world - were implicit in your words, "If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?"
Protecting the Image of the Church
Became more Important than - Protecting Children
For the past 32 years, there was an extreme over emphasis on maintaining a vigilance protecting the image of the Church - or - rather the image of the curia. But the secrecy in protecting the image was so important that it took precedence over protecting the lives of children. This should have alerted someone to step back and voice that something is seriously not working and is wrong, maybe someone did and that person was severely attacked as I have been. The secrecy started to grow possibly along with the fear of exposure and in the end the edifice collapsed, because it was all not built on truth. It can be overwhelmingly difficult to face the truth, especially about one’s self, but almost never is it as bad as living in the pain that secrecy causes and the regret of the wasted years of one’s life.
Honesty is so important in establishing any serious relationship that we want to grow. I think that this would be especially true if you happen to be the pope. Your willingness to admit the truth publicly about the corruption of the curia conveyed a sense of confidence that the Church would not crumble because of it. It seemed that you were more concern about telling the truth than worried about any image. Admitting the truth about the curia - did more to improve the image of the Church, including respect for the papal office than all the secrecy of the past 30 years.
Strength of the Catholic Faith - Pope John Paul II
I feel it necessary to clarify the fact that - I most definitely do not mean that there is any fault with the Catholic faith or the Catholic Church I believe that is solidly built on Christ and is lasting. It is the motivating spiritual force that keeps me moving forward to continue the protection of children, even in the face of Hurley’s deceptive technicalities, including that of his accomplices.
The protection of children is paramount throughout the Catholic faith because it comes right from Christ. It is only when we drift away, individually or as a group from the foundation of the Catholic faith that is Jesus Christ that we run into major problems, always devastatingly harmful to everyone. Because we are no longer building on truth. Pope John Paul II courageously reminded us all just how devastating dangerous this can be - in 2000 he publicly apologized to the world the for the centuries of grievous sins committed by the Vatican representing the leadership of the Catholic Church. The Church did not fall apart after John Paul II made his global apology.
VIII. My “Coming out” was an Educational Opportunity - 1997
In the early stage, for the first two months after I came out in March 1997, there was no negative reaction or repercussions from the parishioners, the diocese, or the wider community. I taught classes on early childhood psychosexual development and led discussions on that subject with my parishioners. People eagerly came to the classes. They learned, they talked openly, they told personal stories about their lives and their concern for their children. It was cathartic. I took great pains to see that my parishioners were not upset. They had been carrying questions for years that no one would answer. There had been no safe place for them to learn or to ask questions. I helped ease their fears. I was able to show them that no one should ever have to hate himself or herself. The meetings and talk sessions were a great success. The parish did not fall apart.
My “coming out” was successful, as reported in the Grand Rapids press, because I based it all on objective, authoritative data on homosexuality and not on my own personal, subjective thoughts and ideas. In addition, it was a tediously thought-out event that followed the rules of effective communication to large organizations. It was fortified by extensive documentation on homosexuality from its origins in early childhood and also by educational classes on the same subject. Each class was offered 3 times a week for two hours in an 8-week course of study. From my background of course work in communication studies, I followed the procedures of how to organize the set-up of an effective “critical team” to maximize the communication of accurate information and minimize confusion, gossip, and inaccurate information. Once inaccurate information takes hold, it is very difficult to counteract it, so I did everything possible to convey accurate information without pressure or rancor and without frightening anyone. The facts are able to speak for themselves.
US Bishops Calls - Unprecedented - My “Coming Out” 1997
My “coming out” was called “unprecedented” by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also reported in the Grand Rapids press. There was no mass exodus of parishioners from the parish. The parish’s weekly general and building debt reduction collections did not drop but remained at the same level of income.
My principles also remained the same. Through everything that followed, I continued in the conviction that my duty as a priest was to meet the needs at the fringes of society, especially where children are concerned. It was my calling. It was innate in me to meet the needs of people. I was pledged to serve others. To do anything less would be unconscionable.
Why The Vatican Did Not Know???
From all the study, conferences, consultations, and community work I did, I became painfully aware of the devastating, lifelong harm caused to LGBT people, beginning in their early childhood years, by antigay social and religious norms. I had an ever-present question in my mind, wondering why the Vatican was not aware of the same harm, and why the necessary steps were not taken to insure the safety of children, because this information had been readily available for the past 3 decades, in the mainstream of academic, medical, and mental health awareness. Somehow in the process of re-education I was supposed to become complicit in the denial of the harm to children, and somehow I was supposed to forget the core reason for being a priest, which is to live for others, take care of the poor, protect children, and advocate for people who are defenseless. I was supposed to accept the condemnation of me as if I were doing something wrong. Then, forcing me to apologize for, to beg forgiveness for my attempt to save children, was equivalent to wanting me to sin against my being a priest, in effect to become complicit in another form of the global cover-up of child abuse. It was this complete disregard by the Vatican for the harm they were causing to children globally that became infuriating to me. They have continued their attempts to get me to acquiesce in their denial of the lifelong harm caused to children by the unsubstantiated antigay teachings.
Antigay - Self-Perpetuating Cycle of Violence
Antigay social and religious norms create a self-perpetuating cycle of violence, forever increasing the violence in the world, because they continually attack children at the most vulnerable time of life: the early childhood years. Children are traumatized if they are told that the love they have for others is wrong. They are hurt at the center of their being. In heart and soul, where they reach out to others, hoping for closeness and tenderness, they are crushed. And as in any form of child abuse, the victims of the abuse caused by antigay teachings perpetuate as adults the same devastating harm and violence onto others, including children.
For many years, in fact my entire life, I was trying to resolve this issue of denial and abuse in myself and was searching for various ways of understanding it, including psychoanalysis, spiritual direction during long yearly retreats at a Trappist monastery, conferences with professors and scholars, and constant prayer.
IX. Re-educated Sexual Orientation ???
Traumatic Attack - Like Being Mugged - Shell Shock
For the sake of children, in 1997, I made waves in the life of the Church. I handled the interest of the press in what was going on in my parish, and I was always sensitive to the needs of my parishioners. However, because I made waves, I faced what I perceived as retaliation from the Vatican. It felt like I was being mugged. I was told that my earned sabbatical term was cancelled, and that I could not study psychology at the University of Michigan. I could not plan my own sabbatical: instead a sabbatical would be prepared for me. The purpose was to re-educate me on sexual orientation. I was stunned. I left the office after hearing this startling directive and said to myself: “Where is such a place? What are they going to do? What are they going to send me to? Are they going to treat me like a pedophile priest? But I haven’t done anything wrong. Who’s going to believe me?” To me it felt like shell shock, like trauma. I didn’t understand what was going on. I felt my life flash before me. It was now over. It felt like a surprise attack, taking place behind closed doors, with no one knowing. And that is what was traumatic: the secrecy and helplessness, with no one knowing, like a child being abused.
Cardinal Bertone Causes - Irreparable Damage 2010
At the time, 1997, I thought: who would believe that the Vatican was capable of such covert, harsh actions, because I could hardly believe it even though I was the target. Only a few years later, in 2002, and then in 2010, we heard about the decades of cover-ups of child sexual abuse, allegedly ordered by the Vatican. At this time, certain members of the Vatican, like Cardinal Bertone, against known research publicly attempted to shift the blame onto gay priests, and by extension onto the entire LGBT population. And even though the Vatican made public statements to refute Bertone’s remarks, irreparable damage was done. Then in 2012, through Vatileaks, we were we made aware of pervasive corruption that existed in the Vatican among the curia and which you confirmed in July 2013.
X. Vatican’s Attempts - Deface the Reason Why I Came Out
I was still left wondering: what did re-education on sexual orientation mean? After I had learned so much and heard so much at major conventions, after I had discovered what was taught at major universities, I had a feeling that I was about to be shoved into a closet, with no specific knowledge of what was going to happen to me, how long it was going to take, or what form of training was used for re-education. I wondered why I had never heard of any textbooks or articles on re-education on sexual orientation. I concluded that the diocesan officials and the bishop simply wished I would go away and get lost. I felt I was being given the persona of a pedophile priest, in a form of guilt by association. I was afraid that I was going to be treated as though I had done something wrong, and that I would be perceived as a pedophile priest, simply because of the way I was being treated. This process was going to deface the reason why I came out, would obscure all the work I had done to protect children, would completely destroy my reputation, and would also reflect on my family.
It seems clear to me that because the work I did with my parishioners was successful, I became more of a target. For 16 years I was denied my salary, my sabbatical terms, and educational funding. After I refused to be sent away on the sabbatical to be re-educated on sexual orientation, instead I was verbally told that I would given an open-ended educational leave of absence without any funding or salary. I left my diocese with nothing. My character was questioned; I believe I was the victim of character assassination.
At present, I am appealing to you. The legal matter of the appeal is Bishop Walter Hurley’s canonical proceedings to remove me from the priesthood.
I believe that I am a priest forever. I have always known only too well my moral obligation, as a priest, to do all in my power to protect the lives of children, even if it meant sacrificing my life. This obligation is the core foundation of what it means to be a priest, that we follow Christ’s example of love and willingly give our lives for others, especially children. The only way I knew to protect children from the self-perpetuating lifelong harm caused by unsubstantiated antigay norms was to make a professional plan to come out as a gay Catholic priest to my parish, in order to draw public attention and awareness to this form of child abuse and to begin to take steps to prevent it.
I was heartened and excited, Pope Francis, from the first day, by your words and the example you have given us from your years of caring for the poor, those most in need. You want us to make waves. You spoke about gossip that kills. You encourage us to go out to the fringes of society. You are showing us that everyone is welcome. You are reminding us that the Church is for the poorest and weakest among us. If we are for people, especially for those who suffer, we have to care for them and acknowledge them. If we are going to have a renewed Church representing Christ, should we not accept with love priests and laity who once were silenced?
I am explaining the process of my “coming out” in 1997 so that you are aware that it was not a careless or reckless event, but was based on an extraordinarily thorough understanding of homosexuality. This understanding was acquired over nearly 30 years, from the perspectives of academia, spirituality, and my own personal psychotherapy sessions, the cost of which Bishop Hurley disclosed to the press in May 2006, in the amount of $126,000. This phenomenal cost for psychotherapy was directly related to the pervasive harm caused to me, as it was to so many others, by unsubstantiated antigay teachings. I hope you can see that I took seriously Christ’s command that we should first remove the plank from our own eye, before attempting to remove the speck from the eye of our brother or sister. This reflection helps to explain more clearly the level of care and understanding I had for my parishioners, when I planned the process of my “coming out” to protect children. At no time did I needlessly place the parishioners at risk of upset and confusion. In fact, as I observed their expressed interest in the subject of sexuality, my planned process of “coming out” appeared to help relieve a great deal of unnecessary stress from their lives.
I came out on a matter of “life and death” to protect children. It took everything I had inside me, and then some, and to my great surprise, the attempt was astonishingly successful. However, two months later in 1997, I was immersed in another “life and death” situation that also urgently needed to be publicly exposed. At the time I was not aware, as we are today, of just how pervasively certain members of the Vatican hierarchy relied on covert tactics to remove opposition. Behind closed doors, in 1997 the Vatican issued an official directive ordering me to sent away to be re-educated on the subject of sexual orientation, as noted above. I was a 47-year-old priest, and as a priest, I spent my life devoted to the service of others and not primarily concerned about my financial future. If I were not a priest, I would probably have been making 3 or 4 times the salary a priest makes, because I would need to be significantly more concerned about planning a secure financial future. At the age of 47, the better years for establishing a career and financial security are generally behind a person. I suspect the Vatican recognized my lack of financial independence, expecting me to feel compelled to agree to the process of re-education. Ultimately, it seemed that the Vatican’s action was meant to frighten me into being silent, because I had taken a risk and dared to make waves.
Emerging Science of Homosexuality
Let me be more specific about what I am referring to when I speak of the Vatican and its attitude toward science. It has been heavily documented that Cardinal Ratzinger in the years before he became Pope, and then as Benedict XVI, had opposed the emerging science about sexual orientation related to homosexuality. In 1986, in the letter to U.S. bishops titled “On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons,” he gave a warning about “deceitful propaganda” from pro-homosexual groups. As noted by John L. Allen in the National Catholic Reporter (date of publication): “The letter refers to homosexual orientation as an ‘intrinsic moral evil.’” In 1997, in addition, he altered the explanation of homosexuality in the Catechism of the Catholic Church by eliminating the statement: “They do not choose their homosexual condition (find citation).”
I am trying to address the inaccuracies coming from Benedict XVI and the hierarchy regarding homosexuality. These inaccuracies create a toxic social environment for children who hear continually that they are morally corrupt or evil if their inclinations are not heterosexual. Members of the Church hierarchy tend to justify their actions by dismissing the relevance of the emerging science of homosexuality on the grounds that science has not determined the cause of homosexuality. As an analogy, science has yet to give us the “genesis” of cancer, but we have not dismissed the relevant research that has made significant advancements in improving the chances of preventing and treating many forms of cancer.
For the past 32 years, Benedict XVI has appeared dismissive of the evolving science on sexual orientation in regard to homosexuality. He has also seemed oblivious of the severity of the psychological harm caused by unsubstantiated antigay teachings to millions and millions of adults and children, globally.
XI. Hurley’s Disavowal of 1997
In an enclosed letter addressed to me by Hurley in May 2006, he states that he is not responsible for the actions taken against me by a previous bishop in 1997. By this assertion, Hurley completely negates and tries to distance himself from the extraordinarily punitive treatment by the Vatican in 1997, which, as described above, occurred behind closed doors. Although I took the necessary steps to protect myself and still have remained an active and loyal priest, I was portrayed as a selfish, renegade, disobedient priest, a priest who remained obstinate to the requests of his bishop to return to his diocese.
This disavowal by Hurley of a previous bishop’s action against me can be construed as yet another major attack made against my reputation to destroy my credibility as a loyal and faithful priest who had taken extraordinary measures. I sometimes feared I was placing my life at risk by “coming out” to protect the lives of children, globally, and then by educating my parishioners on a major taboo topic of human sexuality, namely homosexuality, while at the same time the whole process was astonishingly successful.
The mistreatment in 1997 was traumatic on several levels, as explained above, and was the cause of rage similar to that which Jesus felt when he turned over the table of the money changers in the temple courtyard. He said: “It is written: my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are it a making it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21: 12-13). And the attempts that followed to compel me to return to the diocese, with no regard for punitive treatment that had befallen me, were and are unnerving. In a sense it is incapacitating to endure this strain, now and in years past. The accumulation of years of pressure is taking a toll on me and has had an impact on my health.
I think it is true that Hurley did not really want me back. He managed to blame me for the steps that I was forced to take to protect myself after being victimized by members of the Vatican, which by extension included him, as a titular bishop. My regular salary and educational sabbatical terms and funding were all taken away because I refused to submit to the Vatican’s unethical request that I be sent away to be re-educated on sexual orientation or be given assignments that implied I was a pedophile priest or a priest who had committed some sordid misconduct. Prior to my “coming out” I was asked to consider being the rector of St. Andrew’s Cathedral. The fact is I was well liked and was being considered for major assignments in the diocese.
The requests for me to return to my diocese have never offered reparation for the harm, loss of salary and benefits, and damages caused by the Vatican’s directives that were forced on me in 1997. Equally, there were no guarantees given to me that at any time similar unethical and criminal actions would not be taken against me, or other retaliatory measures would not be forthcoming for my “coming out” in 1997, meaning that I would lose my salary and living space and would be left at yet an older age to make a living and support myself. In addition, at no time was there any visible sign of sincerity from Hurley that he wanted me to return.
This is whole train of events is a clear issue of bishops being allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation against people like me in the USA. As recently as November 7, 2013, the US Senate passed a bill to include sexual orientation in the ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) act, which the US bishops voted against. I am a US citizen and did not give up my citizenship at the time of my ordination and therefore should be protected from such willful attacks by the bishops against gay priests. I think that it is important that I send a copy of this letter to President Obama and other high elected officials, including the Supreme Court justices, alerting them of my circumstances and the 16 years of mistreatment. Religious institutions should not be allowed to be excluded from civil rights laws such as ENDA.
XII. Persona non grata
Benedict XVI and Hurley and Maida and Mental Health - Banning Gay Priests 2005
In June 2005, Hurley was re-assigned by the newly-elected Benedict XVI to the Diocese of Grand Rapids from the Archdiocese of Detroit. He remained the titular bishop in charge of misconduct of priests in Grand Rapids as he was in Detroit. Shortly after he arrived in Grand Rapids, without warning me, he had the Michigan Catholic Conference discontinue the insurance coverage of my psychotherapy. Although I retained my primary coverage from Blue Cross/ Blue Shield, the reduced plan covered at best 50 per cent of the cost of psychotherapy.
Benedict XVI first major ruling - Banning Gay Priests
Benedict XVI first major ruling after being elected April 2005 was to ban homosexuals from the priesthood. So begins his openly public antigay obsession that would remain constant and brutal - because it was so deadly harmful to children. His antigay example was openly promoting the arbitrary dehumanization of a group human beings as acceptable behavior for Catholics. This visibly gives us an inside picture of obsessive antigay culture that exists in the curia and among the hierarchy, until he announced his retirement on February 11, 2013. Because Benedict XVI for 32 years exerted significant influence in choosing men for the hierarchy and to be members of the curia in the Vatican. An antigay attitude was a prerequisite to be considered for advancement in the ranks. There was definitely no making waves to challenge his extreme uneducated antigay bias, only unconditional obedience to it. The harm and devastation that he caused for 32 years to children globally by his obsessive antigay pronouncements is unconscionable and incalculable. No one said a word or maybe some did so, but were not able to endure the attacks and died prematurely. It will be no way to erase the 32 years evidence - not in this age of communication. Banning gay priests was his very first ruling. In good conscience, and out of a deep moral obligation for the sake of the protection of children that when I was asked by a news reporter my thought of his antigay ruling I had to speak out to protect children.
Benedict XVI - Vatican plan to block gay priests - 8/28/05
Jamie Doward - The Guardian - 8/28/2005
Brief excerpt:
The new Pope faces his first controversy over the direction of the Catholic church after it was revealed that the Vatican has drawn up a religious instruction preventing gay men from being priests.
The controversial document, produced by the Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries, the body overseeing the church's training of the priesthood, is being scrutinised by Benedict XVI...
Shortly afterwards I was asked by a news reporter, my thoughts on Benedict XVI’s document ban against gay priests. The interview was published on October 8, 2005, in the Grand Rapids Press.
When the Rev. Martin Kurylowicz came out to his Sparta parish eight years ago, he said he had struggled for years with his homosexuality.
The Catholic priest says the struggle would be made harder for many others if the Vatican issues new rules that reportedly would ban gays from becoming priests…
…"I sizzled when I read it," said Kurylowicz, 55. "It's very hurtful, is what it is. In this day and age, there's no reason for it. It sends a message that there's something wrong with gays."
Kurylowicz said he spoke out then to raise awareness of violence against gays and teach others homosexuality is not a choice but an inborn trait. Church leaders still don't understand that and contribute to gays' poor self-esteem, he said…
…"Kids as young as 4 or 5 know they're different," said Kurylowicz, a psychotherapist… "They grow up with this pervasive guilt, which sabotages their growth and motivation." The result is thousands of dollars in therapy to accept their natural orientation, he said, adding, "Does the Vatican want to take that on, like the tobacco industry had to take on for the damage it caused consumers? "…
Benedict XVI’s blatant public dehumanizing remarks against gay priests, once again vividly brought to mind for me the same trauma I experienced behind close doors in 1997 igniting the same rage and outrage in me - because it was a repeat of the same complete disregard for the lives of children. I experienced this same reaction when, as Cardinal Ratzinger in July 31, 2003 made unsubstantiated statements against gay marriage. I was outraged not only by his statements, but that he was allowed to make it and no one publicly corrected him.
Vatican drive to curb gay marriage – July 31, 2003
… Ratzinger, the Church brands homosexual unions as immoral, unnatural and harmful…
…It comes a day after US President George Bush - a Methodist Christian - spoke out against the idea of same-sex marriages…
The constant running theme during this time since Benedict XVI election April 2005 to May 2006 was focused on heavily on mental health - psychotherapy. Benedict XVI announced in the fall 2005 that he was dedicating the 2006 World Day Prayer for the Sick to mental health. Benedict XVI and Hurley and Maida all worked together investigating the New Ways Ministry’s co-founders.
Mental Health and Maida - “Dialogue Show” and Me
Hurley’s Immediately Demanding my return
I was asked by a coordinator of the Archdiocese of Detroit, who received my name from a professional colleague in the mental health field, to discuss on the TV show “Dialogue” issues related to mental health. The show was scheduled to be aired in February 2006. It was meant to coincide with Benedict XVI dedicating in 2006 the World Day of Prayer to mental health. At the request of the coordinator, I accepted the invitation on January 5, 2006 and was given all the details involved. The following day, January 6, I received a notice of sincere regret from the same coordinator telling me that plans had changed and I would no longer be needed. On January 7, I received a certified letter from Hurley demanding my immediate return to the diocese. In attempts to set up a meeting with Hurley in Grand Rapids, I had to calculate time carefully because I was in Detroit, which was a round trip of approximately 260 miles. All together it would be an eight-hour trip, meaning that I would miss the whole work day.
Considering that I had not been paid by the diocese since 1997, and that I depended on my clinical work at an agency where I had a caseload of 100 SPMI (severely and persistently mentally ill) patients, it was not so much about losing a whole day’s pay as it was the harm and added distress caused to patients in critical need if their appointments were to be cancelled. Therefore, I asked if I could meet with Hurley early in the morning or later in the evening or any time on the weekend. I was told absolutely not. An excerpt from Bishop Walter Hurley’s letter to me dated February 8, 2006:
I understand that you may have experiences involving my predecessors, which you found painful or unjust. Those grievances cannot, however, be involved as a justification for your resisting my legitimate appeal for your obedience to me as your Ordinary.
Hurley was plainly not willing to accommodate my work schedule, which I needed to support myself once my salary was taken away in 1997. His invitations appeared more for public display and to frame me in a set-up of being a disobedient priest. Still, there was no evidence of any concern for the children who were being harmed, which meant that nothing had changed since 1997: I was treated in the same abusive manner, and children were being neglected with increased intensity. The pattern of Benedict’s attempts to remove gay priests also increased in intensity, because he had become Pope. Just as [you] Francis changed the whole tone of the Church in the direction of acceptance and respect for every human being, so Benedict fostered discrimination. By the end of May 2006, Hurley removed my priestly faculties on the grounds that I had refused to meet with him. With Benedict in charge, I had absolutely no recourse. I had even less chance of gaining safety, returning to my diocese, or escaping even worse treatment than I had already experienced in 1997. The crucial point is that the reason why I came out-- the safety of children-- was never even taken into account. The blame was then publicly shifted onto me, as a way to discredit me, by means of Hurley’s argument that I was a disobedient priest, which completely took the focus off the lifelong harm caused to children by unsubstantiated antigay teachings. Hurley as a titular bishop connected to the Curia was trying to retaliate for my public denouncement of Benedict’s rules against gay priests, because of the harm caused to children, as reported in the Grand Rapids press on October 8, 2005.
XIII. Scope of Lifelong Harm to Children - Adult
According to established research on sexual orientation, the human population ranges along a continuum, with an estimated 10% heterosexual, 10% homosexual, and 80% bisexual. What this means is that about 90% of the human population have varying degrees of a homosexual orientation. Therefore, it is not just 10% of the human population who are harmed by unsubstantiated antigay teachings, but 90%. These conclusions are based on authoritative data. For us to talk about restoring the dignity of human beings above profit while maintaining the Vatican’s unsubstantiated antigay teachings, is counterproductive because it negates the reality of human nature. Maintaining these teachings in spite of established data on human sexuality also negates what John Paul II insisted on when he stated that science and religion cannot be separated.
Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish.
If we retain these antigay teachings, we are modeling to major world corporations and to the millions of people who work in them an inconsistency about how we value people.
It is not possible to be lukewarm in our treatment of others: everybody counts or nobody counts. The way that I found best to help change people’s attitudes is by providing a wealth of accurate authoritative data on sexual orientation as it relates to children in their earliest years.
Not only are people interested in knowing about whatever is helpful to their children, but also they identify [ personally ] with the information, recognizing its truth in their own lives. I also found that by providing valid information on the topic keeps discussion and questions focus on the data, not on me. All arguments, disagreements and frustrations are targeted on the data activating a keen interest to read and learn more on their own, raising the intellectual level future discussions. It also helped to eliminate many ignorant outlandish statements about homosexuality exposing their ridiculousness, such as homosexuality being contagious, homosexuals are able to recruit heterosexuals to become homosexuals.
XIV. Homophobia - Antigay Authoritarian Parenting
Self-perpetuating Abuse & Violence
A series of research studies were conducted and published in 2012, indicating that homophobia to be more pronounced in individuals who have unacknowledged homosexual attractions grew up in authoritarian households with parents who strictly forbade the expression of any same sex desires. “The study is the first to document the role that both parenting and sexual orientation play in the formation of intense and visceral fear of homosexuals, including self-reported homophobic attitudes, discriminatory bias, implicit hostility towards gays, and endorsement of anti-gay policies By Richard M. Ryan and William S. Ryan. It is a form of dissociation that denies any conscious homosexual attractions, but acts out sexually with same sex partners. There has been numerous cases in the news media that have exposed politicians, ministers and even members of the curia in the Vatican who publicly are antigay, but have been found having sex with men in public restrooms, highway rest stops, hiring male prostitutes and traveling with male escorts.
Homogeneous group - Repressed Homosexuals
For the past 32 years, Benedict XVI exuded a great deal of influence in choosing members for the curia and hierarchy based on their strict obedience to doctrine including homosexuality. Resulting in, Benedict XVI, creating over the past 3 decades, likely the largest solid homogeneous group, a select population based on the unsubstantiated antigay teachings having the highest probability of containing the largest number of homophobic sexual repressed homosexuals than anywhere else in the world. This would help explain the unison, the lockstep obsessive antigay crusade, especially against gay marriage by Benedict XVI, the hierarchy and the Curia not only in the USA. But this global antigay obsession initiated by Benedict XVI is not based on substantiated authoritative data on homosexuality. No one in the hierarchy or curia voices a word to challenge this obsessive antigay campaign with the ever present abundance of emerging science data finding homosexuality as a normal and natural part of human development. This indicates an air tight set up for problems and tragedies that are caused by social phenomenon described as Groupthink.
The deliberate suppression of this emerging science on sexual orientation that would have release gay people, especially children from the extremely harmful existence in the desert was an all out dehumanizing concerted effort according to numerous documents with all due respect of Cardinal Ratzinger and his supporters, which Bishop Hurley has been since the 1980s. Since 1997, this dehumanizing concerted effort suppressing the emerging science on sexual orientation has continued to the present day. I have been constantly and severely attacked for “coming out” March 1997 an exposing the emerging science on sexual orientation for the protection of children globally from the lifetime harmful effects caused by the antigay unsubstantiated social and religious norms.
XV. The Conclusion
I know I am innocent of all charges made by Bishop Hurley. You may wonder what redress I am seeking. The way my appeal is treated, which includes me directly will reflect on the crucial importance of protecting children, globally. It will also simultaneously, as I am sure you know, make waves for better or worst on many levels. I stood on truth to the best of my ability and I tried to protect children to the point of risking my life. My “coming out” 1997 wedded me to the protection of children, a marriage lasting for the pat 16 years. It was an arranged marriage that as a priest, and as priests, we are called set an example to love others as Christ has loved us. As priests, we do not pick and chose you we will or will not serve. We serve and care for all people, including children. The need to protect children is paramount, because they are defenseless. If you are walking down the street and see a child playing on the train tracks with oncoming train speeding toward the child, whatever you may be doing is dropped, in order, to run and save the child. That is in essence what I did.
Above all, I want to be recognized as a priest in good standing. Because I have had to be on my own, taking care of myself without pay or any assurance of sustenance for many years, I am hoping for fair compensation for years of hostility, uncertainty, and lost income. There was no assurance that I would be welcome if I returned to Grand Rapids. And if I do go back there now, what assurance do I have that the same thing will not happen again? What assurance do I have of safety? What assurance do I have that retaliation will not be forthcoming? I dread the prospect of being treated as if I were a pedophile priest. I have observed the discipline of the Church and of the clerical state. I have kept my vow of celibacy.
I want all charges against me dropped and my priestly faculties to be restored and to be considered a priest in good standing. In the full picture of my situation beginning March 1997, the issue of my returning to diocese his is not a matter of being disobedience, but one of continue protection for children and a matter of self-preservation.
Considering the fact that you have admitted that there is a stream of corruption running through the Vatican, made statements about not judging gay priests, urging bishops to end their antigay obsession, encouraged the making of “waves” and not worry about attacks, I am sending my appeal directly to you.
I am appealing Bishop Hurley’s canonical proceedings to remove me from the priesthood, because it is not based on truth. It is a distortion of the truth based on a deceptive canon law technicality, at the expense of the protection of children to cause a “smoke screen” to hide the real aim of Hurley’s hostile attack is solely on sexual orientation. It is Hurley’s severely malicious attack to silence me permanently by destroying my reputation, hence the “smoke screen” to remove me from the priesthood. All because I spoke the truth that sexual orientation is already present and operative in early childhood, based on objective facts. This small piece of truth makes it vividly clear that homosexuality: (1) is not a choice, it is established long before the “age of reason” in the lives of children, (2) it is intrinsically by nature, then and forever, about “loving and wanting to be loved” and (3) it is critically vulnerable to lifetime harm, during early childhood years caused by antigay social and religious norms.
Therefore, due to the corruption of the curia is dependent on secrecy to flourish. I have learned the hard way for the need to keep public all dealings with the members of the curia and hierarchy. Since, my appeal is more importantly wedded to the immediacy for the protection of children, globally, to avoid any possible mishandling of the curia, this letter will be sent to great number of people. And because I am also an USA citizen this letter is also pertinent to the protection US civil rights based on sexual orientation, which includes children, it is also necessary that I send copies of this letter to - President Obama, Supreme Court Justices, members of the US Congress and others. It will also be published, as a precautionary measure.
I leave all in the hands of God, who as we all know is the final judge.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Martin S. Kurylowicz
All enclosures listed on separate page:
The Wise and Foolish Builders
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts
them into practice is like a wise man who built his
house on the rock. The rain came down, the
streams rose, and the winds blew and
beat against that house; yet it
did not fall, because it
had its foundation
on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not
put them into practice is like a foolish man who
built his house on sand. The rain came
down, the streams rose, and the
winds blew and beat against
that house, and it fell
with a great crash. Matthew 7:24-27
Fr. Kurylowicz related appeal information: found online - Thalamus Center
WHISTLEBLOWER - Gay Catholic Priest – Fr. Marty Kurylowicz - Charged by the Vatican for “Coming Out” March 1997 - For the Protection of Children – 15 years later – February 10, 2013
Gay Catholic Priest - Appealing his case – Fr. Marty Kurylowicz – to Pope Francis | Part 1 of 4
Gay Catholic Priest - Appealing his case – Fr. Marty Kurylowicz – to Pope Francis | Part 2 of 4
A Gay Catholic Priest (3a) - Appealing his case – Fr. Marty Kurylowicz – to Pope Francis | Part 3a of 4
Original post date - August 15, 2013
STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE and CHILDREN --- “Don’t Make Waves” --- Benedict XVI and Curia’s Child Sexual Abuse Cover-ups and Gay Obsession - 5/15/13
“THE ADVOCATE” - Person of the Year: Pope Francis - 2013 - Dec 23, 2013
_______________________________________
______________________________
_______________________
________________
_______________
________________________
__________________________________
_____________________________________________
Update - 2/8/14
Following related links:
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says we need to be small and humble to dialogue with God. At the same time He always chooses those who are small and who have least power. This was the core message of the Pope’s homily at Tuesday morning's Mass in the Santa Marta residence...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Monday morning in the chapel of the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta residence. In remarks following the readings of the day, the Holy Father spoke of the Church as a divinely ordained institution in which some individuals – the men who answer the call to become priests and bishops – are specially anointed to serve the people of God. The Pope thanked the many holy priests who give their lives in the anonymity of their daily service...
(Vatican Radio) Speaking at Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Thursday, Pope Francis reflected on the mystery of death, inviting us to ask God for the grace to die in hope, in the heart of the Church and in the knowledge that we have left a legacy of Christian witness behind us...
_______________________________________
______________________________
_______________________
________________
_______________
________________________
__________________________________
_____________________________________________
Pope Francis: Doctrine is not abstract but must serve the people of God - 1/31/14
Pope Francis on Friday addressed participants at the Plenary meeting of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
...Quoting from his Apostolic Exhortation, Pope Francis said right from the earliest times of the Church there has been a temptation to consider the doctrine in an ideological sense or to reduce it to a series of abstract and crystallized theories.
...He urged them to think of the wellbeing of children and young people, saying they should always be protected and sustained in their human and spiritual growth. The Pope said in this regard they are studying a possible link between the work done by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the special Commission for safeguarding children which he has set up and which is intended to be an example for all those wishing to promote the wellbeing of the young.
Read more:
Francis calls for doctrine within the spirit of charity - 1/31/14
In an important address to staff of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Francis today essentially said, “tone it down.”
He called for Vatican doctrinal officials to work with a new spirit of service and charity and to cooperate more with local churches. He reminded the CDF that doctrine "must be taught and judged within the context of the needs of the community." ...
He said, “right from the earliest times of the Church there has been a temptation to consider the doctrine in an ideological sense or to reduce it to a series of abstract and crystallized theories.” He went on to say that “doctrine’s sole role is to serve the life of God’s people and is meant to ensure a solid foundation to our faith,” according to Vatican radio.
...In recent years, our church’s doctrinal watchdogs, many church observers would say, have caused considerable pain. They have gone after Catholic theologians, picking their writings apart, even, at times, sentence by sentence, looking for error. The impact has been twofold: It has discouraged theological engagement and it has dispirited wide segments of the church, including some of its more faithful followers. Consider, for example, the Apostolic Visitation of US women religious communities and the doctrinal investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
...He urged CDF staff to put the well being of children and young people first. The pattern over decades, of course, and to this day in some dioceses, court documents show, has been to place the well being of bishops first, throwing the children to the proverbial wind...
Read more:
_______________________________________
______________________________
_______________________
________________
_______________
________________________
__________________________________
_____________________________________________
UN / VATICAN RIGHTS OF THE CHILD - 2/5/14 - Full Script
U.N. panel blasts Vatican handling of clergy sex abuse, church teachings on gays, abortion - 2/5/14
BERLIN — A United Nations committee issued a scathing indictment Wednesday of the Vatican’s handling of child sexual abuse cases involving clerics, releasing a report that included criticism of church teachings on homosexuality, gender equality and abortion...
The report said the church in some places has “systemically” adopted policies that put children at risk. In some cases, confidentiality has been imposed on child victims and their families as a condition of financial compensation. The panel also said Catholic officials obstructed efforts in certain countries to extend the statute of limitations for criminal or civil cases...
Officials dismissed suggestions from the Vatican that the report is biased.
“Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is something that we have raised with many states,” Kirsten Sandberg, chair of the committee, said in a statement. “This is nothing special. We are not going outside the scope of the Convention.”...
Read more:
Vatican envoy rejects UN panel's critical verdict on clerical abuse scandal - 2/5/14
...The panel also found fault with some central church teachings and their impact on children's health, urging the Vatican to reconsider its stance on abortion and contraception, and encouraging it to tone down criticism of homosexuality in an attempt to reduce "social stigmatisation" and violence against gay youths and children raised by gay couples...
Pope Pressured to Act on Abuse After UN Rebuke - 2/5/14
Pope Francis came under new pressure Wednesday to punish bishops who covered up for pedophile priests when a U.N. human rights panel accused the Vatican of systematically protecting its reputation instead of looking out for the safety of children...
And critically, the Vatican has yet to sanction any bishop for having covered up for an abusive priest, even though more than a decade has passed since the scandal exploded in the U.S. and countless law enforcement investigations around the world made it clear the role bishops played.
Vatican officials have suggested that under Francis, this might soon change.
The report was issued by the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, an 18-member panel that includes academics, sociologists and child development specialists from around the globe...
Read more:
Scathing U.N. report demands Vatican act against child sex abuse - 2/5/14
...BISHOPS NOT ACCOUNTABLE
While several bishops have resigned after abuse scandals in their dioceses, victims' groups say the Vatican must make bishops legally accountable for alleged cover-ups.
"If the pope is serious about turning the page on this scandal, he should immediately dismiss any bishop who oversaw a diocese in which a priest who abused children was shielded from the civil authorities," said Jon O'Brien, president of the U.S. lobby group Catholics for Choice.
The report said Francis's commission should invite outside experts and victims to participate in an investigation of abusers "as well as the conduct of the Catholic hierarchy in dealing with them"...
Read more:
Can the UN Change the Church's Views on Abortion and Gay Rights? - 2/6/14
On Wednesday, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child issued a long report on the Vatican that has gotten attention for its sharp criticism of the Catholic Church’s response to clergy sex-abuse scandals...
...The committee also made broad criticisms of the Church’s posture toward LGBTQ families and children...
The committee and the Holy See seem to be approaching the issue of human rights in starkly different ways...
It also believes LGBTQ rights are part of this mission; the committee expressed concerns about “past statements and declarations on homosexuality which contribute to the social stigmatization of and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adolescents and children raised by same sex couples.” ...
Read more:
INTERNATIONAL HUMANIST AND ETHICAL UNION CRITICISM OF THE HOLY SEE OVER CHILD ABUSE
AT THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (UNHRC) GENEVA – 22 SEPTEMBER 2009 to 15 MARCH 2011
_______________________________________
______________________________
_______________________
________________
_______________
________________________
__________________________________
_____________________________________________
Secret gay society in Vatican poses security threat for Pope Francis: Ex-Swiss Guard - 1/21/14
Curia archbishop hits back at Swiss Guard’s gay lobby claim - 1/21/14
Know thyself
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man. - William Shakespeare
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man. - William Shakespeare
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. - Luke 6:40-42
No comments:
Post a Comment