Twist of Faith Page #5

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to look at our faults,

to tell us that we are doing what we've been

asked to do.

We have done it well.

It doesn't mean we're perfect at it,

but we're working on it.

Right off the top of my head,

I don't think bishops are accountable

enough to people.

They're appointed as a bishop,

the priest council is their own council.

It's not like a legislative body or anything.

They're not evaluated by the parishioners.

Well, part of it goes back

to other situations of this diocese

where, I believe, the administration of

this diocese was protecting and covering for

and enabling people

who I call "faith molesters."

Did you have any priest who counseled you

or met with you, suggested that that would be

a good vocation for you?

- Yeah.

- Who were they?

A priest at Central, through the years.

Bob Donnelly, the Auxiliary Bishop today.

I know that Dennis Gray served with

Robert Donnelly, under Robert Donnelly.

Because I did my deacon internship with...

He was then Father Robert Donnelly.

It was 1979.

Dennis Gray was just being moved.

And I know that they were close.

Did you talk to Donnelly about

wanting to move to Toledo?

- Bishop Donnelly?

- Yeah.

- Sure.

- And what did you say to him?

Objection. Privileged communication.

He wasn't the bishop at the time, was he?

He was a bishop.

- What kind of bishop?

- Auxiliary bishop.

- Where did he stand in the...

- Bishop.

- ...chain of command?

- Number two.

- OK. Did he have authority over you?

- Sure.

I think Bishop Hoffman, Bishop Donnelly,

knew about these accusations on him,

and probably to protect his career,

remained silent and allowed this man

to be around children.

I think any of these bishops like this,

who place - I think across the country -

who place these molesters,

especially these serial molesters,

around kids should resign.

They have no business being bishops

if they play with lives like that.

OK, so I'm wondering

if between the two of you, if that's come up.

We were going out with his family

for a birthday party.

- We hadn't been out together since...

- Since we talked.

...that issue. And then Tony started talking

about the whole church situation,

and I think what made it worse was that

your brother was going to a church function.

So that put Tony in a whole different universe.

I was freaking out. So I said...

to her, across the table,

"Hey, can you come on over

"and sit on this side for a minute

until things get going

"and rub my back for a second?"

Now, I just sat down, I've had a long week.

All I want to do is have a drink

and talk to adults.

I didn't get shitty, I don't think.

- Not at that point.

- I think I just said, you know...

If he happens to be feeling a certain way

or feeling tight,

everything that possibly

going on with me is just...

Too bad! Suck it up!

- You turn invisible.

- "I'm tight, so the world ends."

- Wait a second.

- I really wish that Tony could take

all the stuff that's turning into anger

and do something different with that.

Help people in the Catholic church,

- or, you know, parents, or whatever group...

- Change canon law, leave the church?

If he could do something different with that

rather than get angry and pissed off.

I'm usually pretty good.

I may not be doing it the way you would,

but this is the way that I think

it's going to work for me

in order to get through it.

I am what I am.

Guess where I am?

That's the arch in St. Louis.

Hey, Barbara. Tony Comes.

Apparently, Claudia already has

a name tag for me?

She has everything for you.

Welcome to the first

national assembly of S.N.A.P.,

the Survivors Network

of those Abused by Priests.

Now, we are going to hear from

our national executive director,

David Clohessy.

Welcome. Welcome to my town.

We're here this weekend

for one simple reason,

and that is to gain

the strength and the skills

to go out and keep doing

what we've been doing, many of us,

for years and years,

which is, to save lives.

I'm going to ask just a couple of people

to break the ice

and if you're comfortable sharing some of what

you shared this afternoon,

please head up to one of the microphones.

Good evening. I'm from Tucson, Arizona.

I was raped by a priest

when I was 11 years old.

Up until that time,

I had one hundred per cent clarity

that God's plan for me was to be a priest.

That plan changed,

because the closest thing I had to God

was that priest that held me down

by the back of the neck

and stuck his penis in my butt.

This is me as a teenager,

at the age when I was abused

by the bishop's director of youth ministry

for the diocese of Toledo.

I remember vividly on this youth trip,

he stopped at a hotel and checked in

with a fake name

and turned to me and said, "I can't believe

I would almost give my real name."

And being naive, like this person in the picture,

I thought, "Why wouldn't you?

"If something happened,

how would they know where we're at?"

My first sexual assaults by a priest

started when I was

somewhere between five and six.

Fast forward to 21, 22...

and like many of us,

I was confided in a priest

who then immediately began an affair with me.

My father himself was a pedophile,

so he started around the age of two

to approximately the age of six,

and then I met Father Geoghegan

who went from six to roughly ten.

So it was kind of natural for me.

I was just nine years old when Father Jim

worked very slowly and methodically

to gain my trust and confidence and silence.

Through the course of it, French kissing,

forced masturbation, oral rape

became the traumas I experienced,

but experienced alone.

My name is Tony Comes.

I'm from Toledo, Ohio.

I'm a 34-year-old father of two.

I'm a Toledo firefighter.

I was abused repeatedly.

I allowed myself to continue to be abused.

I regret the most

that I've always been aware.

And I always said, "If I ever find out

"that someone else was after me,

"it'll kill me."

I thought I was the only one.

You've taken a very brave step,

and we applaud you especially

for having the courage to come out

and be among people who can support you.

It's a very tough first step, and we welcome

you and applaud you for doing that.

And we applaud you for being here.

Can you believe it? How are you?

It's so good to see you.

- Shorter than I remember.

- Just a little bit smaller.

I've been shitting my pants about meeting you.

- It's a gateway to your past.

- So you have not seen each other either?

I've had his number for months,

and every day...

"You should call him."

- I don't know...

- What to say? How to start?

Yeah, it's not a conversation you really want

cos then you have to deal with it

when you talk to that person.

So it's not a conversation you want

to exactly have, but it's a good thing.

I feel very responsible.

- Why?

- Because...

As I felt all along for 20 years,

my biggest fear was,

if I would have spoken up,

somebody else wouldn't have gone through

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