Nun Who Worked To Expose Sex Abuse Dies

Sister Catherine Mulkerrin Encouraged Boston Archdiocese To Come Clean About Abuse Allegations

(AP)  Sister Catherine Mulkerrin, who pressed Roman Catholic church leaders in Boston to warn parishioners about priests who had been accused of sexually abusing children, has died. She was 73.

Mulkerrin died Saturday at Bethany Health Care Center in Framingham after a 24-year battle with cancer, said Sister Joanne Gallagher, spokeswoman for her religious order, the Sisters of St. Joseph in Boston.

Mulkerrin "was a gentle, caring woman with a wonderful sense of humor which those who knew her saw manifested in many ways," the order said in a statement.

As assistant director of the Boston Archdiocesan Office for Victims of Abuse from 1992 to 1994, Mulkerrin received allegations of clergy abuse and dealt directly with victims. She once said she heard allegations against more than 100 priests during that period.

Many of her memos to supervisors were later released as part of lawsuits filed against the archdiocese by alleged victims.

"I know I sound like a broken record," according to a memo from Mulkerrin that was released in 2002, "but we need to put in church bulletins: `It has come to our attention a priest stationed here between 19XX and 19XX may have molested children - please contact ... ."'

She said archdiocese leaders ignored her repeated concerns that priests accused of sexual abuse were allowed to return to parish work without the kind of supervision she had recommended.

"I expressed concern, consternation. What are we thinking of? What are you thinking of?" Mulkerrin said in a deposition released April 8, 2003, about her conversations with Bishop John McCormack, who handled sexual abuse complaints involving priests as an aide to Cardinal Bernard Law, then head of the archdiocese. Law resigned in 2003; McCormack became bishop of New Hampshire in 1998.

She said in the deposition McCormack told her he was trying to address her concerns. He later said through a spokesman he was following policy but acknowledged making mistakes during his time in Boston.

"She really confronted the Archdiocese of Boston six years before the sexual abuse scandal broke out. ... I think that she was incredibly brave to do that," said Sheila Boyle, 60, who received a settlement from the church after she was abused by a now-defrocked priest. "It took a tremendous amount of guts to do that at a time when no one really knew the breadth or scope of crisis was."

The clergy abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002. Pope Benedict XVI repeatedly addressed the issue on his U.S. visit in April. He also met privately with five victims and Law's successor as archbishop, Cardinal Sean O'Malley.

Mulkerrin became a nun in 1955, working as a teacher and college librarian. She served six years as president of her order in Boston, resigning after her cancer diagnosis in 1984. She later began working for the Boston Archdiocese.

[keithle1]

I love how tolerant Catholics are.

[keithle1]

Criticism of the Catholic Church will not be tolerated.

[servorum]

Mr. wawhite74, you obviously know nothing whatsoever about the history of the Catholic Church which is the only Church founded by Jesus Christ. There is no other and there has never been another.
All Christians who are outside the Church are either in a state of schism, heresy or apostasy from Christ''s Church. It is your choice to separate yourself from Christ in that way.
Christ and his Church, which was founded by Christ through his apostles, are one and the same. We are the body of Christ and Christ is the head of the Church. Again, anti-Catholic bigots reveal their lack of knowledge over and over again and refuse to budge one inch when it comes to being told the truth of Christ.
No other institution in the history of mankind has done more for the sick, the poor, the homeless and the needy of the world than the Church which Christ founded - the Catholic Church.
Yes, the Pope is a mortal, but he is also the vicar of Christ. Nothing you can say will ever change that. You will never know the truth of Christ until you know Him through his Church.
Outside of the Church there is no salvation.

[servorum]

"Roman koolaid drinker"? Typical nonsense from an anti-Catholic bigot.
Just to remind everyone of the facts as opposed to your ranting, Pope Benedict had absolutely nothing to do with the clerical abuse scandal that so deeply harmed so many American Catholic children and families.
His long time assignment in the Vatican was as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As such his primary job was to maintain the purity of Catholic doctrine throughout the world.
As bad as the clerical abuse scandal was in the Catholic Church, and no Catholic should ever attempt to diminish its utter seriousness, the best studies available estimate that of the American priests ordained between 1960 and 2000, at most .5 to 1.5 percent of those priests engaged in these horrendous crimes.
Among Protestant clergy, the best estimates of *** abuse are a minimum of 3 percent, and the numbers of public school teachers guilty of this act are many times higher than that.
The Catholic Church is the only institution that has actually faced the situation and has sought to make amends and assure Catholics that this will never happen again.
As the Pope said,
"Great efforts have already been made to deal honestly and fairly with this tragic situation and to ensure that children, whom our Lord loves so deeply, and who are our greatest treasure, can grow up in a safe environment," said Pope Benedict XVI. "These efforts to protect children must continue."

[darnedsocks]

THANK GOD FOR HER! I HOPE THERE ARE PLENTY OF WOMEN TO KEEP UP HER EXCELLENT WORK! THOSE DIRTY OLD MEN SHOULD ALL BE DE-FROCKED AND SENT TO JAIL!

[facts6]

Sister Catherine spoke out. She dared go against Rome. I do believe Jesus Christ approved.

[facts6]

"""When you open your mouth you only reveal your ignorance"""

That is the truth, you have exposed yourself as yet another Roman Koolaid drinker. This Pope tried every way possible to keep the rapes (not molestations) quiet.

Has your clergy given you a public answer as to where is Bernard Law?

Here''s the fact: he is in Rome under the sanctuary of the Roman church.

And the world knows it.

[blackyowe]

A good solid women in God''s service has passed. May she find rewards in heaven for having guts!

[michellem99-2009]

This is America and yes I will have my say. I HAVE NOT BEEN TO MASS IM OVER 20 YEARS. I suppose ye will tell me to get me beads out and tell me beads as I should.

[servorum]

Sister Mulkerrin performed a great and difficult task for the Church she loved.
However, using her death and the clerical abuse scandal to call for ordination of women is completely misplaced and asinine.
The Church, through then-Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II, has thoroughly explained why women have never been and never will be ordained in the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church.
Also, saying that Pope Benedict XVI is a man "who is all talk and no action against his child molesting priest/bishop/cardinal buddies" is perhaps the most ignorant and untrue claim ever lodged against the one person most involved in honorably resolving this terrible crisis in the Church.
The clerical abuse scandal wasn''t placed under his jurisdiction until 2002 and he has worked tirelessly since then to make things right, including meeting face to face with ten victims of clerical abuse during his most recent visit to the United States.
If you people don''t know what you are talking about and have nothing but baseless and misguided opinions to offer, you would be smarter to simply keep your mouths shut.
When you open your mouths you only reveal your ignorance.
Extra ecclesiam nulla salus.

[rational_1]

Funny but you never hear of nuns ever being accused of sexual abuse, and yet the Catholic Church thinks they aren''t qualified to be priests. Go figure - some pederast can be shuttled from diocese to diocese, with everyone covering up and no one stopping him, but women can''t be priest. No wonder I gave up on the Catholic Church long ago.

[keithle1]

How NOT to handle a HUGE scandal. You gotta love the Catholic Church.

[michellem99-2009]

Rest in peace Sister. Now there is a saint.