Ohio Archbishop Is Subpoenaed
The world's Catholics are waiting to see if next week's summit at the Vatican will produce reforms on rules governing sex crimes and sex crime accusations.
The criminal justice system and lawyers representing alleged victims are not waiting.
Thursday saw the unusual move of an Ohio grand jury subpoenaing Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk and a high-ranking church official, the Archdiocese's chancellor, the Rev. Christopher Armstrong.
Also Thursday, for the second time in as many months, a racketeering lawsuit was filed naming the Vatican and several church dioceses, seeking liabilities because they allegedly hid the sex crimes of what the suit calls a "web of predator priests" whose sexual misconduct spans at least three decades.
This lawsuit, filed in St. Louis, is on behalf of an unnamed alleged victim and is the third to accuse Anthony O'Connell, who resigned last month as bishop of Palm Beach after admitting to abusing a student at a boarding school in Missouri in the late 1970s.
The lawsuit, while a very serious matter, was quickly overshadowed Thursday as word spread that a Catholic archbishop had actually been called by a grand jury.
Pilarczyk, 67, is the first archbishop nationwide to be subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, according to David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
"Unprecedented. Absolutely," agreed Jeff Anderson, a lawyer who has represented numerous sex abuse victims and was the one to file Thursday's racketeering suit.
Pilarczyk was excused from testifying Thursday but Hamilton County prosecutors investigating child sex abuse allegations say the archbishop may be required to appear on a later date.
Armstrong testified. Neither prosecutors nor the archdiocese have revealed what he said.
The Roman Catholic church has struggled with sexual abuse accusations against priests across the country since January. Dozens of priests have been suspended or forced to resign, and church officials are under fire for allegedly ignoring the abuse and warning signs for years and even decades.
The investigation here began after Pilarczyk said some priests accused of child abuse in the past were still working in the archdiocese after undergoing treatment. He said those priests were in positions where no problems would occur and were being monitored.
County Prosecutor Michael Allen angrily suggested Thursday that the archdiocese is withholding documents he asked for under subpoena last month. The church sought a grand jury subpoena, saying it would keep church records confidential unless there is a criminal indictment.
"In essence what we got was 'You want it, you find it,' " Allen said. "That's not cooperation. That's why Rev. Armstrong is where he is today."
He added: "They can hire as many lawyers as they want, they can gum it up as much as they want, I'm going to do my job. This is not a game. I'm not playing games. I'm going to get to the bottom of this."
Attorneys for the archdiocese called his comments "inappropriate and inaccurate." Church attorney Mark Vander Laan said some of the documents that are being withheld are privileged.
"The idea that we are not cooperating and not providing what we legally can provide is very unjust," he said. Another attorney for the archdiocese declined to discuss what documents were involved.
Pilarczyk has been archbishop of Cincinnati since 1982, serving as the spiritual leader for 500,000 Catholics in 19 southwest Ohio counties. He was the auxiliary bishop from 1974-82 under the late Joseph Bernardin, who moved to Chicago as archbishop and cardinal.
Pilarczyk is one of the most respected leaders among U.S. bishops, who once elected him their president. His most recent assignment has been writing policy for the bishops to implement the Vatican directive putting tighter controls on theology teachers at Catholic colleges.