Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Alaska: dumping ground for pedophile priests?

Sorry folks, this ain't pretty. As a human being, this makes me sick. As a Seattle University Alum I am livid, nauseous and horrified.

From the Seattle Times:

"A lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses Seattle University President the Rev. Stephen Sundborg of knowing about an abusive Jesuit priest yet allowing that priest to remain in ministry when Sundborg served as provincial — or head — of the Jesuit order in the Northwest from about 1990 to 1996.

Sundborg is one of several defendants named in the lawsuit, filed by more than 40 men and women who say they were sexually abused as children or teens in Alaska years ago by Jesuits or those supervised by Jesuits.

The suit claims that as provincial, Sundborg had access to something called "hell files" — files containing information about Jesuit priests that was "not public," and "not good."

Tuesday's lawsuit says Native villages in Alaska were essentially a "dumping ground" for Jesuit priests unsuited to serve anywhere else. That characterization has repeatedly been denied by the Jesuits. However they also have paid out millions of dollars in recent years to settle sexual-abuse claims in Alaska."

2 comments:

tonyloucam said...

Hi Sheas Mum, my name is Louise and I am Marks sister and deirdres sister in law and auntie to my gorgeous Dylan.

as a catholic i read your story with equal disgust and horror and also despair. I have a very strong faith in God but my faith in the Church and other Christian churches who also protect the peadophiles in their midst are if possible more culpable than the ofenders themselves.It is like all predatory sexual behavior beyond comprehension.
And paying out money while not admitting blame is just absurd.
I hope next time i leave a comment it is on a lighter note. I have just got into this blogging stuff and have added you to my watchlist if that is ok. I started a blog myself today. It is very basic and i plan to work on it over the weekend. It is tonyloucam.blogspot.com/ if you are interested
Cheers from hot and sunny Australia
Lou

Jake Dillon said...

Of course, Louise! I have heard so much about you. Thank you for visiting my blog and I would be happy to go visit yours. This blogging thing is a lot of fun and I am really enjoying it, I hope you will too.

Thanks for your comments. I know, there really isn't much to say, it is so gut churning one doesn't even want to thing about it. But,I just felt like I had to make mention of it in my blog. Like life it isn't always easy, fun or pretty but sometimes needs to be addressed anyway, paid attention to and acknowledged.

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