INQUISITION NEWS: Speak Your Piece: Silence No More

Speak Your Piece: Silence No More

Religion and Faith

Finally people are listening to us. Now we can stop carrying this terrible silent burden alone within our families.

By Mary Annette Pember

Frontline

Mark Trahant, above, tells the story of an Alaskan village where priests abused 80 percent of the community's children.

The Silence, a film reported and narrated by my friend and colleague Mark Trahant, was tough for me to watch when it aired this week on the Public Broadcasting System's Frontline series.

Mark, of the Shoshone-Bannock tribe, tells the story of sexual abuse of children by clergy in the isolated Alaskan native village of St. Michael. The Frontline documentary aired ironically during holy week, on PBS and can be viewed online here.

As Trahant tells the story, beginning in 1968 and ending in 1983, a Catholic priest, George Endal, and his assistant, Deacon Joseph Lundowski, sexually abused 80 percent of the village’s children. For years, according to victims, no one believed them when they spoke about what was happening in the village. Initially, church leaders denied any knowledge of the abuse by these men who were “revered and above suspicion.”

When the victims' attorney was able to build a case using internal church documents, the church finally stopped denying knowledge of the abuse. The 2009 court settlement required that Fairbanks Bishop Donald Kettler meet in person with victims and apologize on behalf of the Catholic Church. (He was not bishop at the time the abuse took place.)

The meetings are featured in The Silence, and caught me emotionally off guard. I heard hoarse, ragged cries come from somewhere and realized they were coming from my own mouth. I cried not only for the victims, but also for my mom, who will be 86 next month. Although dementia has claimed much of her mind, she still speaks guardedly of the abuse she suffered at the “Sister School,” the catholic boarding school where she was raised.

She makes ominous, veiled references, still filled with fear of retribution from the priests and sisters who ran the school. They have robbed my mother and so many others of any real peace or serenity.

Since my mom entered the nursing home, I have been managing her modest affairs. She recently received a notice from a Jesuit organization with which she had purchased a small annuity. Since she has outlived the annuity, they wanted to know if she would like to donate the original sum, $100, to the organization or receive the money in the form of taxable income.

My first reaction was one of rage. I thought, “My god, hasn’t this woman given you people enough already!?” Eventually, however, I decided to turn the money over to the Jesuits. I have grown exhausted with holding onto the bitterness and pain that has haunted my family.

In watching The Silence and, to me, the disingenuous apologies by Bishop Kettler to the victims of abuse, the experience underscored the fact that now, finally people are listening to us. Now we can stop carrying this terrible silent burden alone within our families.

Rural, isolated and disenfranchised from mainstream white America, reservation kids have been especially easy pickings for sexual predators. Attorney Ken Roosa notes that, “The odds of being abused as a little Catholic boy or girl in the Fairbanks diocese was higher than any other place in the United States that has been investigated to date.”

Other stories are surfacing in Indian Country about similar cases of clergy abuse such as South Dakota and Oregon.

Mark Trahant reports that several dozen priests and church workers are named as abusers throughout Alaska. The Silence tells this story simply, powerfully and elegantly, never losing sight of the real story of the people whose lives have been changed forever.

The first section of Trahant’s film is below:

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

22 April 2011 - 10:15am — davidclohessy

I'm very sorry

Mary - I'm very sorry about your mom's suffering. At the same time, I'm grateful to know she has such a supportive daughter.
Let’s hope that every person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes - in Alaska or anywhere - will find the courage and strength to speak up, call police, expose wrongdoing, protect kids and start healing.

David Clohessy, Director, SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, (7234 Arsenal Street, St. Louis MO 63143), 314 566 9790 cell (SNAPclohessy@aol.com)

Silence must be broken
Thank you for the article you wrote for the Daily Yonder.  I read it 
this morning with renewed sadness. My condolences to you for the
pain that was so needlessly inflicted on your mother.  I have come
to believe that there is virtually no end to the atrocities committed
upon Native American and Alaska Native children by these men and
women "of God" and I have finally concluded that these First 
Americans were simply not considered to be real human beings.  
I have no other explanation for how anyone could be so vicious and
lacking in empathy towards children.
 
It has been  the high point of my legal career to work with the many 
Alaskan men and women who honored me with their trust and told me
of  their abuse.  There are many more men and women on reservations,
in  cities, and in rural America who have yet to break their silence,
and I hope they find the strength to do so, for I have come to 
believe that disclosure is the key to moving beyond the pain and grief
of childhood abuse.
 
Keep on writing, words are powerful.

Ken Roosa
Anchorage, Alaska
22 April 2011 - 2:04pm — LoyolaAlum

Jesuit Order settled clergy abuse claims in Alaska and Northwest

In March 2011 the Jesuit
Order, Oregon Province, settled clergy abuse claims in Alaska and the Northwest
U.S. for $166 million. The California Jesuits, with headquarters in Los Gatos,
Calif. have reportedly given money to the Jesuit Oregon Province. In other
words donations to California Jesuits may have supported Alaska Jesuits.

22 April 2011 - 2:07pm — Victims4Justice

Support Is Available!

Please help support victims of sexual abuse by demanding honesty, transparency, and accountability from Church leaders. Please visit our website and create productive discussion about how we, as a society, can prevent future children and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse inside and outside the walls of the Catholic Church.
The site is founded by a victim of clergy childhood sexual abuse. We provide Victims and Supporter discussions, News Headlines, Scheduled Chat room support group meetings, Links & Websites for victims and supporters.
www.Victims4Justice.org
Read more at www.dailyyonder.com