{"id":1357,"date":"2020-08-31T16:41:35","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T21:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357"},"modified":"2022-12-01T00:36:07","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T05:36:07","slug":"part-4-loss-of-objectivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357","title":{"rendered":"How laity can step up their response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Diocese of Buffalo. PART FOUR: Loss of Objectivity is a product of toxic diocesan culture."},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\" style=\"font-style: italic\">An institutional sexual abuse crisis of this magnitude in the Diocese of Buffalo demands that every piece of the apparatus be examined and reconsidered. <\/span><\/span><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"><strong style=\"font-style: italic\">Laypeople who agree to the enormous responsibility of advisory roles for our bishops are not exempt from scrutiny. <\/strong><\/span><\/span><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">This series of posts examines our diocesan lay advisory groups through the&nbsp;lens of a&nbsp;particularly egregious clergy sex abuse case the diocese tried to cover up for 14 years. These lay groups are the Diocesan Pastoral Council, the Bishop&#8217;s Council of the Laity and the&nbsp;organizing committee&nbsp;of The&nbsp;Movement&nbsp;to Restore Trust. We may not be able to change clergy or&nbsp;hierarchy, but we can change ourselves and the lay groups who advise our bishops on our behalf. <\/span>This series of posts offers rationale and principles for establishing effective reform of lay leadership.<\/i><\/p>\n<hr>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>Objectivity:<\/strong> <span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn t_core\">impartiality<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn t_core\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">absence\/lack of bias<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">absence\/lack of prejudice<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">fairness<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">fair-mindedness<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">neutrality<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">evenhandedness<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">justice<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">open-mindedness<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">disinterest<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">detachment<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">dispassion<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\"><span class=\"gp tg_syn\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"syn\">neutrality<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"synList\"><span class=\"synGroup\"><span class=\"gp tg_synGroup\">.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\">In this post, we explore indications that the Diocese of Buffalo, over the course of many years, groomed a tight-knit circle of lay advisors in a system that effectively compromised their objectivity.&nbsp;<\/span><\/h2>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1357-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Part-4-Loss-of-Objectivity-is-a-product-of-toxic-diocesan-culture.m4a?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Part-4-Loss-of-Objectivity-is-a-product-of-toxic-diocesan-culture.m4a\">https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Part-4-Loss-of-Objectivity-is-a-product-of-toxic-diocesan-culture.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff\">Listen to PART FOUR&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong><em>Audio read by the author.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2118\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2118\" style=\"width: 1536px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2118\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/?attachment_id=2118\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/melting-ice-in-cocktail-e1591239228632.jpg?fit=1536%2C1498&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1536,1498\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-title=\"melting ice in cocktail\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/melting-ice-in-cocktail-e1591239228632.jpg?fit=825%2C805&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/melting-ice-in-cocktail-e1591239228632.jpg?resize=825%2C805&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2118\" alt=\"melting ice in cocktail\" width=\"825\" height=\"805\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2118\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">To at least one participant at a Bishop&#8217;s Council of the Laity function, the image of ice melting in a cocktail glass is a regrettable reminder of the banality of their gatherings, particularly during a time in 2018 when the clergy sexual abuse crisis exploded all around them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\">In the midst of the horrific clergy sexual abuse revelations in 2018, the Bishop&#8217;s Council of the Laity gathered with Buffalo&#8217;s Bishop Richard Malone. It was one of the year&#8217;s planned social events. The bishop spoke just a few words about the crisis at hand and then abruptly ended his talk with a quip that ice was melting in their cocktail glasses. The lay advisors accepted this as end of the discussion on the chaos exploding all around them, and the evening resumed as planned.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\">Fast forward a year to another group of lay advisors, the <\/span><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"><a href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/img_2881.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Diocesan Pastoral Council<\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\">, who gathered September 14, 2019 to effectively cast a vote on whether or not they support the resignation of Bishop Malone. The <\/span><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"><a href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/img_2881.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DPC roster from that month<\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"> indicates <\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">five vacancies <\/span>to go <span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\">along with five absences<span id='easy-footnote-1-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-1-1357' title='28 votes were cast with 33 people on the roster.'><sup>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> of representatives that day&#8211;ten people missing at this meeting with the bishop during this epic crisis for this historic vote.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\"><b>Diocesan culture likely tainted lay advisory councils, cultivating lack of objectivity.<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">It is indisputable that for decades, lay advisors to our bishops missed the boat in detecting the moral depravity and corruption in the institution and its bishops they were charged to advise.<span id='easy-footnote-2-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-2-1357' title='&lt;span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt;Confirmed by two leaders of the MRT: &lt;\/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;a style=&quot;text-align: left&quot; href=&quot;https:\/\/buffalonews.com\/2018\/11\/01\/prominent-catholics-plan-to-reform-buffalo-diocese-because-of-clergy-abuse-crisis\/&quot;&gt;From Buffalo News 11\/1\/18&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt; Carl J. Montante: &lt;\/span&gt;&lt;em style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt;&amp;#8220;I was a member of the Bishop&amp;#8217;s Council of the Laity for more than 25 years and on that council we were supposed to have learned what was really going on in the diocese and there was never once a hint of any problem with the Diocese of Buffalo.&amp;#8221;&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt; From Dr. John Hurley: &lt;\/span&gt;&lt;em style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt;&amp;#8220;We were assured that the lawyers had looked at this, that the diocese had gotten sound advice and that they had handled this properly, and it now appears not to be the case.&amp;#8221;'><sup>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span>&nbsp;<\/em>It doesn&#8217;t mean they were not operating in good faith. We may forgive these dedicated Catholics since they cannot be expected to confront evil if they are duped into thinking it doesn\u2019t exist in this particular arena. Governance, after all, is supposed to be predicated on the virtue of its leaders. We presume virtue in a Roman Catholic bishop and the enterprise he oversees.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">So how did they get so flagrantly hoodwinked? We\u2019re talking about intelligent and gifted Catholic laity, exceptional in their dedication to the Church, who probably naturally assumed clergy were going to act, um, like men of God. These volunteers give generously of their time in service to the Church in this capacity. As well-meaning as they are, it appears they could have unwittingly been caught up in a system created by the diocese which ultimately cultivated in them <strong>lack of objectivity<\/strong>. Lose that, and you can easily get duped.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Dr. Russell J. Jandoli, who founded the journalism program at St. Bonaventure University, taught: never socialize with the people you report on; never accept gifts from them; never accept favors from them. This was to secure a precious measure of objectivity in journalistic work which is&nbsp;<em>to speak truth to power and hold people to account.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As I pointed out <a href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/2019\/10\/05\/silence-gives-consent-bishops-council-of-the-laity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in a previous post<\/a>, many of our lay advisors\u2019 close, personal associations with the bishops of our diocese <a href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2019-bcl-with-notes.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cultivated over 15, 20, 30+ years<\/a>&nbsp;(for some) is understandable. <a href=\"https:\/\/respectfulcatholic.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Siobhan O\u2019Connor<\/a> has confirmed the amicable social and personal relationships Bishop Malone enjoyed with several members of the Movement to Restore Trust&#8217;s leadership and folks on the BCL. But that type of fond relationship forged over time comes at a price\u2014<b>loss of&nbsp;objectivity&nbsp;in giving him sound advice.&nbsp;<\/b>And, one could argue, this could very well be the desired outcome by the diocese\u2019s own design.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1817\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1817\" style=\"width: 2016px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1817\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/?attachment_id=1817\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/deperro-scharf.jpg?fit=2016%2C1512&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2016,1512\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.8&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 11&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1589494407&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.25&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.016666666666667&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Deperro-Scharf\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/deperro-scharf.jpg?fit=825%2C619&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/deperro-scharf.jpg?resize=825%2C619&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1817\" alt=\"Deperro-Scharf\" width=\"825\" height=\"619\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1817\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">WBFO-NPR photographer captured a rare photo of St. Bonaventure University&#8217;s president, Dr. Dennis DePerro, in context of the Movement to Restore Trust which has excluded his leadership participation. Here he attended (as a member of the public like the rest of us)&nbsp;the December, 2019 MRT Symposium held at Canisus College and chats with Bishop Edward Scharfenberger. <em>Photo from WBFO-NPR website.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Let&#8217;s look at the environment in which our lay advisors have been operating for decades:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">The bishops kept the Bishop&#8217;s Council of the Laity, in particular, in tight geographic corral within the city region of the eight-county diocese, making it easier to cultivate friendly relations and maintain like-minded thinking.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left\">The bishops kept all meetings (which required one&#8217;s physical presence) of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buffalodiocese.org\/documents\/EvangelizeBuffalo\/Vicariate%20and%20Diocesan%20Councils%20Org%20Chart.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">both lay consultative groups<\/a> in the city region, making it difficult for laity who live outside that region to participate.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left\">The bishops left membership of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buffalodiocese.org\/diocesan-pastoral-council\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Diocesan Pastoral Council<\/a> at the sole discretion of the Vicars Forane with no oversight in making sure vacant positions were appropriately filled with competent laity representing vicariates.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left\">The bishops made sure BCL membership fit certain economic profiles for the main task which was to <a title=\"BCL Letter-redacted\" href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/bcl-letter-redacted.pdf\">raise money for the bishop\u2019s separate charity fund<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left\">The bishops limited the talent pool of Catholic advisors for the BCL drawing almost exclusively from the city region,<span id='easy-footnote-3-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-3-1357' title='&lt;a style=&quot;text-align: left&quot; href=&quot;https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2019-bcl-with-notes.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot;&gt;The BCL roster from January, 2019&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt;, acquired from a diocesan official, includes home addresses (redacted in this link) which I can attest are predominantly within the region of the City of Buffalo with clusters noted in certain neighborhoods, clusters noted on specific streets and clusters noted within specific families.'><sup>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span>&nbsp;<\/span>excluding supremely competent lay leaders from other regions of the diocese. This is probably why we don&#8217;t see the lay president of St. Bonaventure University, Dr. Dennis DePerro, among ranks of leaders or participants in diocesan lay consultative groups, but we see the <a href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/2019-bcl-with-notes.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">president of Canisius College and his wife on board since 1995<\/a>. The Movement to Restore Trust continues the tradition of this discrimination among its leadership ranks.&nbsp;Another executive of Canisius College now co-chairs the BCL. It is almost ridiculous to say there are no executives from St. Bonaventure University on the BCL because there is not a single person from Cattaraugus County on the BCL.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left\">The bishops kept BCL gatherings social, minimizing discussion on substantive issues by offering cocktail parties and dinners at venues including the posh <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebuffaloclub.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buffalo Club<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>The bishops never set up term limits for lay advisors.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left\">The bishops lied to their lay advisors about how clergy sexual abuse cases were handled, as some of the BCL&#8217;s own long-time members acknowledged.<span id='easy-footnote-4-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-4-1357' title='&lt;span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt;Confirmed by two leaders of the MRT: &lt;\/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;a style=&quot;text-align: left&quot; href=&quot;https:\/\/buffalonews.com\/2018\/11\/01\/prominent-catholics-plan-to-reform-buffalo-diocese-because-of-clergy-abuse-crisis\/&quot;&gt;From Buffalo News 11\/1\/18&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt; Carl J. Montante: &lt;\/span&gt;&lt;em style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt;&amp;#8220;I was a member of the Bishop&amp;#8217;s Council of the Laity for more than 25 years and on that council we were supposed to have learned what was really going on in the diocese and there was never once a hint of any problem with the Diocese of Buffalo.&amp;#8221;&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt; From Dr. John Hurley: &lt;\/span&gt;&lt;em style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;&gt;&amp;#8220;We were assured that the lawyers had looked at this, that the diocese had gotten sound advice and that they had handled this properly, and it now appears not to be the case.&amp;#8221;'><sup>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1223\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1223\" style=\"width: 720px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1223\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/?attachment_id=1223\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/buffalo-club.jpg?fit=720%2C638&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"720,638\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;3.5&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;KODAK EasyShare Z980 Digital Camera&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1287991752&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.6&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;64&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.005&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Buffalo Club\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Buffalo Club on Delaware Ave. where Bishops Council of the Laity have gathered. Source: Buffalo as Architectural Museum website&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/buffalo-club.jpg?fit=720%2C638&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/buffalo-club.jpg?resize=720%2C638&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1223\" alt=\"Buffalo Club\" width=\"720\" height=\"638\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1223\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Buffalo Club on Delaware Ave. where Bishops Council of the Laity have gathered with the bishop. Other venues included the seminary and the bishop&#8217;s residence. &nbsp;<em>Photo: Buffalo as Architectural Museum website<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Lack of seriousness in BCL crisis response indicates loss of objectivity.<\/h2>\n<p>Yes, lay advisors and diocesan officials engaged in spiritual events like Mass together which is fundamentally important. But honestly, during 2018, when the entire world learned the shocking revelations about how clergy sexual abuse was handled in the Diocese of Buffalo, wouldn\u2019t you think that lay advisors would want to jettison social events (like the one described at the beginning of this post) and focus on substantive issues like, pressing for accountability for diocesan officials, pressing for ways to support abuse survivors and pressing for an assessment of needs around the diocese brought on by collateral damage. A public statement of their united voice condemning the ways the diocese handled sex abuse cases was an obvious miss during that time.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\">According to the BCL co-chairperson that I talked to in late 2018, those concerns were decidedly&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">not<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"> their focus, even amid this crisis. Keep in mind, <\/span><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"><strong>this is the group that produced six of the nine leaders of the Movement to Restore Trust.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_197\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-197\" style=\"width: 3470px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"197\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/?attachment_id=197\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/protest-signs.jpg?fit=3470%2C610&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"3470,610\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.8&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone XR&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1568457430&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.25&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;25&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00084033613445378&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"protest signs\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Members of the Diocesan Pastoral Council drove right past their fellow laity in prayer and protest before a DPL meeting at Christ the King Seminary in September, 2019. Photo: by Siobhan O&amp;#8217;Connor&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/protest-signs.jpg?fit=825%2C145&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/protest-signs.jpg?resize=825%2C145&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-197\" alt=\"protest signs\" width=\"825\" height=\"145\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-197\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of the Diocesan Pastoral Council drove right past their fellow laity pictured here in prayer and protest before a DPC meeting at Christ the King Seminary- September 14, 2019. Nine days earlier, the MRT had pulled its support for Bishop Malone and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&#038;rct=j&#038;q=&#038;esrc=s&#038;source=web&#038;cd=&#038;ved=2ahUKEwj0oLOgwffpAhVcTTABHV4fCdUQFjAAegQIAhAB&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovementtorestoretrust.org%2Fmrt-calls-for-bishop-to-resign%2F&#038;usg=AOvVaw2s7CpM5JY6Sz5Z6crc0ydM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">called for his resignation<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\">Not even heart-wrenching news indicting the bishop or MRT pulling its support of the bishop could sway the Diocesan Pastoral Council.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\">It is not surprising that, according to Shiobhan O\u2019Connor and diocesan officials in the know I spoke with the past few years, nobody in the chancery took these lay consultative bodies seriously. They didn\u2019t need to. By 2018 it was obvious both the Bishop&#8217;s Council of the Laity and the Diocesan Pastoral Council had been groomed to circle the wagons and protect the bishop, no matter what was revealed. How else do we interpret the action of the DPC, for example? This group:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left\">\n<li>made no public statement for the rationale behind their vote of confidence for Bishop Malone when <a href=\"https:\/\/buffalonews.com\/news\/local\/despite-what-bishop-says-most-area-catholics-want-him-to-resign-poll-finds\/article_7894c6ff-46f7-59e1-94c8-08f1eabd3aab.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">polling data<\/a> among lay Catholics in populous northern counties overwhelmingly backed his resignation, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/movementtorestoretrust.org\/mrt-calls-for-bishop-to-resign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MRT had just pulled its support of the bishop<\/a>&nbsp;more than a week earlier;<\/li>\n<li>offered no breakdown of how individual members voted<span id='easy-footnote-5-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-5-1357' title='A Buffalo media reporter was trying to find out the names of the four people who voted no confidence in Bishop Malone.'><sup>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span>;<\/li>\n<li>didn&#8217;t list the names of the five members who did not show up for this historic vote<span id='easy-footnote-6-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-6-1357' title='28 votes were cast with 33 people on the roster.'><sup>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span>;<\/li>\n<li>and overall, just gave no public witness to any outrage concerning the crisis as they<\/li>\n<li>remained anonymous and aloof,<\/li>\n<li>driving right past their fellow laity in prayer and protest outside their meetings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Few laity had even heard of the Diocesan Pastoral Council until the diocese announced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wgrz.com\/article\/news\/religion\/buffalo-bishop-malone-poll\/71-0c6a077e-fbe1-4d39-a8e2-1fa3b694ad27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the group&#8217;s&nbsp;24-4 vote to back Bishop Malone<\/a> almost two weeks <em>after<\/em> the airing of the video you watched in my previous post giving witness testimony to Bishop Malone&#8217;s coverup of that crime and others.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Here it is again, in case you missed it.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"825\" height=\"465\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sc8ML0Z8LtQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">And that\u2019s what troubles so many of us. <strong>Do they really not believe the heart wrenching testimony and documentation they hear and see all around them?<\/strong> Or did they collectively sink into an abyss of enabling the clerics they had grown so fond of? What other conclusions can we draw because, honestly, whose heart does not bleed watching this video?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Sadly, If you write to MRT leaders to&nbsp;make the obvious case that the diocesan officials credibly tainted by the seminarian&#8217;s case should <strong><em>not<\/em><\/strong> be utilized as integral agents in the &#8220;healing&#8221; process for our diocese, don&#8217;t expect the response to stray far from the diocesan culture that produced the heartbreaking story in that video.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">For example, in June, 2019 I&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/email-redacted-to-mrthurley-june4-2019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emailed<\/a>&nbsp;these concerns to Dr. John Hurley, <em>de facto<\/em> leader of the Movement to Restore Trust, who, along with his wife, had also served in the past as co-chairpeople of the Bishop&#8217;s Council of the Laity. Both of them also serve on the MRT&#8217;s organizing committee. Some of the other MRT leaders were copied in my email. Here&#8217;s Dr. Hurley&#8217;s response, emailed to me three days later:<span id='easy-footnote-7-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-7-1357' title='John Hurley. Email to Jennifer Kane. 7 June 2019. '><sup>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i>&#8220;You have previously advised us of this incident and it was duly reported to the Diocese. I&#8217;ve forwarded this along to the Diocese as well. The MRT is an all volunteer group of laity and clergy dedicated to restoring trust. Since you and others with a claim have other independent trained and experienced options we decline to enter into an area of Church , Civil and Criminal law in which we have neither authority or competence. We encourage you to choose a proper vehicle for the pursuit of your cause.&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Are we surprised at the nature of this response by someone who&#8217;s been a part of the diocesan culture for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2019-bcl-with-notes.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more than a quarter century<\/a>? What&#8217;s most troubling is the fact that MRT officials responded in a manner consistent with a religious organization that for decades has outsourced the gospel to lawyers, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wkbw.com\/longform\/bishop-henry-j-mansell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">as one survivor put it<\/a>. This cold treatment of laity is part of the long-standing diocesan culture revealed in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wkbw.com\/longform\/bishop-henry-j-mansell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this WKBW report<\/a>&nbsp;and <a href=\"https:\/\/respectfulcatholic.com\/2019\/09\/09\/grosz-lipuma\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this report from Siobhan O&#8217;Connor<\/a>, for example. Clergy sexual abuse survivor, Daniel Bauer, disclosed to WKBW his exacerbating experience trying to communicate to the bishops. They \u201c[&#8230;] give a bare minimum of what they can get away with until somebody else comes along and pushes them and pushes them and pushes them and they have to talk.\u201d We cannot imagine lay leaders similarly stiff-arming lay concerns unless&#8230;<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Did the diocesan culture groom&nbsp;among lay advisors&nbsp;uncritical devotion to the officials they were suppose to advise?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Evidence of uncritical devotion to diocesan clerical leaders among too many of our lay advisors was supremely evident in the BCL co-chairperson&#8217;s unwavering support of the Bishop to the exclusion of even attempting to read the leaked diocesan documents<span id='easy-footnote-8-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-8-1357' title='examples &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.wkbw.com\/longform\/7-i-team-buffalo-bishop-malone-returned-priest-to-ministry-after-allegations-involving-a-child&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;\/a&gt;'><sup>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span> and other curious omissions and responses from lay advisors examined above. Given the fact that power attracts people bent on corruption, <strong>do we really want to encourage a system that all but guarantees a clergyman&#8217;s impunity with slavish devotion from lay advisors with whom he works on a friendly basis for 10, 20, 30 years or more?<\/strong> Collateral damage resulting from such devotion can be significant.<\/p>\n<p>[<span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><strong>UPDATE<\/strong><\/span>: WKBW&#8217;S chief investigator, Charlie Specht, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wkbw.com\/news\/local-news\/in-time-of-church-crisis-st-bonaventure-president-was-force-for-good?fbclid=https:\/\/www.wkbw.com\/news\/local-news\/in-time-of-church-crisis-st-bonaventure-president-was-force-for-good?fbclid=IwAR123Sv9yErAosQaZYzNpzvahDeSV10gwyGCB5m6abZgalljJU-O67W76tk-O67W76tk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">revealed<\/a> on March 1, 2021 that Dr. Hurley called him on April 12, 2019 &#8220;to retract his quotes from the [WKBW] article that were critical of Malone&#8230;calling our story a &#8216;distraction&#8217; from the work of his reform group,&#8221; the MRT. The &#8220;distraction&#8221; was WKBW&#8217;s revelation that Bishop Malone&nbsp;concealed the names of 25 priests who were accused of sexual abuse.]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">For example, we are not surprised the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/respectfulcatholic.com\/2019\/01\/05\/solidarity-with-whom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Presbyteral (Priests&#8217;) Council<\/a><span id='easy-footnote-9-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-9-1357' title='roster listed &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/presbyteral-council-list-2.jpg&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;\/a&gt;'><sup>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span> heartily endorsed the MRT upon its formation. As some diocesan insiders relayed to me, the MRT\u2019s leadership would likely continue to provide ample protection from accountability for the Presbyteral Council chairman, Monsignor David LiPuma, who <a href=\"https:\/\/respectfulcatholic.com\/2019\/09\/09\/grosz-lipuma\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">remains under a huge cloud of suspicion<\/a> concerning his role in the coverup of clergy sexual abuse during the decades he served under three bishops in the chancery, including as vice chancellor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">This MRT endorsement of that monsignor, we presume, is significant to Bishop Sharfenberger and to the papal nuncio [papal ambassador to the United States].&nbsp;Both play a significant role in determining future leadership for the diocese.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/movementtorestoretrust.org\/mrt-leader-meets-with-papal-nuncio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Hurley met with the papal nuncio<\/a> this past January, ostensibly representing all 600,000 Catholic laity in the diocese.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1863\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1863\" style=\"width: 2004px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1863\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/?attachment_id=1863\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/deperro-calls-bishoptoresign-e1589567332549.jpg?fit=2004%2C1431&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2004,1431\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-title=\"DePerro-calls-bishoptoresign\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/deperro-calls-bishoptoresign-e1589567332549.jpg?fit=825%2C589&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/deperro-calls-bishoptoresign-e1589567332549.jpg?resize=825%2C589&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1863\" alt=\"DePerro-calls-bishoptoresign\" width=\"825\" height=\"589\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1863\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even before Dr. Dennis DePerro called for Bishop Malone to resign, the MRT leadership would not reach out with an invitation for the St. Bonaventure University president to join their leadership team. <em>Photo from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oleantimesherald.com\/news\/st-bonaventure-university-president-deperro-calls-on-bishop-malone-to-resign\/article_9e692620-5d7d-11e9-93f6-2b4aa52997c4.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Olean Times Herald<\/a> website.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Troubling bias: Deliberately avoiding heroic and supremely competent lay Catholics reveals lack of objectivity.<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">The tight-knit circle of laypeople the diocese groomed for years, particularly among the more tenured members of the BCL, has certainly had its impact in lay crisis response. While <strong>other competent Catholic laity throughout the diocese were systematically excluded from participation as lay advisors<\/strong>&nbsp;for decades through the BCL or through the DPC (with its lack of term limits\/vacancy fulfillments), entrenched Buffalo-area lay advisors were just about all that were available from a pool of lay leaders to choose from to help in crisis response starting in 2018.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">It wasn&#8217;t a surprise that Bishop Malone welcomed the creation of the Movement to Restore Trust as six of its leaders had been pretty stalwart allies over decades, even making it on the bishop&#8217;s personal Christmas card list.<span id='easy-footnote-10-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-10-1357' title='Verified by Siobhan O&amp;#8217;Connor who made out the personal Christmas cards for Bishop Richard Malone.'><sup>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Their work was a deliberate &#8220;lifeline&#8221; offered to the bishop, Dr. Hurley disclosed at the <a href=\"https:\/\/movementtorestoretrust.org\/march-9-symposium\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 2019 MRT Symposium<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">The problem with forming a lay leadership group almost exclusively of decades-entrenched BCL members from the city region is obvious. Besides bad optics, it can be argued they had come from an experience of working in the diocese&#8217;s culture so myopic they apparently could not see the need to diversify by reaching out to other supremely competent Catholic lay leaders in outlying counties in the diocese for their independent group&#8217;s important work. Now, we don&#8217;t know if this was intentional or if this is just the way they were groomed in the diocesan culture, but <strong>the&nbsp;omission of the St. Bonaventure University president, Dr. Dennis DePerro, among the organizing committee of the MRT speaks volumes.<\/strong> He acknowledged he was never invited.<span id='easy-footnote-11-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-11-1357' title=' I asked.'><sup>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Dr. DePerro didn&#8217;t&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.oleantimesherald.com\/news\/st-bonaventure-university-president-deperro-calls-on-bishop-malone-to-resign\/article_9e692620-5d7d-11e9-93f6-2b4aa52997c4.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">call for Bishop Malone&#8217;s resignation<\/a>&nbsp;until after the MRT had already formed, so his opinion was not publicly known. The MRT did eventually&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/movementtorestoretrust.org\/mrt-calls-for-bishop-to-resign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">withdraw its support of the bishop<\/a> on September 5, 2019.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">As the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">sole<\/span> Catholic university president in western New York to voice such an opinion, Dr. DePerro demonstrated a measure of heroic honesty among Catholic lay leaders throughout the diocese. Would not such a leader be a valuable asset in addressing this crisis?<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">&#8220;I want not only to be a whistleblower but to be a part of the reform and renewal the Church needs.&#8221;<\/h2>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: right\">&#8211;Siobhan O&#8217;Connor on <em>CBS This Morning<\/em><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>The omission of Shiobhan O&#8217;Connor<\/strong> from among advisors for the MRT tells us much too. If your goal is to instill trust, why wouldn&#8217;t you include among your advisors the one layperson universally trusted among laity in the diocese and clergy sexual abuse survivors everywhere? This brief <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/cWvInSn7fS8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">video<\/a>&nbsp;[below], illustrates the enormous national impact she has in bringing the face of reason and love and courage-in-seeking-truth to the forefront of the Catholic Church sexual abuse crisis&#8211;<strong>something no bishop has been successful at doing, including Pope Francis.<\/strong> If your goal is to include more young people and more laywomen in leadership positions in the Church (an obsession throughout the <a href=\"https:\/\/movementtorestoretrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MRT-Initial-Workgroup-Reports-07.17.19.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MRT workgroup recommendations<\/a>), why would you exclude this remarkable, nationally-revered young woman in your own diocese? As Deacon Paul Snyder said in this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cWvInSn7fS8\">CBS interview<\/a>, &#8220;&#8230;everybody should be supporting her. And anyone who doesn&#8217;t, must not be seeking truth.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"825\" height=\"465\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cWvInSn7fS8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: left\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/cWvInSn7fS8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Video<\/a>&#8211; Oct. 29, 2019 &#8212; Interview of Siobhan O&#8217;Connor and Deacon Paul Snyder on <em>CBS This Morning<\/em> the day after CBS aired its <em>60 Minutes<\/em> interview revealing O&#8217;Connor as the whistleblower who leaked diocesan documents which disclosed systemic clergy sexual abuse and diocesan coverup for decades. &#8220;I had to do this for the survivors, for the diocese I love, and for the Church I love. I want not only to be a whistleblower but to be a part of the reform and renewal the church needs,&#8221; O&#8217;Connor stated.<\/h6>\n<hr>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Not sure about Ms. O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s character or what she experienced working in the chancery or <strong>her effectiveness in reaching out to clergy sexual abuse survivors that the Church turned into stone-cold anti-Catholics (with many&nbsp;<\/strong><b>having lost all faith in God)<\/b>? I beseech you to watch this video below of her speech last summer at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ndNkHhzBDTo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">national conference of the&nbsp;Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests<\/a>&nbsp;(SNAP). Here&#8217;s your chance to&nbsp;<em>experience<\/em>&nbsp;genuine gospel witness by a laywoman engaged in social activism for some of the most damaged among Christ&#8217;s flock. It is not possible to watch the end of this talk to a room full of survivors abused by Catholic priests and not just sob with her.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"825\" height=\"465\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ndNkHhzBDTo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h6>Saturday, July 27th 2019&#8211; Siobhan O&#8217;Connor speaks at the NSAP national conference in front of a room full of survivors sexually abused by Catholic clergy. She discusses how speaking with survivors plus her Catholic faith compelled her to expose the cover-up within the Diocese of Buffalo. When her concerns about cover-ups and complicity fell on deaf ears, she decided that leaking documents to the media was the best tool at her disposal to validate survivors, inform the public, and affect much-needed change.<\/h6>\n<hr>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Dumbfounding that she would not be included as even an outside resource to lend credibility and trustworthiness to the MRT&#8217;s work, never mind her encyclopedic knowledge of how the chancery operates and where skeletons lie.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Sadly, these omissions are a disturbing reflection on the MRT&#8217;s leadership, undermining its credibility.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Inoculation against getting played by the system again would help laity to better engage in co-responsibility of managing our diocese.<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Aside from brief MRT proposals specifically addressing ideas for reforming lay consultative bodies<span id='easy-footnote-12-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-12-1357' title='&lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/movementtorestoretrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MRT-Initial-Workgroup-Reports-07.17.19.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot;&gt;linked here&lt;\/a&gt; on pg 41'><sup>12<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, the document offers no recommendations for how the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">laity themselves<\/span> currently in advisory positions should reform. And <strong>that reform should involve the same level of inclusivity and transparency and willingness to be open to radical ideas just as MRT reform proposals request of their bishop.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">It isn&#8217;t a matter of reforming present lay entities. It is a matter of blowing up the old models and forging a new framework of operation designed to inoculate lay advisors from getting played by the system again. You won&#8217;t find that language on page 41 of the <a href=\"https:\/\/movementtorestoretrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MRT-Initial-Workgroup-Reports-07.17.19.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MRT proposals<\/a> for reforming consultative groups because <strong>they understandably have not come to that stage of vital introspection. <\/strong>The notion of term limits is treated as an option&#8230;maybe&#8230;at some point down the road.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/rorate-caeli.blogspot.com\/2018\/09\/attacking-whistleblower-abuse-enabling.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Joseph Shaw<\/a>, an Oxford University professor of philosophy who specializes in ethics, the culture of the Church [or diocese] cannot help but affect the people working in its system. If the culture is rotten, and we know the Diocese of Buffalo&#8217;s is, it will have an effect on laity working within it, especially over a long period of time. He said <strong>the &#8220;endemic abusive system at the heart of the institution for fifty or more years&#8221; is going to affect the culture of the Church and &#8220;<span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\">draw into its distorted mind-set as many people involved with the Church as possible&#8221;<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\">&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"><strong>doing&nbsp;its best to inculcate among them such <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">&#8220;abusive assumptions&#8221; as &#8220;whistleblowers are traitors.&#8221;<\/span><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: var(--color-text)\"> This might explain the MRT&#8217;s exclusion of obvious choices of lay leaders like Dr. DePerro or Ms. O&#8217;Connor, for example.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">It will take all of us pulling from an entirely different direction of the Holy Spirit to eradicate the human depravity in which our diocesan abuse crisis is rooted.&nbsp;Projecting blame on &#8220;clericalism&#8221; or a system that needs more saucy ideas expressed in Vatican II documents will not reform or renew anything. &#8220;If we would remake the world,&#8221; Venerable Fulton Sheen instructs, &#8220;we must begin by remaking the individual.&#8221;<span id='easy-footnote-13-1357' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1357#easy-footnote-bottom-13-1357' title='Fulton J. Sheen,&amp;nbsp;Way to Happiness.&amp;nbsp;Alba House Edition, 1949.'><sup>13<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Without a humble introspection by the more than 300 lay advisors,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/movementtorestoretrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MRT-Initial-Workgroup-Reports-07.17.19.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MRT proposals<\/a>, sincere as they are, rather put the cart before the horse.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">This is not to dismiss the entirety of the MRT&#8217;s important work or the documents they have produced to lead the reform effort. What they have attempted is a valiant all-volunteer and personally-funded initiative, done for their enormous love for the Church. But to gain the <em>trust<\/em> of laity, especially abuse survivors, and to achieve the outcome we all seek for lasting <em>healing and renewal,&nbsp;<\/em>they need to create an entirely new system in which laity may objectively and responsibly advise our bishop.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Let us keep praying our daily rosaries. Holy Mary, Queen of the Church and Hope of Abuse Survivors, pray for us.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><i>postscript&#8211;In the next&nbsp;post, <a href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/2020\/08\/31\/reform-principles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PART FIVE<\/a> of this six-part series, we&#8217;ll offer 10 foundational principles for reforming the way laity operate in co-managing our diocese. The final post in this series, <a href=\"https:\/\/laydob.com\/2020\/08\/31\/part-6-reform-recommendations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PART SIX<\/a>, will detail concrete recommendations for how laity can reform and renew our participation in co-responsibly managing our diocese with the clergy.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><em>If you have any contributions to make in this dialogue on this series, please post them in the comments box below or through the website contact portal. Thank you for your time reading this series, and may God bless you.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(AUDIO read by author) We explore indications that the Diocese of Buffalo, over the course of many years, groomed a tight-knit circle of lay advisors in a system that effectively compromised their objectivity.\u00a0Lose that, and you can easily get duped. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7295316,"featured_media":2197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[691052665,687837688],"tags":[691052661,123451347,2878280,114523,691052648,691052660,12209604],"class_list":["post-1357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-6-part-series-laitys-response-to-sex-abuse-crisis","category-lay-advisory-groups","tag-bishop-edward-scharfenberger","tag-catholic-diocese-of-buffalo","tag-clergy-sexual-abuse","tag-laity","tag-movement-to-restore-trust","tag-rev-ryszard-biernat","tag-siobhan-oconnor","without-featured-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb24kG-lT","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/laydob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/header-series.png?fit=3909%2C1635&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7295316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1357"}],"version-history":[{"count":84,"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7044,"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357\/revisions\/7044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}