Dear Friends,
For those of you who do not know me, I am a practicing Catholic and the father of eight children. In late September 2001--months before the sex abuse crisis exploded in Boston in January 2002--I began exposing the sexual and financial misconduct of the Society of St. John, a group of priests under the authority of Bishop James Timlin of the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania. When Bishop Timlin sought to protect this homosexual cult, I also exposed his efforts to cover up their crimes. If this newsletter is the first you have received from me, you can find full documentation of the evidence against Bishop Timlin and the Society of St. John at www.SaintJustinMartyr.org/news/notices.html.
Many of you are no doubt aware that the Vatican just announced Bishop Timlin's replacement last Friday, July 25, 2003. Bishop Timlin's twenty-year reign in Scranton is now over. Thanks be to God.
It is an appropriate time, then, to note the consistent failure of Bishop Timlin to protect his flock against homosexual predator priests. In the first decade of his career, Bishop Timlin denied all responsibility when Fr. Robert Caparelli, a priest in the Diocese of Scranton, was convicted of sodomizing altar boys. The Fr. Caparelli case is particularly infamous because he was the first priest in the United States diagnosed as being HIV-positive who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing altar boys. Fr. Caparelli died of AIDS in the Lackawanna Correctional Facility in December 1994. Although Bishop Timlin, in his earlier capacity as Assistant Chancellor, had known of the serious accusations against Fr. Caparelli as early as 1968, nevertheless Bishop Timlin stonewalled and lied to the parishioners of St. Vincent's where Fr. Caparelli was pastor. In fact, Bishop Timlin's capacity for deception led one attorney in the Caparelli case to state that "Bishop Timlin is the biggest liar I ever deposed."
At the close of his second decade in office, it is evident that Bishop Timlin has learned nothing from the Caparelli case. As I have demonstrated elsewhere, there are striking parallels between Bishop Timlin's handling of this case and that of the Society of St. John. (See http://www.saintjustinmartyr.org/news/BishopTimlinOpenLetter4.html.) Bishop Timlin denied responsibility for Fr. Caparelli then, and he now denies responsibility for Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, Fr. Eric Ensey, and Fr. Marshall Roberts of the Society of St. John. Bishop Timlin failed to investigate repeated accusations of sexual immorality then, and he has failed to investigate repeated accusations now. Bishop Timlin lied then, and he is lying now.
What is particularly alarming is the fact that the Society of St. John is much more dangerous than Fr. Caparelli. As wicked as Fr. Caparelli's deeds were, he did not--by any account--have the style and charisma of Fr. Urrutigoity, who founded a homosexual cult under the guise of traditional Catholicism. Fr. Caparelli was not clever enough to groom his victims by means of a theory of male friendship that flattered boys and young men into receiving "spiritual direction" in bed with a priest. Fr. Caparelli did not know how to cultivate the parents of his victims so that they would eagerly offer their boys to him as if he alone could assure their salvation. And Fr. Caparelli did not know how to persuade Catholic donors to give him millions of dollars for the romantic dream of a Catholic village that he knew to be impossible, yet useful as a lure to ensnare adoring boys convinced by the "smells and bells" of high liturgy--not to mention the luxurious furniture, fine liquor and cigars--that this priest must be heaven-sent. No, Fr. Caparelli was a less sophisticated sort of monster. The damage done to souls by Fr. Urrutigoity and his followers will be much greater.
Bishop Timlin's reign is over, but the predator priests of the Society of St. John remain free to ply their perverse trade. How many more young souls will be abused, and how many more Catholic donors will be cheated, before the Society, like Fr. Caparelli, is finally stopped? Only then will we know the even darker legacy of Bishop Timlin.
Pax vobiscum,
Dr. Jeffrey M. Bond
President
College of St. Justin Martyr
142 Market Road
Greeley, PA 18425
570/685-5945
Sorry if I seem strident about this whole thing. All of these scandals just sicken me, but what pains even more is the complacency at high levels. Complacency to that degree crosses into complicity. We must all pray to St. Michael. V's wife.