Law And More

Health Bill in Senate: Catholics a la Italian Style

The bookmakers are calculating the odds that the Roman Catholic stand on abortion could help sink the Health Bill in the Senate and, later, upset the 2010 elections.  But, not so fast. 

RC religious points of view are coming to go a la Italian Style: Pick and Choose.  The members of the RC religion no longer represent a monolith.  And they are likely to be actually split from the official church [called "Holy Mother Church"] after the once-sealed discovery documents about the clergy sex abuse litigation in 2001 are unsealed. 

A Connecticut Superior Court, after the matter went all the way in different formats three times to the U.S. Supreme Court, mandated the media get access on or before December 1, 2009.  Here's what the Diocese of Bridgeport says about the matter on its website. 

The media getting that access are no slouches at maximizing the payoff of a story.  They include THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE HARTFORD COURANT, and BOSTON GLOBE, which broke the clergy sex-abuse story and is now owned by The New York Times Inc.  Some foresee a Martin Luther type reset and reformation post-analysis of the 12,000 pages of discovery material.  That could make all bets about the 2010 elections irrelevant.

My comedy of manners "The Fat Guy From Greenwich" has just been published.  The main characters embrace Roman Catholicism or did in their youth.  Here are the first two chapters Download FGFGchapters1,2.  You can order here from Amazon.com.

The Horror still faces CT Diocese of Bridgeport

Those of us who understand the brutality of a court trial know that the Connecticut Diocese of Bridgeport was shrewd to settle the lawsuit filed by whistleblower Bethany D'Eario.  She had been the former bookkeeper at St. John's Roman Catholic Church, Darien, CT.  She contended that she had been harassed for her role in unmasking the embezzlement of more than a million dollars in church funds by then-pastor the late Rev. Michael Jude Fay.  That priest, who admitted to being gay, died in prison after pleading guilty.

The day before jury selection was to begin in that lawsuit, the Diocese settled.  The Diocese did not admit wrongdoing.  However, the Diocese - as well as the whole Roman Catholic Church - could face disclosures from the more than 12,000 pages of court documents associated with the clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed against the Diocese of Bridgeport.  They were settled around 2001 for $40 million with the terms and conditions that the documents remained sealed. The U.S. Supreme Court denied the request to keep them temporarily sealed.  The media, including THE NEW YORK TIMES, had won court approval to have access to those sealed documents. The odds are that the US SC will not review the request by the Diocese to block access to those discovery documents by the media. 

Opening those wounds again and in detail could be the tipping point for the public in general and Roman Catholics in particular to question the validity of the church as a significant religious institution in our society.  In Italy, there has been taking place an investigation of sex abuse of children by priests there.  Depending on what is proved, the tipping point could be global.

In this, as in all legal and ethical matters, what could do those in the loop in was not the original crimes or sins but any alleged cover-up.

Defeat for Mayer Brown/RC Diocese of Bridgeport - US SC Rules Against Request to keep Documents Sealed

A major blow for Mayer Brown and for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the request by the Diocese, handled by Mayer Brown, to keep sealed, at least temporarily, the discovery documents from the lawsuits dealing with clergy sex abuse.  They had been sealed as part of the Diocese's settlement of the lawsuits with $40 million.  The Diocese has used the services of Mayer Brown on a fee-paid basis. In the past, I had contacted both Mayer Brown and the Diocese for interviews and they didn't respond.

Following the sealing of documents, four media outlets including THE NEW YORK TIMES and THE HARTFORD COURANT requested access to the material which runs more than 12,000 pages.  It was granted.  But the Diocese attempted to block unsealing them. 

This ruling, reports Dave Altimari in THE HARTFORD COURANT, "also appears to signal that the court will not take up the diocese's appeal of a Connecticut State Supreme Court ruling that the documents should indeed be public."

For the Diocese of Bridgeport and the Roman Catholic Church both in America and around the world, this could be a tipping point.  Disclosure of what's in those documents can generate a demand for changes in leadership, policies and procedure, and degree of transparency. 

N.B.  The Diocese did not indicate how much its legal fees have been in fighting disclosure and how much of that was paid to Mayer Brown.

Full Disclosure: In 2004, I had done some freelance communications consulting for the Diocese of Bridgeport.

Saving the Diocese of Bridgeport, that is, if the DOB wants to be saved

This week the full Nine at the U.S. Supreme Court will review the Connecticut Diocese of Bridgeport's [DOB] request to keep sealed the discovery documents in the clergy sex abuse lawsuits settled back in 2001. Here is the DOB's position.  Here is what was reported in THE NEW YORK TIMES.  This could be an end-run since U.S. SC Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg already denied the request.  But Rule 22 allows a second go at it. 

A major question here is one of the common good.  Since the public and media know plenty about the sex abuse and the alleged failure of the Roman Catholic higher-ups to prevent much of it, what value would full disclosure serve? 

In addition, DOB is ensnared in a whistle-blower lawsuit, collateral damage from the embezzlement scandal involving late gay priest Michael Jude Fay.  His light fingers weren't so light.  His take was more than a million dollars from St. John's Church, Darien, Connecticut.  Former bookkeeper there Bethany D.Erario, who allegedly played a role in the unmasking, contends she was harassed.  Bad news is that the CT Superior Court turned down DOB's request to dismiss.  When I interviewed a source who had been on the scene at St. John's and other parishes operated by DOB, his interpretation was that the powers-that-be seemed to be aware of the irregularities but were also aware that Fay was an influential fundraiser.  This insider is considering publishing a book.

There's more, of course.  DOB's stance, as is the Roman Catholic belief system, is against the sex act for anything but procreation.  We know the the implications of that for more crowding on Planet Earth and our gay brethren.

But, the DOB can be saved. That's if it wants to be saved.  The Archdiocese of New York seems to want the latter.  According to NEW YORK Magazine writer Robert Kolker, it is leveraging a charm offensive.  The roly-poly I'm-all-Irish Archbishop Timothy Dolan is a key player in that staging.  Will it be successful? Time and fundraising efforts will decide that.  The same will be the deciding factors, of course, at DOB.  Will the entity endure and will it have the money to pay its bills.  This year's DOB campaign for funds is headed by Darien-based Bob Dilenschneider and his wife Jan.  Dilenschneider heads a public relations boutique in Manhattan for which I did freelance writing until 2Q 2009.  Sweet Jesus help them.  Shaking loose money isn't easy amidst serial scandals.  

Unfortunately, the DOB cannot try charm.  It just isn't there.  When I visited its headquarters on 238 Jewett Avenue in Bridgeport, CT [I did freelance consulting in 2004], the interior and the players seemed dour.  That seemed no place for charm, sunniness, bending of ideology, not even to save itself.  The contact I dealt with Dr. Joseph McAleer [his degree is a Ph.D.], who is now spokesperson, seemed to be heavily focused on the content of the DOB's print newspaper and not on a bigger picture.  I did a proposal and a speech for Bishop Lori about the closing of some of those iconic Catholic Schools.  And that was that.

So, what can the DOB experiment with?  I explain in this ebook which has had more than a million downloads Download SavingSoulsJaneGenova that the zeitgeist has shifted from top down to horizontal.  People demand a conversation, not pontification from a Zeus-like space way above.  Salvation is possible and probable if the DOB simply talks with us.  It doesn't have to agree with us.  But it has to listen and be respectful. 

Italy: AP documents 73 clergy sex abuse cases, as US SC reviews request to keep Bridgeport Diocese settlement records sealed

Italy is finally paying attention to sex abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy.  The Associated Press has documented 73 cases.  Public awareness of this crime against children began and grew as the U.S. dealt with it.  THE BOSTON GLOBE helped put the story out there, not only the national but global radar.  Now even the Vatican, reports Nicole Winfield, "acknowledged that priestly sex abuse was an age-old problem that needed to be rooted out."

Meanwhile, in the U.S., that story is being resurrected again in the high-profile packaging of a possible U.S. Supreme Court review.  Legal media such as Law.Com are covering it.  In 2001, the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut settled more than 20 clergy sex-abuse lawsuits.  The deal was that the documents, representing more than 10,000 pages of discovery transcripts, would remained sealed.  Later the media, ranging from THE NEW YORK TIMES to THE HARTFORD COURANT, won the right to have access to those sealed documents.  When that didn't happen, the issue went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Recently,the Diocese of Bridgeport made a request to the high court to keep the documents sealed.  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg denied the request. Because of Rule 22 a second request could be made.  Represented by its law firm Mayer Brown the motion was submitted to Justice Antonin Scalia.  On September 25th the whole court will review that. 

Regionally, nationally, and globally, the priest sex-abuse legal matters could come to resemble the fictional "Jarndyce and Jarndyce" in the Charles Dickens's novel.

There have been no responses to my requests to the Diocese of Bridgeport and the Mayer Brown for interviews.  In 2004, I did freelance communications consulting for the Diocese.

Diocese of Bridgeport, US SC, Mayer-Brown

Mayer-Brown Law Firm is representing the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut in its request to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

That request is to keep clergy sex-abuse lawsuit documents sealed, as was arranged by a settlement by the Diocese in 2001.  Since then, four newspapers, including THE NEW YORK TIMES, had gained permission to have access to those thousands of pages of discovery.  The Diocese of Bridgeport, after U.S. SC Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg denied that request to keep documents sealed, has approached U.S. SC Justice Antonin Scalia.  Rue 22 allows that second try. The request has also been submitted to the full U.S. SC for review.  There are points of law involved as well as the issue if the common good will be served by making the discovery documents public.

I contacted Marc R. Kadish, Director of Pro Bono Activities at Mayer-Brown yesterday.  I asked if the firm is servicing this legal work for the Diocese of Bridgeport on a pro bono or fee-based basis.  As yet, neither Kadish nor the law firm has responded to me.   I also requested a briefing from the law firm on the points of law in this motion, at least as it and its client view them.

The former head of St. John's Church, Darien, Connecticut, the late Rev. Michael Jude Fay had pleaded guilty to embezzling about $1.3 million from the parish.  Collateral damage from that has been a whistleblower lawsuit filed by the former bookkeeper at St. John's.  Here is the Diocese's statement on that lawsuit.  It had requested that the litigation be dismissed.  CT Superior Court turned that request.  With the $50 million-plus award going to a Pfizer whistleblower, this particular suit has taken on an even higher profile. 

Note:  As I have mentioned several times, I had done freelance communications consulting for the Diocese of Bridgeport in 2004.  I had requested interviews with the Diocese twice on these recent legal matters.  I have received no reponse.

Bridgeport, CT Diocese - Seeks relief from its legal agony in the garden

In a case that's riveting not only Connecticut where it started but the nation, the Diocese of Bridgeport is trying again to keep sealed documents from the 2001 settlement of clergy sex-abuse lawsuits.  In late August, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg denied the Diocese's request.  This time the request has gone to U.S. SC Justice Antonin Scalia via Mayer Brown Law firm.   In addition, the Diocese's stay application will be considered by the entire High Court.  US SC Rule 22 allows such a second try.

Four newspapers, ranging from THE NEW YORK TIMES to THE HARTFORD COURANT, reports Tony Mauro in THE NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL, had "sought and won an order from the Connecticut Supreme Court to release the discovery documents in the aftermath of a settlement in the cases - in 2001." Mayer Brown denies the Diocese has approached Scalia because he is a Roman Catholic.

This issue has gained a high profile for a number of intertwined factors. 

One, it involves the media, in this situation the influential THE NEW YORK TIMES.  Of course, it's going to remain an item of coverage. 

Two, the Roman Catholic Church in general and the Bridgeport Diocese in particular have been under sustained attack for wrongdoing by its clergy.  In addition to this particular lawsuit, the Diocese is also involved in a whistleblower one associated with the embezzlement of more than $1 million by a high-living gay priest.  The CT court rejected the Diocese's request to dismiss the suit.  With today's victory for Pfizer whistleblower John Kopchinski, the one against the Diocese will be closely watched.  Moreover whistleblowers might feel emboldened by Kopchinski's win of more than $50 million.

Third, the cloud hovering over the Roman Catholic Church has darkened when the media disclosed that the Vatican was investigating American nuns regarding their beliefs and lifestyles.  The nuns have pushed back demanding to know why and who is funding the review.  The Vatican has remained silent.  In addition, the nuns will not have access to the findings of the review.  Many influential baby boomers and X gens have fond memories of Sister Mary Catherine or Sister Jude Thaddeus toiling to teach them math in Catholic Schools.  Mine of nuns in the Catholic college I attended - Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania - have not been so fond.

Since late summer media attention to the Diocese of Bridgeport has escalated.  This might well be its legal agony in the garden.

Bearing Witness to the late Michael Jude Fay - Echoes of "Rashomon"

"Rashomon" has come to denote events which lend themselves to multiple, and often radically different, interpretations.  That's what the life and death of the former head of St. John's Roman Catholic Church, Darien, Connecticut have turned out to be.  His name is Michael Jude Fay.  It seems there have been many Fays.

Since the scandal about his embezzlement of $1.3 million from church funds, hard partying, and gay lifestyle broke in the media in 2005, I have been covering the story.  That means talking with a God's Plenty of people about who this man was, what his actions might have symbolized about the state of the Roman Catholic Church, and who his behavior harmed.  Believe me, sources don't always depict him as a con artist, total hedonist, or even a crass materialist.

"Fay was a deeply spiritual man," a source told me today.  We met in downtown New Haven, Connecticut, about a 40-minute drive from Darien.  This source had known Fay for more than a decade as not only a "good priest" but also a brilliant fundraiser who attracted money to the church.  And no, Fay wasn't the Roman Catholic version of Bernard Madoff, who was an inmate at the same prison where Fay died.  He was more an outsized, generous personality who enhanced the parish's brandname. 

Overall, the actions he was vilified for in the media and eventually incarcerated for were, according to this source, not atypical, not in the Roman Catholic Church, not in the upper-middle class circles he traveled in.  One might put it:  A good time was had by all.  But there came a time when a scapegoat was needed.  He was saddled with that role. Why?  That might be explained in terms of some kind of tragic flaw.  There are few accidental scapegoats.

Those who support Fay view his nemesis Michael Madden, the alleged whistleblower at St. John's, as nothing but a rat, one who eventually caved to the pressure.  Madden left the parish and the priesthood.  Fay, some report, was cool to the end.

This tale has so many versions, thanks to the legal system, middle-class morality, Roman Catholic dogma, and a point of view which values talent and ability to get results.  Should a book be written by one of Fay's champions, which it may, we might discover that life isn't binary: Good guys, bad guys.  Instead it might be more Chaucerian, with Fay as the engaging, opportunistic Pardoner.

Let Us Now Sue - Home page for Diocese of Bridgeport contains 2 items on litigation

Our litigious times have seeped right into the holiest of the holies. 

Instead of gathering the flock to join in prayer, the Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut seems to be attempting to have them be on what the Church deems to be the right side of its lawsuits.  On the home page of its website, the Diocese has a box at the top.  In that box, two of the four items - or 50% - concern lawsuits. 

One is pending for possible review by the U.S. Supreme Court.  It relates to the sealing of documents which was part of the Diocese's settlement in the clergy sex abuse cases.  Four newspapers want them unsealed.   

The other lawsuit represents collateral damage from a $1.3 million embezzlement at St. John's Parish in Darien, CT by a gay priest.  It is a whistleblower suit filed by the parish bookkeeper Bethany E'rario. The Diocese rebuts her claims.

We Baby Boomer Recovering Catholics remember the days when we resented deeply the begathons from the pulpit.  Now, practicing Catholics should be railing about the legalthons from the website.

US SC Ginsberg says no to Diocese of Bridgeport

The Roman Catholic Church, which is facing market-share loss in developed nations, might just fall victim to bankruptcy - from legal costs.  A microcosm of its legal woes is being played out in an affluent region of Connecticut.  That's the Diocese of Bridgeport and one of its member parishes St. John's in Darien. 

Yesterday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said no to a request by the Diocese of Bridgeport that documents sealed as a the result of a 2001 settlement stay sealed.  Those documents represent 12,600 pages of depositions in 23 clergy sex-abuse lawsuits which the Diocese had settled related to seven priests under its jurisdiction. 

Later, four newspapers, reports THE HARTFORD COURANT's Save Altimari, "including THE COURANT, filed a lawsuit to have the documents unsealed in 2002 when it was discovered they had not been destroyed by the judicial department."  Pending at the US SC is the decision whether to review that litigation in the fall or not.  The Diocese of Bridgeport has the option to now request the full US SC to rule on its request to keep the documents sealed.

Earlier this month, CT Superior Court denied the Diocese's request to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Bethany D'Erario, a former bookkeeper at one of its parishes St. John's.  She contends she was allegedly harassed by the Diocese after she allegedly was a "whistle-blower" in the embezzlement of $1.3 million by the then-head of that parish, the late Rev. Michael Jude Fay.  Here is the Diocese's interpretation of the facts of that situation.  That lawsuit gained a high profile last weekend when it was announced that Rev. Fay had died on Saturday at the Butner, North Carolina federal correctional facility.  The infamous Ponzi con artist Bernard Madoff is also an inmate there.  There had been a rumor that Madoff was also dying of cancer.  That rumor has not been confirmed by federal authorities.

Legal costs, as defendants in the asbestos litigation found out, can drive an organization into bankruptcy.  The Diocese of Bridgeport, as well as the entire Roman Catholic Church in America, can find itself in that situation.  Meanwhile, it is in the midst of its 2009 fundraising campaign.  Could the ongoing litigation be a hit to that?   Twice I requested interviews with the spokesperson for the Diocese.  There was no response.

Full Disclosure:  In 2004, I did freelance communications consulting for the Diocese of Bridgeport.  On and off from the mid 1990s until 2Q 2009, I did freelance writing for The Dilenschneider Group, whose founder Bob Dilenschneider is heading the Diocese's 2009 appeal for donations.