Eucharistic revival must involve ending abuse cover-up, says advocate
Mgr. Gomulka's text argues that Church officials must definitively deal with the scourge of sexual abuse if they wish to revive Eucharistic devotion.
Editor’s note: The following striking op-ed is by Mgr. Gene Thomas Gomulka, of whom biographical details can be found at the end of the article as well as on this link.
Though it is challenging reading with polemical aspects, along with some explicit descriptions of abuse (reader discretion advised), the article deserves careful reading and thoughtful consideration of the points raised, given Mgr. Gomulka’s long history of investigative work into sexual abuse and his many years of research on the matter.
(PerMariam) — I was ordained 50 years ago and was assigned to a parish in State College, Pennsylvania where I served as a parochial vicar for five years (1975-1980) while also teaching dogmatic theology and liturgy at a major seminary within our diocese. Having just returned to State College, I discovered that most of my 160 former altar boys, most in their 60s today, are now members of the second largest “denomination” in the United States: non-practicing Catholics. When one of those former servers recently came to my home for dinner with his wife, he recounted having been plied with alcohol by a young priest who was later removed from ministry after the former bishop, Joseph Adamec, covered up his predation for decades. He was also scandalized to learn that the current bishop, Mark Bartchak, initially refused to help cover the counseling costs of another former altar boy who was abused in the same parish. Both former servers, now adults, find it difficult to worship in a Church that tolerates the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults.
As the U.S. bishops prepare to launch a $28 million Eucharistic Congress later this month, here is a simple word of advice: If you really want people to be drawn to the Eucharist, then end the abuses and cover-ups. To do otherwise is to doom the Indiana-based gathering for failure before it has even begun.
It is very difficult for Catholic parents to motivate their children and grandchildren to attend Mass and celebrate their faith when countless children and vulnerable adults are documented to have experienced abuse by priests and cover-ups by bishops. Many Catholics receive communion from priests who, despite facing sex abuse complaints and lawsuits, remain pastors of parishes and schools. How can parishioners, young and old alike, be expected to see their parish priest as an alter Christus when they learn that the same hands that administer the Eucharist were used to molest minors and seminarians?
Priests who are allowed to remain in ministry like Marko Rupnik, who is understood to have forced nuns to drink his semen out of his chalice; Dennis Hanneman, who is alleged in a police report to have inserted consecrated hosts into the vaginas of little girls; and Travis Clark, who was arrested after being caught having sex on an altar with two women wielding sex toys, fail to inspire confidence in Catholics who are taught to approach the Eucharist with reverence and faith.
While the Eucharistic Congress is trying to persuade Catholics that the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of their faith, the bishops contradict this message every time they continue to entrust the Eucharist to undisciplined accused priests like Jeffrey Burrill and Michael Callaghan who were caught soliciting gay sex on their Grindr dating apps; Mykhaylo Dosyak who is reported to have sent graphic pornographic text messages to a young man aspiring to the priesthood; and Adam Park who sexually harassed seminarians while serving as vice-rector of the North American College (NAC) in Rome.
Abuse victims and whistleblowers who have their reports covered up by Church leaders are sent a distinct message that they are no longer welcome at the table of the Lord. These victims are shunned not because they have sinned, but because they reported the sins of their abusers who are often protected and promoted. Rachel Mastrogiacomo, who watched Francis elevate Robert McElroy to the College of Cardinals after he covered up her satanic ritual abuse, was led to comment, “Catholic priests, Catholic bishops, and Catholic establishment media outlets have consistently told me through their actions that it would be better that I just disappear.” Claims that “there is room for everyone in the Church” are debunked every time truth-tellers like Archbishop Viganò and Bishop Strickland are ousted for confronting Church leaders who engage in or cover up abuse, or every time abuse victims are gaslit, smeared, and even threatened by bishops who have “zero tolerance” for transparency.
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Many Catholics struggle to find themselves in “holy communion” with Church leaders like Pope Francis who {allegedly - Editor} covered up thousands of abuse cases in Argentina and who himself is accused of abusing seminarians. Unfortunately, Francis is only one of the vast majority of bishops who lack moral courage to call out rampant clerical sexual corruption. Credible sex abuse and cover-up allegations implicating a number of sitting bishops today, including New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond and Richmond Bishop Barry Knestout, only convince former Catholics that nothing has changed or will change in the Church as long as there is a complicit pope surrounded by complicit bishops and priests.
Catholics are taught to present themselves for the Eucharist in a “state of grace.” However, they cannot be inspired by unrepentant clergy like Omaha Archbishop George Lucas who celebrates Mass despite being credibly accused of engaging in anal sex at a homosexual orgy with former NAC rector, Father Peter Harman; New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan who profaned St. Patrick’s Cathedral by allowing trans-gender activists to hold a sacrilegious funeral; or Archbishop Luigi Ventura who is convicted of “sexual aggression” after he allegedly molested at least five male victims during various ceremonies and at Mass.
Why is it hard for some Catholics to understand the reason some 30 million former U.S. Catholics {As of 2013 - Editor} like my former altar boys no longer worship in a Church headed by a pope who fails to discipline some 150 bishops credibly accused of abusing minors and vulnerable adults? Who will be drawn to attend Mass in a diocese or in a parish where a bishop or pastor lacks the moral courage to call upon Pope Francis to resign or address the cover-up allegations clearly documented in Martin Boudot’s documentary, Sex Abuse in the Church: Code of Silence? Who wants to contribute their hard-earned money to an institution headed by a complicit pope who will excommunicate a whistleblower like Viganò but not a sexual monster like McCarrick?
As long as Catholic clergy and laity remain silent about abuses and cover-ups, one should expect the number of former Catholics to grow as more churches are closed and converted into mosques, restaurants, and bars as is happening throughout the United States and Europe. Until the bishops stop skirting the core reason why so many no longer participate in the Eucharist, $28 million will never buy back the faith of fallen-away Catholics.
This article is published on Per Mariam by permission of Mgr. Gomulka.
Gene Thomas Gomulka is a sexual abuse victims’ advocate, investigative reporter, and screenwriter. A former Navy (O6) Captain/Chaplain, seminary instructor, and diocesan respect life director, Gomulka was ordained a priest for the Altoona-Johnstown diocese and later made a Prelate of Honor (Monsignor) by St. John Paul II. Follow Gene Gomulka on YouTube or email him at msgr.investigations@gmail.com.
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