A suburban Catholic priest says donations are down and he wants parishioners to kick in more money. That very church, however, is where the assistant pastor has been charged with sexually assaulting two teenage girls.
NBC5’s Mary Ann Ahern reported that when a frustrated parishioner voiced his concerns about the way the church had refused to cooperate in the investigation of the assaults, that parishioner was allegedly ridiculed from the pulpit.
A parishioner blogs on the incident, with a different view.
A John Kass column from the ChiTribune on the matter (requires registration)
He had written a letter published Nov. 16 in the Daily Herald. He wrote it in response to a parish newsletter from Rev. Joseph Jarmoluk that said St. Peter faced a budget crisis because of the soft economy.
Bochte was angered that no mention was made about how the sexual abuse scandal involving former priest Mark Campobello has hurt contributions.
So Bochte wrote to the newspaper, asking that parishioners not contribute until the diocese gives prosecutors its notes from an internal investigation of Campobello.
Despite repeated attempts to reach him in the last week, Jarmoluk did not return phone calls. The Rockford Diocese, through a spokesman, said it was not aware of the spat.
Yet several parishioners we interviewed confirmed that the priest, in his homily, was critical of an unnamed letter writer.
“All of a sudden, I’m being made out to be the sinner, I’m the bad guy, I’m the demon and parishioners are listening,” Bochte said. “I’m sure people walked out of there, thinking, `My God–this person that wrote the letter must be the worst person in the world.'”
Though Bochte works in law enforcement, he is not involved in the investigation. But he is a Catholic, and the secrecy bothers him.
The criminal case involves Campobello, a former St. Peter priest charged in 2002 by Kane County prosecutors with the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old parish girl. Then another girl who had been a student at Aurora Central Catholic High School alleged Campobello abused her when she was 15 and he was an assistant principal there. He was charged in both cases.
Campobello has pleaded not guilty. His criminal case comes up Thursday for a status hearing.
Even before the first criminal charge was filed, the Rockford Diocese began privately interviewing witnesses. Kane County Circuit Judge Timothy Sheldon ordered the diocese to turn over its investigation records.
The diocese refused. The matter is now before the Illinois Appellate Court, with the diocese arguing that it is protected by the 1st Amendment.
Now here, for the second time in a week, we have one of the most highly touted “orthodox” dioceses in the country not exactly giving strong impressions of transparency. Perhaps there are legitimate legal issues involves. Perhaps not. All I know is that maybe these bishops need to see that it’s not 1170 and this ain’t Canterbury and that there are different issues at stake.
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