October 17, 2006

TO: Editor, New York Times
FROM: Mary Pat Fox, President, Voice of the Faithful

There are striking similarities between the priest abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and the scandal surrounding Congressman Mark Foley. Both Congress and the bishops became aware of such a problem in the 1980s. In 1983 Congress censured Rep. Gerry Studds (D-MA) and Rep. Dan Crane (R-IL) for improper sexual relations with minor Congressional pages and supposedly “fixed” the problem. In 1985 Fr. Tom Doyle warned the U.S. bishops of the impending clergy sex abuse scandal. He was ignored, fired from his job as a Vatican diplomat and ostracized by the Catholic bishops and clergy.

Now we are learning that Congress’s “fix” to the problem was about as effective as the bishops’ denial of the problem.

In both cases leaders chose to protect their brethren rather than children. In both cases there seemed to be a belief that leaders are superior to other people. In both cases leaders chose to protect their organization from scandal rather than to protect children from men who held power over them. In both cases, the leadership “ran away” from the problem.

We need to demand that both organizations face up to the problem immediately and devise plans to prevent this from happening in the future. There must be a sense of accountability. Voters can voice this need through the ballot box. Catholics can do it by signing the “Petition For Accountability” now being circulated by the Catholic reform group, Voice of The Faithful. For more information log on to www.votf.org.

Mary Pat Fox, President VOTF, New York, NY