Category: Richard McManus

Honor Among Priests

10/28/2018

“Something’s burning somewhere. Does anybody care? Is anybody there?”
-- Harry Chapin

Earlier this month, I spoke with a survivor I hadn’t heard from in 15 years. When he called, I heard a voice on the phone that was strong, confident and at peace. This was a former seminarian who had been sexually molested by a Franciscan friar when he was 13. For years he fought drug and alcohol addictions until he sought and received the help he needed to rebuild his life. “I know I’m one of the lucky ones,” he said. Despite the abuse he suffered, he still found himself clinging to what he called “core Franciscan principles” that helped him accept what each day had to offer. Retired now and living near his children and grandchildren, he’s had no contact with the friars in more than fifty years. Yet the irony of his situation continues to haunt him. “I still have days,” he admitted, “where I wish to God I had never heard of these guys.”

Of Men in Foolish Hats and Housecoats

3/27/2016

"I could have sworn I saw myself coming through that door not more than two lifetimes ago."
       -- Groucho Marx
New Feature
I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE, I CAN HEAR YOU MOLESTING ME
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One of the healthiest and most powerful ways to address the seemingly endless folly of organized religion is to use the tools of social and political satire to reveal it. When the Catholic church, for example, attempts to make the problem of clergy sexual abuse invisible in its own history, it not only confounds everyone’s ability to see the problem in the present, but it holds itself up to be mocked. For years religious leaders and their attorneys have played hardball with victims in an attempt to spin the truth and rewrite the moral narrative. On this issue alone the sovereign farce that has become church practice and policy toward survivors has trumpeted the arrival of its own court jesters.

Author

A Room With A Pew is a thought-provoking column on clergy abuse and the healing process. Its content reflects the observations, opinions and experiences of Paul Fericano, a former student who attended Saint Anthony’s Seminary in Santa Barbara in the sixties, and a survivor of clergy sexual abuse. Fericano co-founded SafeNet in 2003, and returned to Santa Barbara that same year to assist the community in recovery. As a poet, satirist and author, he is actively engaged in advocacy, social justice and reconciliation efforts. He supports and encourages those who have been harmed by the Catholic church to explore the healing process, pursue justice with compassion, and to reclaim their past. He is the editor and co-founder of Yossarian Universal News Service (YU News Service), the nation's first parody news syndicate established in 1980. His spiritual practice includes challenging himself to look for humor in the shadows.

Memories of Better Days Persist
Many St. Anthony's students have contacted me, and one asked about the barbershop, where he had sought refuge one day after his offender beat him. Read story.
by PAUL FERICANO
TUES., APRIL 1, 2014
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No Matter How High the Hedge Grows
The Solidarity Project memorial for clergy abuse survivors at Mission Santa Barbara was vandalized for a second time by a person employed by the Franciscans.
Read story.
by PAUL FERICANO
WED., MARCH 5, 2014
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Mario (Walter) Cimmarrusti, OFM: 1931 - 2013
The Worst of What We Lived
My offender, a notorious Catholic priest and Franciscan friar who abused many boys at St. Anthony's Seminary, died on November 23, 2013.
Read story.
by PAUL FERICANO
THURS., FEBRUARY 13, 2014
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The Roots of Pastoral Response
Pastoral response is the kind of outreach by the church that is absolutely essential to the healing process.
Read story.
by PAUL FERICANO
WED., FEBRUARY 5, 2014
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Looking for Francis in the Franciscans
Among survivors of clergy abuse, what puzzles, angers, and disappoints many is the shortage of moral courage among the friars in general.
Read story.
by PAUL FERICANO
WED., JANUARY 8, 2014
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From Survival to Forgiveness
In 1965 when I was 14 I was sexually abused at St. Anthony’s, a Catholic minor seminary in Santa Barbara operated by the Franciscan religious order.
Read story.
by PAUL FERICANO
THURS., DECEMBER 5, 2013

Honor Among Priests

Of Men in Foolish Hats and Housecoats

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