{"id":164134,"date":"2021-01-27T00:25:04","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T21:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/vatican-clears-retired-us-bishop-of-multiple-abuse-claims\/"},"modified":"2021-01-27T00:25:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T21:25:04","slug":"vatican-clears-retired-us-bishop-of-multiple-abuse-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/vatican-clears-retired-us-bishop-of-multiple-abuse-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"#Vatican clears retired US bishop of multiple abuse claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Vatican clears retired US bishop of multiple abuse claims<\/strong>”
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ROME \u2014 The Vatican has cleared a retired U.S. bishop of multiple allegations he sexually abused minors and teenagers, rejecting lay experts\u2019 determination that a half-dozen claims were credible and instead slapp<\/a>ing him on the wrist for what it called \u201cflagrant\u201d imprudent behavior.<\/p>\n

The Vatican\u2019s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith exonerated retired Cheyenne, Wyoming, Bishop Joseph Hart of seven accusations abuse and determined that five others couldn\u2019t be proven \u201cwith moral certitude.\u201d Two other cases involving boys who were 16 and 17 couldn\u2019t be prosecuted because the Catholic Church didn\u2019t consider them minors at the time of the alleged abuse, the diocese reported Monday. A 13th allegation wasn\u2019t addressed in the decree.<\/p>\n

Hart, 89, had long maintained his innocence and denied all allegations of misconduct. His attorney, Thomas Jubin, said multiple allegations against Hart were \u201cspecious,\u201d with some based on second- and third-hand information, and with some accusers emphasizing that Hart didn\u2019t physically touch them.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite this, Bishop Hart asks me to convey that he continues to pray for all involved in this case so that they may find peace and healing. He now asks, and I ask, too, that he may now be afforded peace in the twilight of this life as he prepares to meet his God in the next,\u201d Jubin said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Vatican decision clearly disappointed Hart\u2019s successor, Bishop Steven Biegler, who stressed that the Vatican\u2019s findings didn\u2019t mean Hart was innocent, just that the Holy See determined that the high burden of proof hadn\u2019t been met.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I want the survivors to know that I support and believe you\u201d Biegler said in a statement. \u201cI understand that this announcement will not bring closure to the survivors, their family members, Bishop Hart and all those affected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biegler has previously stood by the findings of his review board, which determined a half-dozen claims were credible. And his diocesan statement noted the qualifications of its members: \u201claw enforcement; school administration; a doctor of psychology; a pediatrician; a psychotherapist, who treats sexually abused children; and a judge, who was a criminal prosecutor for 13 years involving crimes against children, primarily child sexual abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the Vatican\u2019s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, or CDF, relies on the judgment of priests and bishop canon lawyers, and ultimately the pope. The Vatican for decades has been criticized by victims\u2019 groups for giving bishops a pass when they have been accused of sexual abuse themselves or of covering it up.<\/p>\n

A few exceptions have been made in recent years, most famously in the case of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked after the CDF determined he had abused minors as well as adults, including during confession \u2014 essentially the same allegations against Hart.<\/p>\n

As a result, the sentence showed the arbitrary nature of Vatican\u2019s canonical sex abuse deliberations and judgments, which aren\u2019t public. Hart\u2019s previous diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph reached court settlements years ago with at least 10 victims. But Wyoming criminal prosecutors also decided last year not to proceed with charging Hart.<\/p>\n

Anne Barrett Doyle, of the online resource BishopAccountability.org, said the Vatican ruling was \u201cheartbreaking and disgraceful\u201d and showed that church law is biased in favor of priests and bishops.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefenders of canon law might point to the punishment of ex-cardinal McCarrick as evidence that the system works. But for every McCarrick, there are five Harts: bishops who retain their titles and pensions in the face of multiple allegations,\u201d she said in an email, adding that the ruling calls into question Pope Francis\u2019 vow to hold bishops accountable.<\/p>\n

In its decree, the CDF rebuked Hart \u201cfor his flagrant lack of prudence as a priest and bishop for being alone with minors in his private residence and on various trip<\/a>s which could have been potential occasions endangering the \u2018obligation to observe continence\u2019 and that would \u2018give rise to scandal among the faithful,\u2019\u201d the diocese said.<\/p>\n

Hart was also rebuked for failing to observe previous Vatican restrictions prohibiting him from having contact with minors and seminarians and from participating in public engagements, the diocese said, adding that those restrictions remain in place.<\/p>\n

Jubin, Hart\u2019s lawyer, criticized Biegler for what he said was \u201cgrandstanding\u201d and trying to disregard due process by trying to convict Hart in the \u201ccourt of public opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press has learned that the CDF had tasked the investigation into Hart to Indianapolis Bishop Charles Thompson, who made headlines in 2019 when he ordered two Catholic high schools to fire teachers in same-sex marriages. After one Jesuit school refused, the Vatican temporarily suspended Thompson\u2019s order rescinding the school\u2019s Catholic recognition.<\/p>\n

The CDF under its current leadership seems to follow recommendations from local bishops who investigate sex crimes, while it used to take a more proactive role in sanctioning and defrocking accused clerics.<\/p>\n

Hart was a priest in Kansas City, Missouri, for 21 years before moving to Wyoming, where he served as auxiliary and then full bishop from 1976 until his retirement in 2001. The first known allegations against Hart dated to the early 1960s and were made in the late 1980s. At least six men came forward in the past few years to say Hart abused them in Wyoming.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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“#Vatican clears retired US bishop of multiple abuse claims” ROME \u2014 The Vatican has cleared a retired U.S. bishop of multiple allegations he sexually abused minors and teenagers, rejecting lay experts\u2019 determination that a half-dozen claims were credible and instead slapping him on the wrist for what it called \u201cflagrant\u201d imprudent behavior. The Vatican\u2019s Congregation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/01\/vatican-feature.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[90870,71829,74075,70675,72678],"class_list":["post-164134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-1-26-21","tag-catholic-church","tag-rome","tag-sexual-abuse","tag-vatican"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}