George Pinto wrote, Aires
I believe you wrote at least once there are other cases of sexual abuse by the clergy in Goa. I had written to the Archdiocese twice and did not get a response. Is there a formal study done in Goa regarding this issue? I hope the Goa church is not turning a blind eye or burying their head in the sands. In the USA, we witnessed the tremendous harm done to the victims and innocent priests two years with a similar scandal. The Church's silence and denial finally took the issue to the courts and matters are now settled with huge monetary sums - some of it could have been avoided. Just today, another settlement here in California. I hope the Goa Church is not going down the same path. I notice very few are asking for transparency and a public report. This way everyone can avoid speculation and gossip. When the Church sex abuse scandal first broke in the USA, innocent priests were walking around "convicted by association" simply by being a priest. It is not fair to the priests or the victims. I am hoping there is formal investigation and study in Goa and the findings made public. The laity have a right to know if the problem is pervasive or isolated or non-existent. Regards, George --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear George, After the details of the Ribandar Church molestation case were made public I have received a lot of written and oral complaints about grave sexual and financial improprieties going on in other Parishes across Goa. I requested that all these complaints be sent directly to the Archbishop's palace. As you now the Church is very powerful and unresponsive to the people's pulse. Till date instead of attempting to fix the problem the Church seems to do everything possible to cover its unholy acts. And for this they shrewdly use the services of a cotorie of some wise lay people that evolves around the Church to do the dirty job of damage control. I took up the Ribandar Church molestation issue after deep thought and ascertaining all the facts. Before we went public on the issue I pleaded with the Co-ordinator of our Ribandar Parish Council to call a open meeting of all parishioners so that this issue could be discussed and the facts be faced dead on. This they dared not do and expected that the truth could be supressed and that they would be able to hush up the matter. Early this year I personally met the Archbishop Rev. Filipe Neri Ferrao and pleaded his intervention on the Ribandar issue. The spokesman of the Archbishop made a public statement a few days later that the Archbishop was seized of the matter and that an inquiry had been ordered. That's all we have heard. Till date the findings of this inquiry have not been made public. And the not so suprising silence and inaction on the part of the Archbishop is solely to be blamed for allowing this issue to be dragged into the Courts and public domain. Turning a blind eye is no solution to a serious problem. It only aggravates the issue and this is exactly what is happening in the Ribandar Church molestation case where on Dec 24th last year before the X'mas midnight mass Parish priest Fr. Newton Rodrigues is accused of allegedly taking a 13-year-old Ribandar girl to a room in the church on the pretext of taking confession and molesting her. Aires Rodrigues Ribandar
