(LifeSiteNews) — The following letter was written by a former seminarian from Poland who reported sexual abuse in three U.S. dioceses.
Dear Vice President Vance,
Some years ago, Elon Musk and I had an encounter that has led to a lifelong friendship. I will be sending him a copy of this letter along with the enclosures.
Based on my personal experience as a sex-trafficked Catholic seminarian, you will understand why I believe the Catholic Church’s work with immigrants is problematic and needs to be discontinued and investigated for previous criminal activity.
I was 23 years old when I came to the U.S. in 1989 from Poland to complete my studies for the priesthood at Christ the King Seminary in Buffalo. After being sexually harassed and witnessing young men and boys being preyed upon by priests and bishops, I reported this to Church officials of the Buffalo Diocese. When my reports were covered up (which included accusations against an auxiliary bishop of Buffalo), I reported the abuse and cover-ups to Pope John Paul II and his secretary, Monsignor Stanislaw Dziwisz. When my correspondence to the Pope was simply returned to the complicit Buffalo diocesan officials, I was dismissed from the diocese and referred to the Archdiocese of Newark, only to be sexually assaulted by then-Archbishop Theodore McCarrick at his beach house. The Buffalo chancery then arranged for me to study for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Unfortunately, while working in a parish in Severna Park, MD, I was drugged and abused by the pastor, Monsignor Edward Staub. Although I was promised that I would be ordained a priest if I did not report the criminal sexual assault to civil authorities, I was dismissed just prior to my ordination date and offered a one-way ticket back to Poland.
Other foreign-born seminarians on F-1 student visas have also been sex trafficked to the U.S.; after they were sexually abused, they were discarded by Catholic bishops and priests. I can provide a list of predator priests and bishops who molested me and others, almost none of whom were disciplined or removed from ministry. I am in contact with many clerical abuse victims to this day. While I was able to receive some compensation for the abuse I experienced in New Jersey owing to a lifting of the statute of limitations, Maryland did not open the window for cases involving victims who were vulnerable adults at the time of the abuse.
My experience of being abused in three different dioceses of the Church in the United States (and knowing of many others who have been abused) has led me to conclude is that Catholic Church in the U.S. is infected with predatory homosexual bishops and priests who cover up for each other and who persecute heterosexual seminarians and priests and many boys and vulnerable adults. Until the Church removes such men from the episcopacy and priesthood, it cannot be trusted to care for children, teenagers, and vulnerable adults. Keep in mind that the John Jay Report commissioned by the USCCB showed that 81% of the victims of clerical sex abuse in the U.S. were males. While thousands of priests and bishops have been accused of abuse, only a very small percentage have been convicted. Most abuse victims do not find justice within the Catholic Church; only 8 out of over 150 bishops worldwide found guilty of abusing minors and vulnerable adults have been laicized by Pope Francis. Sadly, Pope Francis also has a long history of covering up abuse both before and after his papal election.
I join my voice to that of Rachel Mastogiacomo in pleading for the protection of the innocent and the prosecution of the guilty. The simple fact is that the government has no business entrusting care of the young and vulnerable to the Catholic Church. I support a RICO investigation which I believe will reveal how Rachel, I, and countless others in states across the country have had our abuse covered up, thus allowing many predators to go on and harm others, refugees and immigrants among them.
Sincerely,
Wieslaw J. Walawender
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