Vatican defrocks priest Tim Stier who scolded Oakland Diocese over sex abuse
The Diocese of Oakland said in a statement Friday only that “we wish Mr. Stier all the best in this new chapter of his life.”
But Stier, as he has been for the last 17 years, remains unsparing in his criticism of the diocese over the scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic church locally and around the world since it first came to light in the 1980s and 1990s through criminal prosecutions of priests and lawsuits.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002 acknowledged the problem, calling for the protection of children and young people and zero tolerance for sexual abuse.
But critics have since accused church leaders around the country of failing to fully account for their role in enabling abuse. A 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report found more than 300 priests had abused more than 1,000 kids in six of the state’s eight Catholic dioceses. The report found church leaders “brushed aside” victims’ claims and “preferred to protect the abusers and their institution above all” by “concealing the truth.”
Critics, including SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and Stier, who is close with that group’s leaders, have said the dioceses’ disclosures were incomplete and failed to address bishops’ roles in perpetuating the abuse.
In his May 31 farewell letter to some 60 Oakland Diocese priests, Stier wrote of his dismay that Oakland Bishop Michael C. Barber hasn’t held retired Bishop emeritus John S. Cummins accountable for his role in allegedly enabling the abuse by credibly accused priests the diocese has named.
Stier’s letter, which he said only one priest responded to, said Cummins, bishop from 1977 to 2003, failed to prevent abuse by Vincent Breen, Don Broderson, James Clark, George Francis, Robert Ponciroli, Gary Tollner and Stephen Kiesle. All eventually were taken out of ministry and Broderson, Kiesle and Ponciroli were removed from the priesthood. Only Kiesle is still alive.
Stier, whom Cummins ordained in 1978, had served at St. Bede in Hayward under Francis, who died in 1998 and was accused of sexually abusing at least six kids. The diocese paid a $3 million settlement in 2004 to one of Francis’ victims, whose father Stier knew.
The final straw, Stier said, was a 2004 meeting with Dan McNevin, a former altar boy who said he’d been sexually abused by Clark. He later received part of a $56.4 million settlement with 56 accusers and is now SNAP’s treasurer. After a sabbatical, Stier told then-bishop Allen H. Vigneron in 2005 that he could no longer serve as a parish priest.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/09/v...sex-abuse/
The Diocese of Oakland said in a statement Friday only that “we wish Mr. Stier all the best in this new chapter of his life.”
But Stier, as he has been for the last 17 years, remains unsparing in his criticism of the diocese over the scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic church locally and around the world since it first came to light in the 1980s and 1990s through criminal prosecutions of priests and lawsuits.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002 acknowledged the problem, calling for the protection of children and young people and zero tolerance for sexual abuse.
But critics have since accused church leaders around the country of failing to fully account for their role in enabling abuse. A 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report found more than 300 priests had abused more than 1,000 kids in six of the state’s eight Catholic dioceses. The report found church leaders “brushed aside” victims’ claims and “preferred to protect the abusers and their institution above all” by “concealing the truth.”
Critics, including SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and Stier, who is close with that group’s leaders, have said the dioceses’ disclosures were incomplete and failed to address bishops’ roles in perpetuating the abuse.
In his May 31 farewell letter to some 60 Oakland Diocese priests, Stier wrote of his dismay that Oakland Bishop Michael C. Barber hasn’t held retired Bishop emeritus John S. Cummins accountable for his role in allegedly enabling the abuse by credibly accused priests the diocese has named.
Stier’s letter, which he said only one priest responded to, said Cummins, bishop from 1977 to 2003, failed to prevent abuse by Vincent Breen, Don Broderson, James Clark, George Francis, Robert Ponciroli, Gary Tollner and Stephen Kiesle. All eventually were taken out of ministry and Broderson, Kiesle and Ponciroli were removed from the priesthood. Only Kiesle is still alive.
Stier, whom Cummins ordained in 1978, had served at St. Bede in Hayward under Francis, who died in 1998 and was accused of sexually abusing at least six kids. The diocese paid a $3 million settlement in 2004 to one of Francis’ victims, whose father Stier knew.
The final straw, Stier said, was a 2004 meeting with Dan McNevin, a former altar boy who said he’d been sexually abused by Clark. He later received part of a $56.4 million settlement with 56 accusers and is now SNAP’s treasurer. After a sabbatical, Stier told then-bishop Allen H. Vigneron in 2005 that he could no longer serve as a parish priest.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/09/v...sex-abuse/
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
