Ex-Okla Govenor To Leave Catholic Church Abuse Panel
by sf 3 Replies latest jw friends
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sf
Here ya go:
LOS ANGELES - Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, appointed to lead a national panel examining the priest sex abuse scandal, plans to resign amid turmoil over his public comments, including a comparison last week of some Roman Catholic bishops to the Mafia, according to a published report.
AP PhotoKeating plans to resign as head of the church's National Review Board before the bishops' semiannual meeting this week, Keating's spokesman, Dan Mahoney, said in Sunday's Los Angeles Times.
Mahoney conceded that the timing was "awkward," but portrayed it as a planned departure after a year on the job, according to the Times.
Messages left by The Associated Press at Mahoney's Washington, D.C. office were not immediately returned Sunday.
A spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, said Sunday that he had no knowledge of any plans by Keating to soon resign.
The report follows on the heals of an interview in the Times in which Keating said a number of unnamed church officials have "clay feet."
"To act like La Cosa Nostra and hide and suppress, I think, is very unhealthy. Eventually it will all come out," Keating said.
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, who Keating accused of listening "too much to his lawyer and not enough to his heart" in dealing with the panel's investigation, issued a sharp rebuke Friday, calling Keating's comments "the last straw" and saying he would ask other bishops to consider calling for Keating to step down during their meeting this week.
Keating's spokesman told the Times the former governor stands behind his remarks. "He uses strong language to make a point. He tells the truth, and apparently some people don't want to hear the truth," he said.
David Clohessy, national director of the nationwide victims support group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Keating's resignation would leave victims and lay Catholics "terribly disillusioned."
"It's very disturbing that a couple of candid remarks are apparently so upsetting to the bishops," Clohessy told the AP. "Here's a devout, conscientious, Catholic lay person who volunteered his time and essentially his reputation to get the bishops out of trouble, and he's suddenly forced out."
Robert S. Bennett, who with Keating was an original member of the board, said Sunday morning that he hadn't received word of a resignation but that if Keating did resign, it wouldn't slow the board's work.
"There are many very strong and outspoken members of this board who are going to remain on the board and who are going to see to it that the bishops honor their commitment to protect children and the promises they made to abide by the Dallas charter," he said.
"It is not what we say publicly," Bennett said, "it is the work that we do."
Since the Keating interview appeared Thursday, a majority of members of the 13-member oversight panel privately have called on the former FBI ( news - web sites) agent and federal prosecutor to quit, the Times reported. Its members are all prominent lay Catholics.
Others support Keating: Ray H. Siegfried II, a Tulsa, Okla. businessman, told the Times that Keating "has nothing but the future of our children, your children and the church in mind."
"In this very critical time in our church, we need everybody to speak their mind and the truth of what they think is on their mind," Siegfried said.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops appointed the board last year to survey all 195 U.S. dioceses and determine how many priests had been accused of sexual abuse, in response to a national scandal and a need to reassure the faithful. Keating was appointed to head the panel by the conference president, Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill. Calls to Gregory's spokesmen were not immediately returned Sunday.
The study, which may be completed by the end of summer, will provide information that will be used for a second, larger study of the causes and context of the abuse problem.
Keating's resignation should come in the next few days, before the bishops gather in St. Louis for their semiannual national conference, his spokesman told the Times. During the meeting, the bishops are scheduled to review their year-old policies against sexual abuse, set out at a meeting in Dallas.
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CaptainSchmideo
Oh, Yeah! Good ol' Frank Keating. This is a guy who never could say the polically correct thing in public forums. Used to really rile the liberals in my State, and provided much grist for the Oklahoma Gazettes editorial mill whenever he'd let his lip slip.
Looks like not every one is fooled by the protests of the RCC, tho. Good on ya, Frank!
Sample from an article about Keating back in 2000....
Web posted Saturday, July 15, 2000
Oklahoma governor eyed for GOP vice presidentThe Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Millions of Americans got to know Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating on TV as a spokesman for his state after the carnage of the Oklahoma City bombing."He was able to put a face to that very tragic situation," says political consultant Neva Hill. "He was a person who could help bring some focus and steadiness at the helm."
That could serve him well as fellow Republican Gov. George W. Bush goes about his search for a presidential running mate. By all accounts, Keating is on Bush's list.
But the words Keating uses in political spats back home sometimes get him into trouble.
He has described bad teachers as "slugs" and has compared growing up as a Catholic in Tulsa to being a black in Selma, Ala., during the 1960s, angering some blacks.
"He has a reputation of shooting from the lip," said Don Hoover, a Democratic media consultant in Oklahoma City. "If he is selected, he will have the national spotlight shine on him like it never has before. I don't think it's going to reflect on him favorably."
Not so, says veteran Republican political consultant Marc Nuttle. "He appeals to a broad range of people across state lines and regions. He's the candidate who can appeal to the swing voter and galvanize the base," says Nuttle.
Keating, 56, has been low-key about a vice-presidential future.
"I don't expect it to happen," the governor said.
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Yerusalyim
While a shame, Keatings public comments were out of line. That's all I have to say about that...except that Bishop Gregory impresses me less and less every time I read about him. He's my Bishop at home, and he's screwed the Pooch there on a few issues too.