Counselors hear grief, anger -- and concern for priests

The counselors -- priests, religious and laity -- acted as sounding boards, advisors and information resources for Catholics who wanted to vent their feelings or ask about the situation.

Open forums were held after all Masses in the parishes; anyone who wanted to stay could share their thoughts or seek information.

Anger expressed

"There was a varied mood," Father Chiaramonte told The Evangelist. "After one Mass, people were really concerned about Father Pratt: where he was, how he was doing. Some people thought the Bishop was unjust to take him out of the parish."

At another session, Father Chiaramonte sensed a different emotion: "anger toward the bishops for how they handled this issue -- the secrecy, moving people around, the possibility of priests re-offending. They talked about a loss of trust in priests and in the Church."

At the final session Father Chiaramonte attended, Catholics asked questions about how long Bishop Howard J. Hubbard had known about Father Pratt's offense, how seminary training can prevent such abuse, how bishops can be held accountable, and how parents can talk to their children about sexual abuse in general and Father Pratt's removal in particular.

Venting

People were concerned about the future of their parish, which is growing quickly and in the middle of a building program.

"They wondered, 'What's going to become of us?'" said the priest. "Some want counselors from within the parish to offer on-going counseling. Others want to discuss how trust can be rebuilt, and how the Church can be made more credible and accountable."

Grief

"There were a lot of comments about it feeling like someone had died," said Paul Solimini, program director of the Family Counseling Program at Catholic Charities in Schenectady. "There was a lot of grief and a lot of concern for Father Joe. He was considered part of the family, and had a wonderful reputation in the parish and in the city. They felt a tremendous loss."

Parishioners asked what their pastor was doing, where he was living and how they could get in contact with him.

Sigh of sorrow

"When they were told he acknowledged what happened," said Mr. Solimini, "there was a sigh in the room."

People also wondered why the members of the Mount Carmel pastoral council had not been informed of their pastor's removal, "so they could prepare themselves to help other parishioners," Mr. Solimini said.

Range of emotions

The Catholics there expressed "a range of emotions from compassion to confusion to anger that the priests has been assigned to Fort Edward" when the Bishop knew their histories, said Meg Bergh, a bereavement counselor and director of the diocesan Family Life Office.

Bishop Hubbard himself went to the parish to offer weekend Masses and chair the counseling meetings. One reason he chose Fort Edward was its double loss.

One special focus of the Fort Edward meetings was teenagers.

"A lot of them said Father Rosch made them want to come to church," she said. When some said they would stop attending Mass now that he was gone, "the Bishop told them that Father Jim brought them not for himself but to have a relationship with God."

Many questions were surfaced at the Fort Edward meetings, Ms. Bergh noted, including ones about Father Rosch's status and future, the possibility of other victims coming forward, and the severity of zero tolerance.

"They were low-key meetings, held in a calm tone," she said. "The people were definitely grieving."

(07-04-02) [[In-content Ad]]