TESTIMONY: Past holds significant clues

Last week, we urged all Catholics, including those with doubts about Bishop Howard J. Hubbard's assertions of innocence, to be patient while an investigation of sexual misconduct claims against him proceeds.

That investigation could take a while because there is so little, if any, evidence of the alleged events, which are said to have occurred a quarter of a century ago. In fact, in the case of the Schenectady man who claims the Bishop solicited him in the 1970s when the man was a teenage prostitute, there is zero evidence.

But something new surfaced last week in the case of Thomas Zalay, who committed suicide in 1978. Previously, the only supposed evidence had been a typewritten letter that speaks of a sexual relationship with "Howard." But the letter -- unsigned and undated -- could have been written by anyone at any time.

Then new evidence surfaced last week when Albany County District Attorney Paul Clyne announced that his office would not pursue an investigation of the matter. In doing so, Mr. Clyne released a report by an Albany police detective of his investigation of Mr. Zalay's 1978 suicide.

The detective's statement is important because it is an independent, disinterested voice that speaks from 26 years ago. "From talking to the parents of the deceased," the detective reported, he learned their son "was a mental patient and had been for quite some time, suffering from a split personality, persecution complex, depression and had suicidal thoughts."

The detective continued: Mr. Zalay had been in a mental hospital, he was under the care of a doctor and on medication at the time of his death, and he had attempted suicide before. Indeed, Mr. Zalay had described himself as someone who had "lied and cheated since I was small."

Skeptical people should weigh such testimony from the past as they consider what to believe. If the letter is real, if it was typed by Mr. Zalay, they have to ask if someone with such intense problems was telling the truth or recording a delusion.

In recent years, Americans have learned more and more about how mental illness can severely warp a person's perception of reality. Anyone who saw "A Beautiful Mind," which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2002, learned that hallucinations can seem genuine to a person suffering from schizophrenia. John Hinckley, the would-be assassin of President Ronald Reagan, fantasized a relationship with actress Jodie Foster, and David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam" serial killer, was convinced that a dog gave him commands to murder.

The detective's report of what the parents told him and Mr. Zalay's self-analysis are not conclusive, but they should go a long way toward convincing skeptical people that the Bishop is innocent.

(2/19/04) [[In-content Ad]]