. . . `He Cornered Us and Abused Us'
This letter to the editor was jointly written by Phil Resch, Geoffrey Schilling, Andrew Corcoran, Dr. Boz Tabler, Dr. John Robertson, Jim Corcoran, Tim Baker, Michael Clark, Thomas Hulsewede, Martha Weinert, Richard Clark, Dr. Jim Jewell and Mark Talley.
On Monday, March 31, Father Louis Miller pled guilty to 50 charges of sexually abusing children during the four decades (1957 to 1982) he served in parishes in the Archdiocese of Louisville. We are representative of 35 children who were abused by Miller at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. There are others from Holy Spirit who, for personal reasons, have not come forward.
We were just children attending a Catholic school and doing the normal things that second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders do - learning how to hold a pencil correctly, color in the lines, read about Spot running and learning the tenets of the Catholic Church. What we did not count on learning was the horrible lesson of dealing with being abused by a priest.
When we were growing up, the priest were God-like figures who were definitely in charge. Parents, nuns, and children held them in high esteem. We trusted them. They were the only ones allowed to touch the Host and give us the Body of Christ. So, when Miller called us out of class and took each of us to an office or other private place, we all obediently followed.
What happened next was surreal. Miller sought us out and picked us off one by one. He began these attacks at Holy Spirit, as early as 1957, on a 7 year old. These attacks continued for the next five years to young males and females. Miller fondled us and touched us in inappropriate ways. He cornered and abused us. He did this in offices, classrooms, church basements and in our homes. He did this to children 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 years of age.
As early as 1957, the church was made aware of Miller's abuse of children. The leaders of the archdiocese did nothing. Well, that is not technically correct, they did do something, they covered thus up and allowed the children of the church to be abused. In 1961, parents were finally heard, and Miller was removed from Holy Spirit. We all thought this was the end of Miller's reign of terror but it was just the beginning as the church instead facilitated, rather than stopped, this pedophilia.
In 1957, the church was put on notice that it had a problem with Miller. We know from other cases and information from the Miller file that archbishops and bishops had knowledge of abuse. We now know that the abuse continued as the bishops moved Miller and other priests from parish to parish where they preyed on more and more children as their targets of opportunity. Archbishop Thomas Kelly moved Father Miller even though he had personal knowledge of the abuse and had face-to-face meetings with people who were abused and informed him of Miller's conduct.
The scandals at WorldCom, Enron and Arthur Anderson enraged the public. The news media painted the executives who caused the demise of these corporations as monsters. What did these monsters do? They ran companies into bankruptcy by their lying and mismanagement. This caused many people to lose their jobs, their retirements and 401(k) funds. What did the monsters of the Catholic Church do? They ruined lives of innocent children, some as young as 7 years of age.
We have not seen or heard the Catholics of Louisville being enraged over the behavior of their priests and bishops. We have not seen or heard the Catholics of Louisville calling for the resignation of the archbishop or asking that charges be filed. Yet many called for accountability of the corporate executives of Enron, WorldCom and Arthur Anderson.
Thirty-five classmates from Holy Spirit have initiated a civil suit against Miller and the archdiocese. What we are asking for is very simple: We want this abuse to stop. We want accountability.
So what needs to be done? The church and its leaders need to be held accountable and procedures need to be put in place to ensure that this will not happen again. Kelly needs to step down. The church must come forward and identify the other priests who are known to exhibit this type of behavior. Reforms need to be initiated that include establishment of a lay board that will oversee the personnel actions of the church. Education programs need to be established to educate children on how to avoid abuse. We want programs available to help in the healing process of those abused.
So, as you sip your morning coffee and read this article, look over at your children or your grandchildren, look at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th graders. Look into their innocent faces. These are the ages of the children abused. These are the ages when Miller forever destroyed for each of his victims the innocence of childhood. Ask yourself, are you comfortable with how the church has dealt with this abuse? Are you comfortable with the leadership that has been complicit and in fact directly supported moving Miller and others to new target areas? Are you comfortable with the fact that the priest of Louisville are rallying around their leader who as been part of the cover up?
If you are not comfortable, put down your coffee and move to your computers and your telephones and communicate to the church, the media and the legislature and express your concern. Demand the immediate resignation of Archbishop Kelly. Demand that others who are accountable be brought forward. Demand that reforms must be initiated, including a lay panel to review priest personnel moves and the initiation of education programs.
Let's not leave any more of our children behind. Let's not allow this to continue. The Catholics of Louisville control how the ending of this sad chapter in the history of the church will be written.
Special to the Courier-Journal
