Keywords by David Yonke

One of the first things I want to write about is why I wrote "Sin, Shame and Secrets."
But before I get into that, I want to say that I feel privileged to have met and spent time with hundreds of clergy men and women in my years as religion editor of The Blade and that I have the highest respect for those who serve as spiritual leaders of their community.

That includes many, many Roman Catholic priests. Day in and day out, these unselfish priests help guide, encourage, inspire, console, and celebrate with their flocks, providing spiritual and moral support for both the good times, such as weddings and baptisms, and the tragedies, like death and divorce.

I admire and applaud these wonderful men of God.

But there are a few wolves hiding among the sheep. A tiny minority of priests hide behind their clerical collars and use their position to prey on the innocent. The fact that these criminals are supposed to represent Jesus Christ to the world makes their heinous deeds even more despicable than if anyone else had committed such sins These perpetrators destroy people's souls as well as their minds and bodies.

"Sin, Shame and Secrets" is about a few despicable priests, and about the bad judgments some church leaders made, sometimes with good but misguided intentions, in trying to protect the offenders and/or protect the reputation of the church.

It is my hope that the church changes its ways and becomes more accountable and transparent, as it has pledged. It is time to confront and treat problems rather than ignore them. As with suffering a serious illness, the problem only gets worse when ignored. Treatment can be painful or unpleasant, but the failure to take proper actions can only worsen the problem.

That said,, the reasons why I decided to write this book are pretty simple.
I know a powerful story when I see one. This is such a bizarre and compelling human-interest story that it was inevitable somebody would write about it. As a matter of fact, I know of three or four other books either planned or in progress on the Father Robinson case.

I have been a journalist in Toledo for 25 years. I am a member of this community. I know the players in this story. I covered the trial from the start of jury selection to the post-verdict analyses. A number of people whose advice I highly value said to me: "Somebody's going to write the book, so why not you?"

Why not me, indeed.

Unlike the professional true-crime writers from the coasts who are now digging into the story, I will be here in Toledo long after the book is published, God willing. I will be accountable to my community, as well as to readers around the world, for every word that I write. Some of those words were difficult ones, but they are all true. I did not enjoy delving into some of the dark topics discussed in "Sin, Shame and Secrets." There are some harrowing portions of the book that will take people where they've never been before.

But I I have always taken pride in being fair, objective and thorough in my reporting, and as difficult as it was to write some of these chapters, they are all accurate accounts of the events that unfolded.

The story is so bizarre that it is stranger than fiction. I am sure that if I were to submit this book as a novel, no respectable publisher would print it. They would say it's too far-fetched for readers to believe.

But "Sin, Shame and Secrets" is not fiction. It's real. Even after spending so much time and energy investigating the story, reviewing thousands of documents, interviewing dozens of people, sitting through weeks of courtroom drama, writing daily accounts for The Blade and then writing the book, I still find this story to be fascinating and compelling. And I believe you will share those same feelings when you read "Sin, Shame and Secrets."

Thank you for visiting my "blog" and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback.

Sylvania, Ohio. Aug. 2, 2006. (My birthday!)

I met this week with Barry F. Hudgin, attorney for the Sisters of Mercy religious order and Mercy College of Northwest Ohio.

Barry is a highly professional and thorough lawyer with a quick laugh and a sharp sense of humor. He had been present in the courtroom throughout Father Gerald Robinson's murder trial, making sure the religious order to which Sister Margaret Ann Pahl belonged was represented.

He remembered clearly the day of the exhumation, Thursday, May 20, 2004.
"It was an unusually hot and sticky spring day for Ohio," he said.

Barry got up early that day and drove an hour southeast from Toledo to Fremont, where the nuns had their retirement home, retreat house, and cemetery.
The Lucas County and Sandusky County prosecutors had signed a Notice of Disinterment for the body of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, in order that the coroner's office could conduct an autopsy and examine the body.

In an interview this week, Barry said that when the prosecutor's office first contacted him about the exhumation, he had three main concerns: first, that the prosecutor had the right to order the disinterment; second, that it be done with dignity and respect, and third, that it only be done once.

"I didn't want the prosecutor's office to perform the disinterment and then have the defense attorneys order another one a month later," he said in an interview this week.
Exhumation orders were not part of his usual daily routine, he said. Upon looking into it, he found that yes, the government had the right to order the body removed from the grave.

The next concern was to keep the process dignified.

"No offense to you or your colleagues, but we didn't want the media at the gravesite," he told me.

Understandable.

Father Gerald Robinson had been arrested April 23rd, less than a month earlier, and media interest was still at a fever pitch.

It was a delicate enough situation to open the grave of a 71-year-old nun who had been brutally murdered 24 years ago. It would have been a nightmare to perform the disinterment with TV cameras, newspaper photographers, or even helicopters trying to get the scoop.

I'm a journalist, sure, but I have a heart and a conscience. While it would have been a news story to cover the exhumation, I have respect for Sister Margaret Ann's soul. I have seen the media turn private events into a circus and I think the parties involved here made a wise choice.

That said, I would have preferred to have been there with a photographer – because I know I could have been respectful and unobtrusive. But open it up to all the media and it would have been a crass and chaotic scene.

Hudgin's research showed that the defense attorneys, unlike the government, had no right to order an exhumation, so there was no threat of having to perform the ritual a second time.

When the time came for the disinterment, the only ones present were Sister Marjorie Rudemiller, head of the Sisters of Mercy; Hudgin; representatives of the Toledo police; the Lucas County cold-case squad; the coroner's office, a local funeral home, and cemetery workers.

Sister Marjorie decided that no other nuns should have to witness the exhumation, so she asked that they hold a prayer service in a nearby chapel.

Workers used a small backhoe to remove the dirt, then a crane to lift the concrete vault containing the coffin. It was a slow and careful process to open the grave without disturbing the adjacent burial sites, Barry said.

The vault was then opened, revealing a thin pine box of a coffin. The nuns did not care for expensive, elaborate caskets, preferring the most simple wood boxes.
The coffin had partially decayed and the blue of Sister Margaret Ann's dress was visible through the openings, Barry said.

The coffin was then lifted and placed in a transport van and taken to the Lucas County coroner's office in Toledo.

The prosecutor's office planned to return the body to the grave after the Memorial Day weekend, but ended up keeping it for 11 days.

During that time, examiners removed teeth to be used for DNA standards, and conducted forensic anthropology tests on the slain nun's bones.

When the body was returned to the grave on June 1, the Sisters of Mercy conducted a private graveside service.

The media did not report the exhumation until July 8.

Mission accomplished for Barry Hudgin and the prosecutor's office.

Afterward, the defense attorneys complained that they had never been notified of the exhumation and had not had an opportunity to have their own experts examine Sister Margaret Ann's body.

Dean Mandros, assistant Lucas County prosecutor, said despite the complaints, everything was done according to the letter of the law. "Believe me, if it wasn't, the defense attorneys would have filed a motion. They had no legal leg to stand on."
Check the photo page on this website to read the Order of Disinterment, which will be posted in the next few days.

Aug. 4, 2006. Toledo, Ohio

I interviewed Father Clement Machado today, who is coming to Father Stanbery's church in New Bavaria for a parish mission next week.

A Canadian native and a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity religious order, Father Machado is living in Rome and has been a frequent commentator on EWTN Catholic radio and television.

After we talked for a while, discussing the impact of evil on society, I decided to tell him about my book. I don't usually inject my own affairs into my interviews as The Blade's religion editor, but sometimes the interviews turn into conversations and you find that the disembodied voice on the other end of the line has an interest in who you are and what you're thinking. This was one of those cases.

The soft-spoken cleric had been unaware of the Father Robinson case and said he was sad to hear that a Catholic priest had been convicted of murder.

Then, after discussing the evidence that indicated it was a satanic ritual slaying, Father Machado surprised me by saying he wasn't that surprised. In his role as counselor, he said he has met with many people who were victims of ritual abuse by priests. It's not all that uncommon, but it is rarely talked about, he said.

People who are victims of satanic abuse by priests find it hard, if not impossible, to speak about. And even if they did get up the nerve to report the abuse, who would believe them? A priest involved in a satanic cult would seem preposterous to most rational adults. And so the victims keep quiet or, in rare cases, speak up only to find their allegations dismissed out of hand.

Father Machado knows too well that it is a hidden plague on society. The more people refuse to believe, the more the perpetrators are able to carry on their horrific crimes.
As 18th century statesman Edmund Burke said so eloquently, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

It is my hope that "Sin, Shame and Secrets" gives strength to the victims and a sense of validation, emboldening them to speak up.

I also hope that by shining a light on the darkness, my book will bring people to the point where they just might believe it when a victim of ritual abuse reports such unspeakable acts.

Aug. 15, 2006. Sylvania, Ohio