Keywords by David Yonke

OK, first of all, I've been lagging behind on my blog and I apologize. Times have been hectic. I took a week off the first week of July and worked 14 hours a day on home repairs and redecorating. Funny but I never knew how to fix anything like that until I went on mission trips. My father was not one to pick up a hammer or screwdriver and fix things. But when I went to Denmark and to post-Katrina Mississippi, I worked on some construction projects alongside people who know what they're doing and I picked up a lot. One thing about me, I'm a fast learner. So that week I was able to put some of that mission experience to work in my own backyard, so to speak.
As you may know, we've got a wedding in the family coming up next month and so that is a real motivator to get projects done. Dana, my oldest daughter, is getting married Aug. 25 and so we wanted to spruce up the house and make some of the long-delayed repairs. And once I got back to work, it took me a while to catch up on the voluminous email, voice mail, and snail mail, plus all my regular duties at work and home. And on top of that, I managed to play a few rounds of golf and go to see Bob Dylan at the Toledo Zoo (here's the concert review).
I was under the gun to get a story done about the 5-year anniversary of the Catholic clerical So I hope to be more faithful to the blog. Lots has happened in the last few weeks.
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Starting with the most current Catholic news, I wrote an article published yesterday rounding up the five years of events since July 15, 2002, when Jeff Anderson came to Toledo and announced a lawsuit against the Toledo diocese. Anderson has filed more than 2,000 lawsuits against Catholic dioceses nationwide, and feels that the Toledo diocese has been "intransigent" in dealing with abuse victims. Here is a link to yesterday's article.
The article really just touches the surface of this issue, as I tried to focus on the significant developments. There really was so much more that has gone on. Interesting as far as timing, the news broke over the weekend that the L.A. diocese is paying more than $600 million to victims, averaging more than $1 million per person. The Toledo diocese paid a total of $1.19 million to 23 victims, and around the same time as those settlements were reached in August, 2004, the diocese moved $118 million of investments out of Toledo and into Detroit brokerages. So it's not like they could claim poverty.
Money is not the only issue but, as attorney Catherine Hoolahan told me, criminal prosecution is impossible because of the statutes of limitations, so the only way victims can get any justice is through civil lawsuits and financial compensation. It will never take away the pain and lifelong trauma of the childhood sexual abuse, but it is at least something that the church has to provide to victims, and it may help their situation by allowing them to pay for counseling, or whatever the victims need it for. The settlements are symbolic of the church validating the victim's allegations, which previously had been shrugged off as insignificant or not worthy of the church's attention.
One reason the California settlements are so much larger is because the state's law opening a "look-back" window on old abuse cases, well beyond the statute of limitations. That was proposed in Ohio but the bishops lobbied against it and eventually killed it. The argument was that it was unconstitutional, but it has passed muster in California and last week Delaware approved a similar look-back window. In reality, it had the potential to cost the Catholic church a lot of money, which seems to me to be the primary reason the bishops worked so hard to defeat it. The constitutionality question does not ring true in light of California's passage of such a window.
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Father Tom Leyland is now retired, despite the best efforts of his supporters at St. Rose Parish in Perrysburg, Ohio. The priest said he was being forced into retirement against his will by Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair because he had publicly criticized the bishop over the creation of a neighboring parish that cut into St. Rose's boundaries. The bishop denies any punishment and says it was a routine personnel move. Fr. Leyland was given the opportunity to transfer to another parish but chose to retire instead. Many parishioners rallied in support to keep him, getting 1,500 signatures on a petition. But the bishop was not persuaded, and Leyland retired July 1.
And then, his successor at St. Rose, Father David Nuss, decided not to accept the assignment "for personal reasons." Wonder what that's all about? Very strange. A priest does not turn down an assignment like this unless there's some overriding concerns. I have a good idea what's going on with Father Nuss but I can't report it here. I'll be keeping an eye on the situation and will let you know if/when the truth comes out.
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This week I am working on an article about Pope Benedict XVI's statement calling all denominations besides Catholicism "wounded" or "defective." Whatever his rationale, this statement has caused more ill will than almost anything the Pope has done since taking office, except perhaps his criticism of Islam as being a religion imposed by the sword.
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Thanks for sticking with me during my brief hiatus. I'm back and determined to blog away on a more regular basis.
Toledo, Ohio, July 16, 2007

I was looking around on Amazon.com and was shocked to see this listing. I had been told my book would be released in paperback either late this year or early next year, but had not heard a word from my publisher or my agent about it. Then I find out almost accidentally that it is scheduled for Feb. 8, 2008. I am glad to know it but I'm not happy with the way it was handled. The publishing industry is, generally speaking, as chaotic and author-unfriendly as the music business is to musicians, something I've personally seen over the years when I was covering music for The Blade. Unless you're a big name artist or have a publisher who really believes in your work and has the wherewithal to make things happen, you get treated like a number. I'm still grateful to Continuum for signing me but I am really hoping the company takes an interest in the paperback release of "Sin, Shame & Secrets" and makes it possible for the book to really succeed to its maximum potential.
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I've spent most of this week working on an article about the fallout from the document issued by the Vatican and approved by Pope Benedict XVI that says all other Christian denominations besides Roman Catholicism are either not true churches, or suffer from "defects" and "wounds."
It's a harsh statement and one that has led to varying interpretations by scholars. Is he trying to placate the conservative Catholics, especially those who follow the ex-communicated Bishop Lefebvre? That could be part of it, in light of his recent loosening of restrictions on the Latin/Tridentine Mass.
Or maybe he is trying to keep Catholics from veering away from the church by making it clear that all churches are not equal, as one scholar whom I interviewed thinks.
I'm not sure why he released the document now but it is true that there's nothing new, he is just clarifying Catholic doctrine. And while the statement says the Roman Catholic Church is the one true church, it does not deny that God is in other Christian traditions. And also, according to Dr. Richard Gaillardetz, professor of Catholic studies at the University of Toledo, the document does not negate Vatican II's doctrine that even people of other faiths can receive salvation 'in ways known only to God.'
Toledo, Ohio, July 20, 2007

Well, things have unraveled fairly quickly regarding Father David Nuss replacing Father Tom Leyland at St. Rose Parish in Perrysburg. Father Leyland is the veteran priest who said Bishop Leonard Blair was forcing him to retire as punishment for criticizing the bishop in the media over the creation of a new parish that cut his nearly in half. Bishop Blair did not budge in his stand that Fr. Leyland was not being punished but could not stay on at St. Rose despite the pleas of many parishioners.
Two days after being named pastor, Father Nuss resigned, citing unspecified personal problems. Yesterday, the Toledo diocese sent out a press release saying Fr. Nuss had an "inappropriate" relationship with a woman, and is on sabbatical.
It's not a crime for a priest to have a sexual affair with an adult woman, but it sure does violate the priest's vow of celibacy. I have had a number of people tell me over the years about priests who had affairs with women, often their wives, and blamed the priests for breaking up their marriages. I never wrote about them because it was not a crime, although I found it personally disturbing that a priest would do such a thing as the spiritual leader of his flock and God's representative on earth. But this case was different for several reasons: 1, the St. Rose pastorate was the subject of great controversy because of Father Leyland's situation. 2., the bishop apparently knew about the allegations against Fr. Nuss when he appointed the priest to succeed Leyland. I am assuming the diocese thought this would not become public knowledge. But knowingly appointing a priest involved in an affair as the leader of a prominent parish, one that had been in the headlines over the pastor's public protests, was a questionable move and one that makes many people question the bishop's judgment. I have gotten many calls and emails about this over the last few months. Yesterday, it all came out, in a strange way and one that makes me wonder why the Toledo diocese sent out a press release on a Sunday afternoon saying that one of its priests was going on sabbatical for having an affair.
It would have been much wiser to let Fr. Leyland stay on at St. Rose, sent Fr. Nuss to a counseling center and keep him out of the spotlight as he goes through the church's restoration process. As things turned out, this has been another nightmare for all concerned, and I feel bad for Fr. Nuss. Certainly, his life would have been made much easier if he had not been thrust into the middle of this St. Rose controversy. I am not judging him, I actually like him personally. The Bible tells us that no one except Jesus has lived a sinless life. I am not going to throw stones. But as a priest, he is held to a higher standard. I feel bad for him, and I feel bad for the woman involved in this sad story.
I have a feeling there is something else going on, or the diocese would not have issued that press release yesterday. Stay tuned for the rest of the story, it's bound to come out sooner or later. And I think sooner.
Here's a link to The Blade article that ran today.
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I went to Rockford, Illinois, last weekend to visit my daughter who works at a church there. Called in to The Blade about the developing Fr. Nuss story, and gave them as much as I had and Robin Erb did a great job finishing the article.
We got home about midnight, went to work this morning, got a call from my wife's doctor -- she needed to go to the emergency room asap and he could not get a hold of her. Turns out she had acute appendicitis, the test results showed. I ended up having to drive to her work to let her know because she was in a staff meeting and I could not reach her by phone. Within a few hours, she underwent surgery and had he appendix removed. That certainly was not on our schedule! But everything went well. I appreciate the prayers of our friends and church family. Janet is doing fine at Toledo Hospital, resting comfortably. She'll probably come home tomorrow and will need about a week to recuperate.
Sylvania, Ohio, July 23, 2007.

The Toledo Catholic Diocese continues to stumble through the situation involving Father David Nuss and St. Rose Parish in Perrysburg.
Here is the latest story I wrote last week, which generated lots of emails, letters and phone calls.
There are several hot-button issues wrapped into this one scenario.
First of all, the diocese said Fr. Nuss reported his "inappropriate" and "consensual" relationship with a woman to the bishop in January.
Many people say that a priest having sex with someone his are counseling or supervising is not only immoral and unethical, and a violation of his celibacy vows, but also illegal in 9 states. It's an abuse of a position of trust and authority, much as a teacher-student, lawyer-client, or psychologist-patient relationship.
Second, many readers wonder why Bishop Blair announced in April that he was naming Fr. Nuss to the pastorate of St. Rose, three months after the priest told the bishop about his sexual affair.
Third, when St. Rose parishioners met with Bishop Blair in July and asked the bishop about allegations involving their new pastor, Fr. Nuss, the bishop "played dumb," as one woman told me.
Later, when I called for clarification, the diocese's spokesman said the bishop could not reveal that he knew of the allegations because he treated it as under the seal of confession.
That has triggered a landslide of comments ranging from questions about whether the seal of confession can be applied retroactively, to whether canon law bars a bishop from hearing confessions of a priest because of the employer-employee relationship, to why, if it was confidential, did the diocese ultimately send out a press release announcing the priest's indiscretions?
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I interviewed author Dick Staub and wrote an article that was published yesterday -- I just noticed it's been left off the Blade's web site inadvertently. I'll see if we can fix that.
At any rate, Staub is a brilliant analyst of religion and pop culture, and I've interviewed him before about his book on the spiritual wisdom of jedi masters. The new book is called "The Cultural Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity Lite" (Jossey-Bass).
Staub's book carefully delineates the fall of Christianity's influence on art, entertainment, literature, etc., and then suggests ways that Christians can regain some their leadership in pop culture. Rather than run in small, parallel universes of "Christian music" and "Christian literature," we ought to be running with the big dogs and creating art and music and film that aligns with Christian values but which is geared for mainstream audiences.
I agree 100% with Staub's analysis and highly recommend his book. We need not retreat from the arts, we should be leading the way just as C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and others have done in the past.
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I went to The Simpsons Movie on opening night, Fri. 7/27, with my daughter, Cara, and her friend, Dan Newman, and it was a pretty good film although it really was just a longer version of the TV show... That's another story in itself, about translating something as iconic and as clever as The Simpsons cartoon to the big screen.
One thing that caught my attention was the way the movie treated Ned Flanders, the nerdy religious neighbor. Ned was treated reverently, so to speak, as a genuinely honest and caring and compassionate person with a good heart and good intentions. He sees Bart in distress and makes him a cup of cocoa ... with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, a cookie, and more... Bart acts like he doesn't want it then when Flanders leaves, he grabs it and wolfs it down. At one point, Bart says he wishes Flanders was his dad. The movie was never snide or condescending in depicting Flanders' faith.
Funniest scene in the film: we see the church and the bar side by side. An announcement is made that Springfield is going to be blown up. Everyone in the bar runs, screaming, into the church, and everyone in the church runs into the bar.