We’ve posted about the cover-up over Raymond Kownacki, the Belleville priest accused of molesting an altar boy (and likely others). The trial against the diocese began this week and yesterday, a big name showed up to testify for the defense. Wilton Gregory, now archbishop of Atlanta, was previously a bishop in Belleville. He said church officials withheld crucial information from him while he was leading an investigation into the pedophilic activities of priests.
Gregory said under cross-examination that dozens of other documents, concerning potential unknown victims of 14 priests including Kownacki who were removed from ministry after they were accused of sexually molesting minors, might have been withheld without his knowledge. He said he personally met with "80 to 100" victims, although some of these involved persons who moved to the Belleville Diocese but had been abused elsewhere.
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The last witness for the defense was former vicar general Monsignor James Margason, who testified that before Gregory came to Belleville, Margason knew about detailed reports that Kownacki had raped a 16-year-old girl and aborted her fetus with his hands. There were also reports that he had sexually molested twin boys he brought from Guatemala and was mentioned in letters from a man and woman complaining Kownacki abused their son at St. Theresa's Parish in Salem and that they heard Wisniewski was a victim at the parish as well. These were reports withheld from Gregory.
This is sort of turning into a “he said, she said” between various church officials. Obviously, finding out who is really responsible—and holding them accountable for endangering innumerable children—is critical (especially since Kownacki was never prosecuted). But we don't need to explain that there is even more riding on this. James Wisniewski, the innocent victim of abuse, deserves fair compensation for his tragic experience. And most important, we need to protect today's children from similar crimes. Honesty and openness is what we need, but bouncing the blame back and forth doesn't help. The real story gets more convoluted every day, so let's hope this remains priority number one.
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