Month: December 2023

Do No Harm?

~ danbonbooks ~ Leave a comment

Although we moved across the country more than 35 years ago, we continue to maintain online subscriptions with two newspapers in communities where we used to reside. These are places that hold great meaning for our family, so staying in touch with events and people in those parts is always enjoyable.

Except when it isn’t.

A recent article, for example, reported that James Garisto, a Catholic priest from Poughkeepsie, NY, was arrested in Philadelphia on charges related to the sexual abuse of two young boys.  And to the surprise of absolutely nobody, reports indicated that employees at his parish were aware of his outrageous behavior, but compensated him nonetheless for expenses related to travel with his victims.

Like so many other similar cases, Garisto groomed and then assaulted his victims by, first, ingratiating himself to their families … who, after all, would have concerns about the motives of a beloved priest?  According to Mike McDonnell, communications director of SNAP, Garisto: “… was protected by the bishop simply because he was a charismatic neighborhood priest,” going on to point out that: “… abusers gain trust by families and are held on a pedestal.”  If a child were to come forward saying they were abused by a character like Garisto, McDonnell says, that child would have to wonder: “Who is going to believe me … they love this guy.”

Adding to the shame and hurt of this awful series of events, it played out in a city … Poughkeepsie … where the monstrous Gennaro “Father Jerry” Gentile harmed many young men and their families before being outed and then laicized.  When Gentile’s despicable acts at St. Mary’s parish and other places were finally revealed and reported on, his picture appeared on the front page of the New York Daily News under the headline: “Twisted Journey of a Problem Priest.” 

In the Garisto matter, the Archdiocese of New York, as usual, offers all the requisite platitudes while noting: “ … we take seriously every allegation of abuse, however, we cannot comment on the specifics of this case while there are still active criminal and civil cases pending.”  In response, the family of one of his victims suggests that the continuing problem of sexual abuse can be laid directly at the feet of church leaders pointing out:

As angry as I am at the actions of Garisto, I am more angry with the Catholic Church that allows this, moving these men from parish to parish without being advocates for these men to be jailed.  They move them and give them access to vulnerable kids who completely put their trust in a priest or a nun, and then the devastation that is caused as a result of that, that’s what I’m truly angry about.

In 1962, Pete Seeger wrote the classic protest song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”  More than sixty years later, the prescient chorus of that piece speaks to the continued horrors of clergy sexual abuse, and the unconscionable blindness of Catholic leadership:

When Will They Ever Learn?

Special Connections

~ danbonbooks ~ Leave a comment

Growing up in New York State, I have fond memories of my grandfather who, after much prodding, would talk about his service in the US Army.  I especially enjoyed hearing him tell of his part in the Pancho Villa Punitive Expedition along the Texas-Mexico border in 1916 and 1917, followed by his tour in France at the end of World War I.  My grandfather served under the command of General “Black Jack” Pershing (and a Lieutenant by the name of George Patton), and I have always been moved by the handwritten note on his discharge papers: “Service Honest and True.”

When speaking of his time along the border, my grandfather would tell of places with mysterious-sounding names like Lajitas, Terlingua, Presidio and Marfa … places which, as a youngster, lived only in my imagination.  But since moving to Texas more than 35 years ago, I have made a number of trips to the Big Bend region and have come to know these places well.  And as others familiar with those parts might agree, a visit there exposes one to a special kind of desolate beauty, and a landscape that has changed very little since my grandfather served there more than a century ago.

Over the years, I have had the good fortune to be able to take my grandsons to the Big Bend, and to show them where my grandfather … their great-great-grandfather … had served.  There is something almost magical in being able to stand on the grounds of the long-ago cavalry fort in Lajitas, while looking across the Rio Grande River (a mere stone’s throw away) at the same mountains and desert over which  Pershing’s troops pursued Pancho Villa in the interest of protecting the United States border.

One grandson who visited the Big Bend with me as a young boy is, himself, now a Sergeant in the US Army.  And, in a circumstance that can only be described as perfect symmetry, he and his unit are currently assigned to assist with security along the Texas-Mexico border.  And though the precise nature of my grandfather’s assignment and that of my grandson may differ, there is an undeniable kinship in their efforts … separated by more than 100 years … to safeguard the United States and to protect US citizens.

Though we were looking forward to seeing our grandson over the upcoming holidays those plans will, obviously, have to be put in abeyance.  But as we lament the fact that he won’t be home with his family this year, we take enormous pride in him and the work he and his colleagues do every day to keep us safe and secure. 

It is our fervent wish that all the men and women serving in the US military be safe this holiday season and, as the saying goes: “Thank you for your service.”