"Suicidio" de un sacerdote... a la mayor gloria de Dios

Hace pocos días Los Angeles Times publicó un reportaje sobre la extraña muerte de un sacerdote jesuita el pasado 19 de mayo. James Chevedden , de 56 años, dijo misa a las 11 de la mañana de ese día en Los Gatos, California, para luego salir a un compromiso a San José. Debía presentarse como testigo a un juicio sobre abuso sexual, contra él. Pero no llegó. Aparentemente se "suicidó" antes. ....

Muchos dicen que se mató porque sufría de ansiedad y ya tenía un historia de problemas mentales. Otro piensan que alguien se aprovechó de sus antecedentes para eliminar su testimonio en un día crucial. Aunque ninguna nota de suicidio se encontró, las autoridades afirman que se suicidó tirándose el sexto piso del estacionamiento del tribunal, pero su terapista y familia no creen esa versión. Chevedden parecía estar bien con los medicamentos y la terapia. Quizá demasiado bien para alguien.

Y es que hace tiempo él tuvo que sufrir una cirugía y estuvo en silla de ruedas. Y otro jesuita se ofreció a ayudarlo, el Hermano Charles Leonard Connor. Y Connor abusó de él. Cuenta el diario:

"During this recovery period, Chevedden said, Connor sexually molested and physically abused him. The alleged misconduct is described in reports that Chevedden submitted to Jesuit superiors, in notes of counseling sessions with his psychiatrist and in private e-mails to family members.

Chevedden said Connor occasionally massaged his shoulders. One day, after Connor had pushed Chevedden in his wheelchair to a third-floor computer room, the brother allegedly placed one hand inside the priest's pajama bottoms and touched his penis.

Chevedden told family members that he was taken aback by Connor's actions and resisted any further advances. Days later, Chevedden alleged, Connor retaliated by ramming his wheelchair into a barrier, causing excruciating pain to both feet...."

Chevedden no sabía que Connor ya había sido acusado de abusar de un discapacitado mental en 1995, y que los superiores de la Compañía tenían el antecedente, y que no habían llamado a las autoridades encubriendo a Connor. Sin embargo, gracias a algún informante, la policía actúo en el 2000 y entró a la enfermería jesuita. A insistencias de las autoriades, la Compañía no tuvo otra que transferir Connor lejos de su víctima. En 2001 fue acusado de abuso y condenado por el abuso al discapacitado. Fue entonces que Chevedden se atrevió a hablar, pero no le hicieron caso sus superiores, y entonces él decidió escribir una declaración, le dijo a su familia en 2002. La Compañía entonces quiso resolver el asunto sin mucho ruido, pero se puso del lado de Connor de nuevo. Y trataton de ocultar todo de nuevo:

"But a San Francisco psychiatrist, whom the Jesuits paid to treat Chevedden, said he is convinced that the priest told the truth about Connor.

"He had paranoid delusions," said Maloof, 65, who considers himself an orthodox Catholic and counseled Chevedden for two years before his death. "But I have no doubt that Father Chevedden was accurate in what he described. He was very precise in detailing and documenting what transpired."

Maloof has practiced psychiatry for more than three decades and is president of the San Francisco Guild of the Catholic Medical Assn., an organization of doctors devoted to preserving the principles of their faith in the practice of medicine. He said he met at Smolich's request with Chevedden and Martin, the superior at Sacred Heart, on Sept. 26, 2002, at the Jesuits' Loyola House in San Francisco.

According to Maloof's notes, Martin conceded that Connor may have had a memory lapse about the alleged molestation.

"Father Martin just laid it out, [saying], 'We're in this together. We don't want any more lawsuits. So, we've got to work something out here,' " Maloof recalled in an interview.

The purpose of the meeting, according to the psychiatrist, was to keep the allegations from becoming public. He said Jesuit leaders appeared far more interested in "exerting damage control" than in caring for his client.

"They didn't want another case involving Brother Connor," Maloof said. "They were determined to quash any further disclosures of abuse."

Frustrado por la conducta de sus superiores, Chevedden decidió ir con la policía. "Estaba listo para contar todo", dice Maloof, su psiquiatra. Pero todo de pronto empeoró. El Psiquiatra se dió cuenta que la Compañía controlaba todas las citas y condiciones de vida del sacerdote, así que persuadió a Chevedden que me mantuviera en silencio y trabajara sobre un acuerdo con sus superiores si es que quería seguir en la Compañía. "Yo fue quien le puso el freno a esto", acepta Maloof. "Si tengo algo de que arrepentirme, es de eso."

"Jesuit leaders and Chevedden agreed on a set of restrictions for Connor. He was ordered not to initiate any contact with Chevedden, not to go near Chevedden's room and to avoid sitting at a table in the Sacred Heart dining hall if Chevedden was present, according to Smolich. Those restrictions were not always followed, Chevedden told his psychiatrist and family.

When Chevedden jumped to his death last year, he became another tragic statistic — one of at least 55 alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse who have killed themselves in the U.S. since 1990, according to research by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

Chevedden's allegations would not have come to light if "he had not jumped off that building," said Robert L. Mezzetti II, a San Jose attorney who represents the priest's family and helped negotiate the settlement for Connor's mentally disabled victims.

"The Jesuits keep saying that they've learned their lesson, and they keep apologizing," Mezzetti said, "but they don't change their ways."

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After the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal erupted in 2002, at least five Jesuit members of the California Province who had been convicted of sex crimes or accused of molesting minors were transferred to the Sacred Heart facility. The picturesque retreat in the Santa Cruz Mountains provides a haven and support for Jesuit sex offenders.

The reassignments meant that Brother Connor, who had been sent away from Sacred Heart in 2000, and Father Chevedden would once again share the same residence — an arrangement that the priest's psychiatrist said he warned Jesuit leaders was a big mistake.

"I told them from my experience [that] to put a victim and a perpetrator together in a very loose environment is completely unsupportable," Maloof said...."

Chevedden tenía muchos planes para el futuro: había pedido ser cambiado a una comunidad jesuita en la Universidad de Santa Clara y planeada ir a estudiar a Notre Dame. Pero sus superiores NO aceptaron cambiarlo de lugar. Decían que donde estaba era bien tratado. Pero la familia argumenta que sus superiores se aprovecharon de su enfermedad en un esfuerzo de evitar cualquier responsabilidad sobre su muerte.

"The Jesuits have disseminated half a story, while burying the other half," Paul Chevedden said. "They are engaged in a campaign of cover-up and spin that places all the blame on Jim."

En Mayo, los abogados de la familia Chevedden hicioern una demanna pidiendo 10 millones de dólares en daños a la Compañía de Jesús. Y aunque rechazan hablar del juicio - para variar - los jesuitas dicen que éste no tiene mérito. Pero el Superior dice que están en condiciones de negociar "un acuerdo justo" para el caso.... y A la Mayor Gloria de Dios.