CA- Victims seek bishop’s help

What about victims of clergy abuse who go to the assistance ministry in downtown Los Angeles, report horrific tales of abuse, can describe the offender without his clothes, has the journals of parents talking about their child spending so much time with the priest in their marriage encounter journal, who has literally lined from hanging himself because of the body memories of the abuse, who has faithfully served as a music minister for almost 30 years, who chose not to sue the church for lots and lots of money because her knew it would be paid from the pews and not the altar in exchange for help with therapy as he lives in the turmoil of PTSD, is then sent to a trauma center to journey through the memories of abuse but is placed in a trauma center room and forced to sleep in the same bedroom with convicted child sex offenders, who is told after a number of years they. A not put the priests name on the list because another victim has to come forward, and just recently got a fed ex document offering $5 grand and another $7 grand to go for college tuition bills and not one dollar for continued therapy or any medical care stemmed from PTSD, which also says they are not in any way accepting responsibility for the alleged a use and finally says by signing and accepting the offered amount sign would Also wash their hands of the trauma I went through and I would no longer be able to mention the trauma them or ask for any more help dealing with said trauma for the rest of my life. To this day, I fight to get a good night sleep from the memories and am lucky to sleep 4 hours before my trauma memories start to impede my sleep. I have played at least 4 Catholic masses since 1987 nearly every weekend and even taught music a a catholic school got 11 years and can you believe was told by a Catholic ordained deacon who was also the parish administrator for one of the model churches for Los Angeles after realizing he made a mistake and my health insurance got cancelled and sent to Cobra and I quote , “ahh poor Dave! always the poor victim! Fuck you Dave!” and follows that up wih slamming the phone down and hanging up. That day I went to Kaiser to pick up my PTSD Meds which the diocese never helped me pay for nor the copay to see the psychiatrist and refused to help pay for my health insurance so I could get he PTSD medication, was told by kaiser my insurance was terminated. I had moved from the parish I worked at for 11 years who had just cut my pay by %60 and health insurance cut to the above mentioned model church to get health insurance and a promise of weddings and alike and promised by the above said deacon that unless something catastrophic happened, the 90 day probationary period was nothing to worry about. And when the 90th day came, that same deacon did not stand up and defend me when the parish pastor pulled all of my employee benefits (ie health insurance) and promise of weddings, put me on a contracting basis, l because the music director lied and said I could not play foot pedals on the pipe organ. Anyone rhat knows me , knows my level of musicianship is very high and definitely includes the ability to play foot pedals on an organ. Assuming whoever reads this is confused but basically I quit a 11 year job to go to another job on the pretense of extra masses through weddings and alike and especially the promise Of health insurance so I could continue getting the medication for the PTSD). The probationary period was just a formality and the deacon who promised me I would be there for many years did not stand up for me not did he stand up for a complete injustice by the pastor for believing the threatened music directors lie about the foot pedals. So I lost my health insurance, I no longer was afforded to opportunity to earn money at extra masses as promised because of a unsubstantiated lie. Instead of quitting, I chose to stay because my ministry inside the church outweighed to complete injustice done to me and I thought one day it would be made right. The pastor who I mentioned took the benefits away retired and can you believe after years of begging for the extra work I was promised, the deacon that hired me and promised me the probAtion was only a formality has not done one thing to change the injustice done to me. I am a piano technician and a good one at that, and I even asked for the opportunity to take over the maintenance and tuning for the parish pianos, and he refused to persuade the music director (the one that lied and got my benefits terminated) to hire me for the piano maintenance. So a little boy who suffered horrific sexual rape, who had faithfully served the Catholic Church for most of his life, who did not sue for millions for the abuse, who believed the nun in the assistance ministry department would help me for the test of my life in exchange for not suing, now canoot sue the church because of the statute of limitations is offered a measly $12 to walk away and so they can wash their hands from my abuse. What happens to people like that? I get to live with horrific memories and body memories and all of the issues hat trauma has created and believe me there are many, and the priest who did this to me Gets to retire in peace And the church can erase my name from the “have to help” lost. I have never waivered in my loyalty to the Catholic Church. Yet, the church cannot even practice what they preach, even with one of the little boys who go hurt who continues to serve as an adult. What happens to them?

Abused by Priest is a great network. I wish we had one for the abused by Rabbi’s one as well done as this one. Abuse is a big problem in the Jewish Orthodox Community too. We are definitively not immunized to it. – The Rabbi’s here stalk women, call them “evil” and sexually assault them, in New York the problem at least is being recognized now. Diane Polonsky, Los Angeles on balladofphilipfishelcohen.blogspot.com