Innocent (l to r): Rev. Thomas J. Wopperer, Rev. Martin H. Demek, Rev. Michael Scully,
and Rev. Robert G. Beiter
As we have written many times, the diocesan review boards formed by the Dallas Charter 20 years ago, while originally well intentioned, have become a virtual dragnet for specious, unfounded claims from decades prior in which the due process rights of priests are ignored and nearly every presumption is indulged in favor of the claimants, who are often kooks and con artists.
By design, the standard of proof is so low that it is something of a miracle that any priests are ever exonerated, and yet despite that, some priests still are. Indeed, in the past several weeks, a number of falsely accused priests were finally returned to ministry:
● The Diocese of Buffalo reinstated Rev. Thomas J. Wopperer after a money-seeking chap sued the diocese last year over an unspecified allegation dating back many decades. The accuser filed his suit under New York's "Child Victims Act," a piece of "window" legislation targeted at the coffers of the Catholic Church and allowing any freak, flimflammer, or mental case the opportunity to score some fast and easy cash.
● In the same statement, Buffalo also restored Fr. Robert G. Beiter after an investigation determined that an accusation dating back decades ago was baseless.
● The Archdiocese of Baltimore cleared Fr. Martin H. Demek over a phony accusation dating back to the 1980s after an "investigative team including a former FBI agent conducted a thorough and comprehensive investigation into all available information, including interviews with nearly 50 individuals."
● The Capuchin Province of Mid-America exonerated Fr. Rev. Michael Scully over a vague, decades-old claim of "sexual abuse of a child."
We wanted to reach out to Fr. Beiter over his feelings of being exonerated, but it turns out he passed away at age 83 ten days before the diocese cleared him. Nice.
The fraud now being perpetrated against the Church by hucksters, nutjobs, and greedy lawyers is shocking as the Church, pressured by the media, reliably always caves in to this injustice.
As always, the same question remains: When will someone, anyone, in the media finally take notice?
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Want to learn more about the rampancy of false accusations against priests?:
- "False Accusations Against Catholic Priests Are Now At Epic Proportions" (May 2019)
- The Greatest Fraud Never Told: False Accusations, Phony Grand Jury Reports, and the Assault on the Catholic Church by David F. Pierre, Jr. (Amazon.com)
I know more who were accused with littlte to know evidence.