CATHOLICS NEED TO EXERCISE DUE DILIGENCE

The lives of their children are at stake

When I moved cross-country in 2023, I contracted with a moving company that advertised low prices, only to learn they engaged in fraud, which required me to file suit against them in court. Had I researched the company better, I would have discovered that their quoted price was too good to be true, and that they defrauded several other customers as well. Had I read the negative reviews the moving company received, I would have learned from the mistakes of others, and I never would have booked with them.

When someone recently sent me an article entitled “More than 200 Young Men Attend St. Joseph’s Day for Vocations,” I realized that I’m not the only one who failed to undertake “due diligence,” defined as “the careful research, investigation, and verification of facts before making a major decision.” Unlike my failure to undertake due diligence by not reading moving company reviews, which had financial consequences, the failure of New York Catholic parents to research those who sponsored the vocation event may cost them the lives of their sons. Let me explain,

After multiple researchers (Father Darius Oko, Father Paul Sullins, and Richard Sipe) have confirmed a link between clerical sexual abuse and the large percentage of homosexual Catholic clergy, one would think that any intelligent Catholic would be careful in allowing his son or daughter to be entrusted into the hands of American-born priests and nuns, the majority of whom today are not heterosexually oriented. Even though the vocation event did not include an overnight stay, there are several “red flags” New York Catholics should have seen before entrusting their sons to Father George Sears, the director of vocations for the Archdiocese of New York.

Father Sears was reported for preying on seminarians, an accusation that the New York Archdiocese and the Brooklyn Diocese failed to investigate and covered up. Had New York Catholic families watched Preying for Vocations? detailing abuse allegations against Sears, I doubt that they would have allowed their sons to attend this event.

If I were Sears, and if I were innocent of the allegations reported in the video, I would immediately deny them and insist on an investigation, not to mention bringing defamation charges against the former seminarian who made the police report against me. However, if I were guilty and perhaps abused several other seminarians, I would keep quiet and hope that no major media source would report the accusations.

Most New York Catholics have been misled by the Catholic News Agency (CNA) to believe that the $125 million lawsuit filed by former New York seminarian Anthony Gorgia against Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the New York Archdiocese, and the North American College (NAC) is no longer active. The lawsuit is currently under appeal after a judge ruled that she lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because of the separation of Church and State. CNA not only misled Catholics to believe that the case is history, but it also failed to report how many former North American College seminarians testified that they witnessed the same sexual predation and homosexual misconduct on the part of the rector, Father Peter Harman, and the vice rector, Father Adam Park, as documented in the Gorgia complaint.

Had New York Catholics exercised due diligence and read how an affidavit submitted by former seminarian Michael Cassabon corroborated Gorgia’s sworn testimony about Park, Harmon, and Dolan, I doubt that they would have allowed their sons to go anywhere near the vocation event.

If the affidavit submitted by Cassabon did not discourage participation, an affidavit submitted by former NAC seminarian Curtis Weisenburger would certainly have led a parent to realize how Dolan unjustly coerced Gorgia into leaving formation after he witnessed and received reports of sexual predation and homosexual misconduct involving Park and Harman.

One group of New York Catholic families that would not have allowed a son to participate in the vocation event had they exercised due diligence would have been families involved in law enforcement. The fact that former FBI Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Kenneth McCabe, filed not one, but two affidavits corroborating the testimony against Dolan, Harman, and Park, would have led these crime-conscious families to avoid the vocation event “like the plague.”

If a New York mother were to have undertaken due diligence before allowing her son to attend the vocation event by calling Mrs. Maria Gorgia, the mother of Anthony Gorgia, she would have heard a heart-wrenching story as reported in “A Mother’s Cry for Justice.”

Dolan not only covered up for Park and Harman at the NAC, but an investigation, entitled From Predators to Pastors, uncovered multiple cases where Dolan secretly allowed high-ranking priests accused of sexual abuse to remain in ministry in New York parishes and schools. After Tim Murphy waited more than a decade for Cardinal Timothy Dolan to remove his predator, Father Donald Timone, from ministry, Tim ended his life by suicide.

The scariest part about the vocation day in New York is how Sears and the other speakers encouraged boys to attend minor (high school) seminaries, the same seminaries responsible for having created tens of thousands of homosexual predators who preyed on teenage boys as they were preyed upon in high school seminaries during their period of psychosexual development. Both of the young priests with whom I served at my first parish assignment, and who later were reported and removed for having abused teenage boys, began their studies for the priesthood in minor seminaries where they were groomed and abused. Had their parents practiced due diligence and looked carefully at what was going on behind closed doors in those high school seminaries, their sons would not have been turned into homosexual predators, and countless abuse victims, particularly teenage boys, would not have been abused.

As documented in Who Will Save Our Seminarians?, grooming and abuse take place today even in college seminaries like St. John Paul II in Washington, D.C., where the rector, Father Carter Griffin, was accused by more than one seminarian of sexual harassment. Both Fathers Griffin and Park are priests of the Archdiocese of Washington whose abuse allegations were reported by Father Michael Briese and covered up by Cardinals Wilton Gregory and Robert McElroy. The real reason Gregory and McElroy have requested the Vatican to laicize Briese is that he blew the whistle on the priests’ predation and their abuse cover-ups.

Parents who might not discourage a son from attending a vocation event include those whose sons are closeted homosexuals. By having one’s gay son ordained a priest, the parents could lead their relatives and friends to believe that their son is straight and has given up having a wife and children to follow Christ.

Not all seminarians or newly ordained priests today are homosexual, but many, including those who appear to be traditional in their dress and preaching, are closeted homosexuals that bishops and vocation directors would like the laity to believe are heterosexuals. I cannot fault the laity for not recognizing priests who may be predators and/or homosexuals, as I lived and worked very closely for years with such priests without realizing the double lives they were living. One victim of one of those predator priests recently took his life. The current perceived homosexual pastor conducted a private funeral for the family, and the parishioners had no idea that the deceased had been sexually abused decades earlier by a previous priest in the parish whose abuse contributed to the victim’s marital problems and suicide. This cover-up reminded me of an African priest who got a nun pregnant; forced her to have an abortion that resulted in her death; and then conducted her funeral without the parishioners knowing what really led to the nun’s passing.

Anyone who may have a son or relative who may be discerning a vocation to the priesthood is strongly encouraged to undertake due diligence by reading/watching the links in this article and contributing to the “Save Our Seminarians” Fund that will help safeguard young men from becoming victims of homosexual predation in U.S. Catholic seminaries.

Gene Thomas Gomulka is a sexual abuse victims’ advocate, investigative reporter, author, and screenwriter. A former Navy (O6) Captain/Chaplain, seminary instructor, and diocesan respect life director, Gomulka was ordained a priest for the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese and later made a Prelate of Honor (Monsignor) by St. John Paul II. Email him at msgr.investigations@gmail.com.