YOU DON’T WANT THE TRUTH BECAUSE YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH

Comments can sometimes be as informative as articles

As an aspiring screenwriter who has yet to find someone like Mel Gibson, Roseanne Barr, or Mark Wahlberg to produce my screenplay, “Den of Iniquity,” one of my favorite screenplays is “A Few Good Men” written by Aaron Sorkin and based on his 1989 play. The most famous line from the movie starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore, is when Nicholson, in the role of Marine Corps Colonel Nathan Jessup, says on the courtroom stand to Cruise, in the role of Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”

When I encounter people who don’t want to hear about survivors who were sexually abused or whistleblowers who suffered reprisals for reporting abuse, I would like to tell them, “You don’t want the truth because you can’t handle the truth.” They remind me of a woman who does not want to learn from her neighbor that her husband has been cheating on her with numerous women for many years. In order to avoid the pain of betrayal, the woman wants to go on living as if her husband is truly faithful to his marriage vows.

One of the reasons Catholics don’t want to hear reports that Pope Francis preyed upon young Jesuit novices in Argentina or covered up countless abuse cases when he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires is they fear it may call into question the validity of what the popes, bishops, and priests have been preaching to them throughout their lives. If Omaha Archbishop George Lucas lied about not having sexually abused a high school seminarian in St. Louis or covered up that he had sex with priests and a gay prostitute in the presence of young seminarians in Springfield, then is what he said about Jesus and life after death also a lie? After paying “eternal life insurance premiums” Sunday after Sunday for all of one’s life, is “heaven” a lie like “celibacy” seems to be for the 150 credibly accused bishops that Pope Francis refuses to laicize or excommunicate along with priests like Father Marko Rupnik who raped over 20 nuns? Hypocrisy on the part of Catholic clergy is harming the faith of Catholics including over 30 million Americans who were baptized in the Catholic Church and who no longer self-identify as “Catholic.”

It is understandable that some people will question what I report when mainstream and Catholic media outlets like Catholic News Agency do not want to report about former seminarians like Wieslaw Walawender who was drugged and sodomized in the Baltimore Archdiocese, or Lisa Roars who allegedly had communion inserted into her vagina when she was 9-11 years old by a priest who continues to work around children at Boys Town in Nebraska. I would not have to publish this “John 18:37” column if these egregious acts against minors and vulnerable adults were reported elsewhere.

What I appreciate about publishing articles on Substack is that it affords subscribers and readers an opportunity to comment, or to even question not only what I wrote, but what other commentators may also have written. I will provide an example of such a dialogue that appears following my article entitled, “Church Closures Linked to Destabilization.” I encourage you to read what “Father Michael Briese” and “Doubting T” wrote, and how Father Michael Briese and I both responded. I think you will find the YouTube links I provided in my response to be very enlightening if you have not already viewed them. I hope this will encourage you to “Like” or “Reply” after reading an article.

Fr Michael Briese wrote:

Homosexual predation is alive, well, and thriving in today's seminaries, and religious houses, as well as among parish priests and priests working in chanceries and - even ever more sadly - at our Catholic schools and universities. To defeat this horrendous spiritual plague and source of sexual predation and abuse, lay Catholics must organize, finance and manage a national concerted and well coordinated lay effort to obtain sworn statements and evidence and insist that prosecutions be pursued in a legal manner. Evidence of corruption can be uncovered in financial records, priest personnel records, computer files, and stored records. Laity must work with police and investigative bodies at all levels of government. Otherwise, homosexual assaults and heterosexual rapes will continue.

Doubting T. responded:.

Fr. Briese - is this a pseudonym or are you a priest? And if the latter, is this advice of a known factual experience or just assuming?

Fr Michael Briese’s edited for length response:

Doubting T. I am personally appalled and filled with a very justifiable sense of disdain toward our modern clergy. Should you doubt me, know that I have the names of two kids who were sexually assaulted by two different priests. They were both called liars by the priests and told to stay quiet or their families would be thrown out of the Church. Both of these kids were in their early teens when the priests molested them. They trusted our Church and cried out for help! RC clergy insulted them by making these two kids out to be liars. These two kids killed themselves. You can multiply these two innocent suicidal kids by hundreds across America. This goes back decades …. I was made aware of this evil by the now deceased but well-known RC clerical molester, the late former priest, Father Frank Benham. In July 1977, he pulled down his pants and asked me, then a foolish 19-year-old, to provide him pleasure. So, I have been aware of this for about 45 years. It is a very real ongoing evil! Fight it with all you have! Only the dedicated lives of God and determined men and women will successfully defeat this clerical wrath of evil! Good will prevail. I pray for people like you! What are you doing to fight these clerical rapists and infidels? Use the laws of this nation! You have powers under our laws! Use them! And why? Because our dear Lord always protects the vulnerable, and we must too. This problem is very real, and so am I! Fr Michael Briese, Servant Unto The Least Among Us

Gene Thomas Gomulka’s edited for length response:

Dear Doubting T, Yes, Father Briese is a real priest in his late 60s who has dedicated his life (even before he was ordained a permanent deacon and then later a priest) to feeding and clothing the poor and homeless of Southern Maryland. While he is White, the poor he serves are mainly poor Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. Unlike most of the priests and bishops (like Wuerl and Gregory) of the Washington Archdiocese who are closeted homosexuals, Briese is a truly celibate heterosexual. If the Church allowed priests to marry, he would choose to remain celibate not because he does not like women, but because he wants to focus his entire life on serving Christ and his Church. For over three years, Cardinal Gregory has removed Father Briese from active ministry because he is a whistleblower who confronted Gregory for: 1) Allowing Father Adam Park to remain in ministry after he was reported for preying on seminarians at the North American College in Rome (as recorded in NY Supreme Court documents); and 2) Confronting Gregory with allegations that he was sexually involved with a man in Atlanta where he was given the name, "the African Queen." Gregory, did not deny the allegation just like Pope Francis did not deny allegations from two separate sources that he preyed on Jesuit novices in Argentina. Every day I hear from sources throughout the U.S. about predatory and sexually active priests and bishops. Prostitutes will describe the genitalia of bishops and priests and point out exactly what their episcopal residences, rectories, and bedrooms look like inside. Allow me to refer you to the following two videos about abuse and reprisal victims which show how abuse and cover-ups lead all the way to the Vatican: “The Prayer of the Prey” and “The NAC Swamp.”

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Gene Thomas Gomulka is a sexual abuse victims’ advocate, investigative reporter, 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.