By Peter J. Smith
RICHMOND, Virginia, July 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Richmond Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo has revealed that he expressly forbade an abortion from taking place back in January, but neither the diocese nor the Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC) has told the press what “erroneous information” prevented the bishop and the director of Commonwealth Catholic Charities from taking action to stop the abortion.
The scandal broke after The Wanderer, a national Catholic weekly, and The Washington Times exposed Catholic Charities’ complicity in a 16 year-old Guatemalan girl’s abortion. The girl was a ward of the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) who was entrusted to the care of Commonwealth Catholic Charities of Richmond (CCR).
Two months before the abortion, CCR staff members had the girl fitted with a contraceptive device. When the girl said she wanted an abortion, one CCR staffer signed consent papers, while a volunteer drove her to an abortion facility on January 18.
The Times reported that both Bishop DiLorenzo and Joanne Nattrass, executive director of Commonwealth Catholic Charities, were informed the day before the intended abortion. Nattrass told Bishop DiLorenzo, who says he then forbade it from happening, at which point Nattrass is reported to have informed him that nothing could be done.
“We were notified at the 11th hour,” Nattrass, executive director of Commonwealth Catholic Charities, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “We were provided with erroneous information, and that information included that there was nothing Catholic Charities and the [Catholic] Diocese of Richmond could do to affect the outcome.”
However the Times-Dispatch reported that Nattrass would not elaborate as to what the erroneous information which tied the hands of Catholic Charities and the diocese was.
LifeSiteNews contacted Nattrass’s office for further explanation, but calls were not returned by press time.
The Times also interviewed Bill Etherington, an attorney for the diocese and CCR, who also said Bishop DiLorenzo was given bad information about whether the abortion could be prevented, but again did not elaborate as to how.
“He was told it could not be stopped,” Mr. Etherington said. “It was erroneous information. He didn’t have to sign off on it. He was not personally involved.”
The Diocese’s lethargy in producing an answer about the content of the “erroneous information” has not settled well with some Catholics. A number have questioned why it was news agencies, and not the bishop, who six months later revealed the tragic scandal to the public.
“We call on Bishop Francis DiLorenzo and the rest of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops to commit to accountability by answering the many questions left by this latest episode of apparent child abuse and subsequent deadly assault on a preborn child,” said Judie Brown, president of American Life League.
“Even though this latest scandal is not related to clergy abuse per se, the disgraceful event in Richmond was anything but transparent – months went by before Bishop DiLorenzo acknowledged the child-killing he knew about in January and even then only to warn his brother bishops that a possible investigation loomed on the horizon,” Brown continued.
“The Diocese of Richmond pulls out all the stops when an execution is scheduled for a serial killer on death row. They call for prayer vigils and petition drives. Where was that kind of vigilance for this girl and her baby?” said Mary Ann Kreitzer, President of Les Femmes, a Catholic lay media group based in the Arlington Diocese.
Four CCR staff members involved in the abortion scheme were fired by the diocese in March and an official with the US Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) was suspended.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began an investigation April 23 to determine what Virginian and federal laws were violated by CCR when a staff member signed a consent form for the teenager to get an abortion. Federal law forbids taxpayer funding for abortion, and Virginia law requires the consent of a parent, legal guardian or custodian to authorize a minor’s abortion.
After learning of the federal investigation, Bishop DiLorenzo and two other bishops issued a private letter April 29 to the nation’s 350 Catholic bishops – made public by The Wanderer June 19 – saying it was “a most regrettable stain on the record of excellence in the work both of MRS and of Catholic Charities.”
The letter admitted that “some members of the MRS staff were not sufficiently aware of church teaching” and that in future they will receive training on “the primacy of Catholic teachings and beliefs as they impact their work or professional ethics…to assure that such unacceptable incidents never happen again.”
In a statement released to The Catholic Virginian newspaper June 25, Bishop DiLorenzo said, “Because of the issues of privacy of those involved, and the ongoing legal investigations, there was, and is a need to be prudent in making any public statement.”
Bishop DiLorenzo said that questions surrounding the scandal will be answered by “the board, the administration and the staff of Commonwealth Catholic Charities.”
“The guilt and depression that many of us experience as a result of the behavior of a few is something that we will bear for a long time to come,” he wrote.
“Finally, I express my profound apology for the loss of the life of one of the most vulnerable among us, and I apologize for the profound embarrassment this has caused the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, and Catholics throughout the United States.”
To contact the Diocese of Richmond:
7800 Carousel Lane
Richmond, VA 23294-4201
Phone: (804)359-5661
Main Fax: (804)358-9159
Email : [email protected]
See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
Catholic Charity Caught Helping Virginia Girl Obtain Abortion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061906.html