The priest abuse scandal within the Roman Catholic church seems to be exploding, with allegations pouring in of abuse in Europe and the United States that was either ignored or swept under the rug at very high levels.

But there’s been little mention in tumult of the past few weeks of abuse on Indian reservations. (See previous posts, here and here.)

Now, Clara Vargas, a member of the Yakama Tribe aims to change that, by traveling to Rome, where she’ll testify Saturday before the Italian Parliament. As Leah Beth Ward of the Yakima Herald-Republic reports here:

Vargas, 50, a Colville tribal member who now lives in Tacoma, is traveling to Rome as part of a crusade by abuse victims to pressure the Vatican into taking more responsibility for the child sex abuse scandal that is closing in on the church and Pope Benedict XVI.

Putting pressure on elected officials is a way to force the Pope to take responsibility, said Vargas, who was a student at St. Mary’s Mission near Omak from second through eighth grade.

She and several Yakama tribal members are part of a lawsuit filed two years ago in U.S. District Court by the Tamaki Law Firm of Yakima against the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, which operated St. Mary’s in Okanogan County.

“I’m going to tell them how the abuse and neglect affected me and how I reported it years ago and they never did anything,” Vargas tells Ward.

The Rev. Kevin Annett, a Canadian minister, came up with the idea of the trip. He’s taken up the cause of aboriginal people abused in boarding schools in Canada.

Ward’s story quotes the Web site, HiddenFromHistory.org: “Aboriginal elders from Canada will offer prayers for their friends and relatives who died or were killed in Catholic Indian residential schools, at the institution in Rome responsible for their death. And they will name Pope Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger, as the one ultimately responsible.”

The Vatican has been adamant in its denials that the Pope bears any personal responsibility in the abuse scandal.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, Colville, HiddenFromHistory.org, Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, St. Mary's Mission, Tamaki Law Firm, Vatican, Yakama

It’s a problem that David Clohessy, national director of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) is trying to bring to light. Clohessy was in Missoula, Mont., yesterday and at the Flathead Indian Reservation the day before, talking about the issue.

“In part, we’re here today to stand up for those who are no longer here to stand up for themselves,” says Clohessy. “But we’re also here to ask people who were abused or who may have seen abuse in Jesuit churches to step forward.”

The urgency, reports Michael Moore in this Missoulian story, is founded in a court order issued in February, when the regional order of Jesuits, called the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, filed bankruptcy.

That province covers Jesuit churches in Montana. Since 2001, Jesuits have paid out more than $25 million to sex-abuse victims. In Montana, two now-dead Jesuit priests – Augustine Feretti and Bernard Harris – who’d already been sued for abuse in other states spent part of their careers in Montana.

“We’ve already found about 15 people on the reservations here in Montana who were abused by Father Feretti,” says Spokane attorney John Allison, who along with Seattle attorney Tim Kosnoff and others represent victims in the Jesuit case.

Kosnoff adds that “the damage done to Indian people by the church is profound.And yet, so many people in the Indian community don’t believe that anything will happen to the church. We’re trying to make sure those people’s voices are heard in this case.” A meeting for victims on the Flathead Reservation will be held this fall, he says.

If you were abused by a Jesuit priest and want to understand your options regarding the bankruptcy, call attorneys Tim Kosnoff and John Allison at 1-888-667-0683.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Augustine Feretti, Bernard Harris, buffalo post, David Clohessy, Flathead Indian Reservation, Native American news, Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests