Monday, November 30, 2009

Nathan Halbach son of Catholic Priest dies at 22

NYT. story in today's paper is heart breaking .This young man result of liaison of a priest and a naive woman in love has touched many a lives and put the light on secretive society of catholic priest and their leaders.This young man of 22 died of brain cancer.He did not have company or love of his father .Church by proxy treated it as a one night stand for the priest and made deal to pay minimal support to the child and no more.No investment of church and two lives broken apart (this boy and his mother).This preacher continued to work in other parishes and abused other girls(some of them minors).Thanks to NYT(new york times) story last year he was finally removed as it became public that one of his liaisons was minor girl.This priest has also asked women to have abort his child.Shame on church and these priests for hypocrisy.

We know priests are human with all the frailties of them .They are supposed to be role models and protectors of morals among us.Church is supposed to supervise its employees and protect its adherents from abuse.Because secrecy church has failed in both .It has come to light that many abusing priests were reshuffled in parishes and they continued their abuse.

It is sad that any redress has come through courts not better supervision by the church.I know a friend whose policeman son had committed suicide and my friend has never forgiven the church for the abuse of his son(sexual abuse)by this priest who is in jail and has been charged with abusing many boys.His was a god fearing church going family who had made church as important part of their life.

How callously they treat their adherents is shame. No wonder more people are finding it repugnant to join organised church.Our society is loosing the benefits of fellowship and a sense of belonging. our children are victims and loose the feelings which bound us to each other in community and village.

3 comments:

  1. Nate did not die quietly... he and his mom broke their gag order by the church, and they spoke their truth..

    I cry for Pat, his mom, she has been so alone with this... Nate's dad was a deadbeat dad, who was a priest..

    Nate's mom raised him well. I admire her..

    Judy Jones, SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.. 636-433-2511

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  2. Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915 home)

    In the short time I was privileged to know Nate, it was clear that he was a special young man wounded yet filled with kindness. Despite his pain both physical and emotional there wasn’t an ounce of bitterness in him. Fully aware of his deteriorating health, he talked of his plight openly but never complained. I’m sure in some ways, he was a typical young man. I, however, saw an extraordinarily mature, sensitive and caring young man whose compassion for others shone like a fresh full moon on a cloudless night.

    We call on the Catholic hierarchy to honor its commitment to pay for Nate’s funeral. We also hope church officials will provide counseling to his family and will permanently remove Fr. Willenborg from ministry while actively reaching out to others whom he hurt, especially those who are suffering, as Nate and his family did for so many years, in isolation and silence.

    Nate broke his silence in large part because he wanted to stop Willenborg and his supervisors from causing more pain and because he wanted those who were already hurt to know they weren’t alone. We share his wishes and again urge anyone who saw, suspected or suffered Willenborg’s crimes and misdeeds to come forward, get help, call police, protect others and start healing.

    (SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nations oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 21 years and have more than 9,000 members across the country. Despite the word priest in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

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  3. Thanks Judy Jones,
    i am glad people like you were part of Nate's life.They say sorrows become lessor by sharing .I hope your grieving and me blogging will give peace to Nates mom Pat.Pat has shown a great courage and love for her son.Thanks for letting me know that i am not alone in the wilderness talking about these issues .
    with nice thoughts.
    kul bhushan

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