CINCINNATI OH, Cincinnati Enquirer
BY JOHN JOHNSTON, April 29, 2007

"Examining church sex abuse - Justice promoted, awareness raised at
forum".

David Hoehne still fights an emotional and spiritual battle 27 years
after he was sexually abused by the priest of his Catholic parish.
Hoehne was 12 when it happened. He remembers that the headboard of
the bed where the abuse occurred was against the western wall. The
comforter on the bed was white. He remembers where he sat, where his
molester stood, where the abuser's hand went.

"These memories never leave or fade away," the 39-year-old Akron man
told about 150 people on Saturday at a sexual abuse conference at
Xavier University's Cintas Center.

Issues surrounding the church's sex-abuse crisis won't go away,
either. That was a key message of the daylong conference, titled "A
Gathering for Justice: Sexual Abuse, Secrecy and Healing." It was
presented by the Cincinnati chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a
national organization formed in response to the clergy sex-abuse
scandals.

"It's not just a Catholic issue," said Christi Eisenberg, chairwoman
of Cincinnati Voice of the Faithful. "We want all of society to be
aware of (sexual abuse) and do something about it."

David Hoehne, his wife, Brenda, and his parents, Larry and Ginny
Hoehne, all spoke. But David's talk was particularly emotional.
As a result of the abuse, "I lost my religion. I lost my faith in
God," he said. His first marriage lasted only a year. Hoehne said he
was abused in a rectory of a parish in west-central Ohio,
where his parents still live. He didn't muster the courage to tell
them until 15 years later.

"The thought that a man of God, someone we trusted above all men on
this planet, would hurt my child was almost more than my mind could
grasp," Ginny Hoehne said.

The priest admitted the abuse in 2002 and was permanently removed
from priestly ministry by the Vatican, according to the Archdiocese
of Cincinnati. Hoehne sued the priest, but the case was dismissed.
Hoehne had filed the suit after the statute of limitations had
expired.

Saturday's conference came two weeks after a report was released on
the Roman Catholic Church's child protection reforms. It said the
number of clergy sex-abuse claims received by the nation's Catholic
bishops and religious orders has dropped.There were 1,092 abuse
claims in 2004, 783 in 2005 and 714 in 2006. The vast majority of the
allegations date back decades. The survey, which included nearly all
195 U.S. dioceses and non-geographic districts, was conducted by the
Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown
University. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati says there were 23 abuse
allegations brought forward in 2004; 44 in 2005; and two in 2006.

The Hoehnes want people to know that the anguish of abuse, for them
and for many others, continues. Ginny Hoehne said that "for us,
justice does not mean a monetary settlement, although I believe all
victims are deserving of that. Rather, for us, justice comes in the
form of accountability, truthfulness, openness and financial
transparency from the bishops, cardinals and pope."

Hoehne and other conference speakers said church leaders have been
slow to deal with abusers and make changes to safeguard children. She
criticized church officials for lobbying against a provision in an
Ohio Senate bill last year that would have allowed victims of sexual
abuse to sue their abusers up to 35 years after the offense.

Church officials said it made little sense to reopen decades-old
cases that would be difficult to prove. The provision was dropped
from the bill.

Thomas Doyle, a Dominican priest from Virginia and one of the
conference's keynote speakers, said policy changes that Catholic
bishops have made have come about only because of pressure from
courts, legislatures and the news media.Doyle, co-author of "Sex,
Priests and Secret Codes," also criticized the lack of pastoral
outreach to victims. "A letter that says, 'We're sorry this happened'
does nothing but insult (people)."

Reached at home, Dan Andriacco, the spokesman for the Archdiocese of
Cincinnati, said: "Archbishop (Daniel) Pilarczyk on many occasions
has met with victims who are willing to meet with him. I don't think
we can ever do enough."

One positive thing that's come from the sex-abuse crisis, Doyle said,
is that people are discovering they don't need to rely on an
institution; rather, "the reality (is) that the kingdom of Christ is
within (each of) us."

David Hoehne discovered that. In the years after being abused, he
drifted further from God. But he eventually met Brenda, his second
wife. He's now a stepfather of three. "Although I am no longer
Catholic," he said, "it has been with (my family's) love and support
that I have been able to begin my journey back to God."

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