Letter to Bishop Brandt
In undertaking these steps, you will finally comply with the dictates of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Thereby, you can make some atonement for your lamentable, and inexplicable failure to act in the past; thereby putting vulnerable persons in the gravest of potential harm. To bring matters into perspective, in light of the scandal surrounding Penn. State, and Jerry Sandusky, your negligence is indefensible, and completely unacceptable. Your scandalous failures bring the episcopate, and the entire Catholic Church in Pennsylvania into significant but legitimate disrepute. — James Carr to Bishop Brandt
February 13, 2013
Letter to Bishop Brandt
The Most Rev. Lawrence E. Brandt
Bishop of the R.C. Diocese of Greensburg
723 E. Pittsburgh St.
Greensburg, PA 15601
United States of America.
Bishop Brandt,
The intent of this letter to you, as the Bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg, is to render ever more public your egregious negligence, i.e., your lamentable failure to remove the priestly faculties of Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki O.S.B., [hereinafter Archabbot Nowicki] Ordinary of the Archabbey of St. Vincent; thus, preventing him to function as a Roman Catholic priest in good standing within your canonical territory. Wilfully you continue to let this recidivist to minister as a priest with impunity.
The following facts are not in dispute: a complaint alleging multiple acts of serious sexual misconduct was made against Archabbot Nowicki, by a young monk at the Archabbey. When the complaint was being investigated, Archabbot Nowicki, did not step aside; nor were his priestly faculties to function as a priest within the Diocese of Greensburg suspended at any time.
Furthermore, no public statement was personally made by you and/or by the Diocese of Greensburg with respect to Archabbot Nowicki, when: a) the complaint was first made; b) when it was being investigated; c) when the late pæderastic Abbot Timothy Kelly “exonerated” Archabbot Nowicki; d) when the complaint was delated to the Congregation for Religious in Rome.
Attached, is a copy of the registered letter, sent to the diocesan offices of the Diocese of Greensburg, copied to some of the most senior figures in positions of real authority within the Roman Catholic Church. The contents of Mr. Marker’s letter raises serious questions with respect to the Diocese of Greensburg, which still need to be addressed by you, several months later.
In light of the said letter, the following questions now demand serious answers:
1. Why was no public announcement made by you as the Bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg, when the allegations against Archabbot Nowicki first emerged?
2. Why were Archabbot Nowicki’s priestly faculties to minister within the Diocese not withdrawn by a Decree, signed by you, as the Bishop, in accordance to Canon Law; in a public manner as required?
3. Which official within the Diocese exempted Archabbot Nowicki from the provisions of the Norms of the Dallas Charter within the Diocese of Greensburg, in so far as they are applicable to its canonical territory?
4. When the allegations against Archabbot Nowicki were delated to the Congregation for Institute of Consecrated Life and Societies of the Apostolic Life, in Rome, why did you not then remove the priestly faculties of Archabbot Nowicki to minister within the Diocese?
5. Did the aforesaid Congregation write to you formally, as is their practise, requesting information for the canonical investigation into the allegations? If they did, based on their correspondence; why did you not then suspend the priestly faculties of Archabbot Nowicki?
6. When you became aware of the allegations, given the extremely high-profile nature of the Archabbot, did you contact Archabbot Nowicki directly, suggesting that until the matter was resolved, that it would be prudent, (along with suggesting for the greater good of the Church), that he [Archabbot Nowicki] step aside, until a public declaration of exoneration was made, in the form of a Decree, to be published, signed by the officials from the Congregation in Rome?
7. When you became aware of these serious allegations, against Archabbot Nowicki, did YOU contact the Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, since Archabbot Nowicki sits as a member of the Board of Directors of the Extra Mile Foundation, an ostensibly Catholic charity that provides assistance to disadvantaged minors, with a registered address at the Chancery offices of the Diocese of Pittsburgh? Given the allegations of assault, that is, the pinching and the repeated inappropriate touching, alleged by the complainant; did these most serious allegations, not merit an investigation, as a potential child-protection matter? Respectfully, it is suggested, that it would have been the prudent, and the required course of action to have followed, and if you, did not, do so, how do YOU justify, now, YOUR inaction?
Bishop Brandt, even the most cursory reading of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, along with a careful reading of the Norms of the Dallas Charter, make it patently evident that these most basic actions are required. Given your doctoral degree in Canon Law, these oversights evidence, the worst kind of ineptitude, unparalleled incompetence, along with an abhorrent failure of pastoral governance, which is ultimately attributable to YOU as the incumbent Bishop of the Diocese.
Therefore, in light of the actions of H.E. Archbishop José H. Gomez, Ordinary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, with respect to H.E. Roger Cardinal Mahony, you are invited, for the greater good of the Church, to follow his example, and undertake the following as required by Canon Law.
Finally, albeit very late: make a public statement about this matter; issue a Decree suspending the priestly faculties of Archabbot Nowicki in the Diocese of Greensburg; supplicate the Congregation for Religious to commence an Apostolic Visitation of the Archabbey of Saint Vincent to investigate these matters; then explain to the public officials in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, your indefensible negligence.
In undertaking these steps, you will finally comply with the dictates of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Thereby, you can make some atonement for your lamentable, and inexplicable failure to act in the past; thereby putting vulnerable persons in the gravest of potential harm. To bring matters into perspective, in light of the scandal surrounding Penn. State, and Jerry Sandusky, your negligence is indefensible, and completely unacceptable. Your scandalous failures bring the episcopate, and the entire Catholic Church in Pennsylvania into significant but legitimate disrepute. You should resign in shame and/or retire IMMEDIATELY.
Respectfully,
_______________________
James Carr
CC:
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, State Governor, Thomas W. “Tom” Corbett.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Attorney General, Kathleen G. Kane.
H.E. Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Cardinal Bertone, S.D.B.
H.E. João Cardinal Bráz de Aviz.
H.E. Marc Cardinal Ouellet, P.S.S.
H.E. Archbishop Gerhard L. Müller.
H.E. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.
Enclosures:
1. Mr. Patrick Marker’s letter to Monsignor Persico, now the Roman Catholic Bishop of Erie, PA. (Copy)
2. Redacted statement outlining Archabbot Nowicki’s alleged sexual misconduct, and supporting the letter from the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious, acknowledging receipt of the canonical denunciation (complaint), certificated by a Notary Public. (Copy).
3. Pages from the Abbot Timothy Kelly lawsuit filed in Minnesota outlining the alleged sexual molestation by Abbot Kelly of an altar boy. (Copy).
4. E-mail received by Mr. James Carr from “Purple”.
5. “Cease and Desist” e-mail to Mr. James Carr, from Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney P.C., as a result of Mr. Carr, disseminating electronically the allegations of Archabbot Nowicki’s alleged sexual misconduct for the protection of young children, and other vulnerable persons. (Copy)
