Letter to Dr. Sturdivant
Given that the following were recipients of the email, any attempt by those named forthwith defending their failure to act is churlish and completely unacceptable. Four Local Roman Catholic Bishops: Brandt, Zubik, Waltershield, and Persico, now the Bishop of Erie; the Catholic Bishop of Richmond, Virgina, was also was a recipient, along with those specifically charged with the protection of children by a number of dioceses in the State of Pennsylvania. – James Carr to Dr. Marcia Sturdivant
View as a PDF… Here
Letter to Dr. Sturdivant
13th February 2013
Dr. Marcia M. Sturdivant, Ph.D.
Human Services Building
One Smithfield Street, Suite 400
Pittsburgh, PA 15222-2221
United States of America.
Ref: The Rt. Rev. Douglas R. Nowicki.
Extra Mile Foundation, Pittsburgh.
(Allegations of Serious Sexual Misconduct)
Dear Dr. Sturdivant,
The undersigned writes to apprise you of a matter concerning child protection within the City of Pittsburgh. Attached, are copies of notarised documents, outlining alleged serious sexual misconduct made by a complainant against Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, the Chancellor of St. Vincent College, Latrobe. This office will note the alleged pinching of the young man’s buttock, which satisfies the legal definition of an assault within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, along with the other extremely serious boundary violations.
Please be advised by virtue of the said act of Notarisation, in accordance with the civil procedure rules governing the admissibility of evidence in any court within the jurisdiction of England and Wales the following is pertinent: “All notarial acts and instruments may be received in evidence without further proof as being duly authenticated in accordance with the requirements of law unless the contrary is proved.”
Egregiously, these allegations have been repeatedly brought to the attention of Roman Catholic Church officials, who have ignored, and continue to do so, this complaint with an alacrity that can only be described as alarming, with the most notable being the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg, Lawrence E. Brandt. Please note the comprehensive list of Church recipients that Archabbot Nowicki’s misconduct was communicated to via e-mail. Please be also advised some recipients have received similar communications in hardcopy about Archabbot Nowicki’s misconduct.
Extra Mile Foundation – Board of Directors.
At the time of writing, Archabbot Nowicki is a member of the Board of Directors, of the Extra Mile Foundation, which is an ostensibly, a charitable organisation run under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church. It must be noted that the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, the Most Rev. David A. Zubik is also a member of the Board of Directors, with the registered offices of the said foundation, located at the same registered address as the Diocese of Pittsburgh, 111 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15222-161.
The undersigned is mindful that the one of the responsibilities of this department is the protection of the young and vulnerable, which is purportedly, also the responsibility of certain officials within the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Therefore, it is inexplicable that the competent Catholic Church officials in Pittsburgh, charged with the protection of the young and vulnerable have not requested that Archabbot Nowicki resign/step down as a member of the Board of Directors of the Extra Mile Foundation, nor have they made a statement as required. By virtue of the attached email, serious questions now emerge about child protection within the Diocese of Pittsburgh, which need to be addressed personally to Bishop Zubik. Some pertinent questions to be asked are outlined forthwith:
• When the Diocese of Pittsburgh became aware of these serious allegations, against Archabbot Nowicki, why did it not seek the direct involvement of state officials, to ensure compliance with local/federal safeguarding procedures mandated by law, since Archabbot Nowicki is the director of a charity involving the provision of financial welfare to minors under the auspices of the Church?
• Why were the schools/ parents/guardians of children receiving support from the Extra Mile Foundation not notified about Nowicki’s misconduct? 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 thing to do, and how does the Diocese of Pittsburgh now justify its egregious negligence?
Even the most cursory reading of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, along with a careful reading of the Norms of the Dallas Charter, read contiguously with the State law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it should have been evident that these most basic actions were required, but were contumaciously ignored, displaying a callous disregard for the safety and well-being of children and other vulnerable persons.
Failure of the Executive Director.
What is even more incredulous – the current Executive Director of this Foundation, Mr. Ambrose Murray, has been contacted on a number of occasions about these matters, and who wilfully refused to address these most serious allegations, despite a survivor of clerical sexual misconduct, Mr. Patrick J. Marker, personally hand delivering a letter containing certain documents outlining the allegations of Archabbot Nowicki’s sexual misconduct, to the office of the said foundation on Monday August 27, 2012. This department is respectfully advised that Mr. Marker, on Tuesday, August 28, 2012, spoke via telephone with Ms. Vicky Armstrong, the office manager who acknowledged receipt of [Marker’s] letter at the offices of said foundation.
Failure / Cover-up by Roman Catholic Church Officials.
Therefore, in light of the aforesaid, it has become necessary to contact this department, requesting its immediate intervention in this matter, to insist that Archabbot Nowicki is removed and/or steps down as a member of the Board of Directors of the Extra Mile Foundation for the protection of the young. It is salutary to remind this department that no public statement has ever been made as per Roman Catholic Church guidelines, about Archabbot Nowicki. The Extra Mile Foundation records on its own website, that 800 children – pre-kindergarten through eighth grade benefit from its assistance, with the student beneficiaries predominantly African American. Thus, it’s indefensible that an alleged sexual deviant remains in a position of responsibility with this Foundation, where the young are particularly disadvantaged, and vulnerable to potential predators.
Evidence of an institutional COVER-UP.
Given that the following were recipients of the email, any attempt by those named forthwith defending their failure to act is churlish and completely unacceptable. Four Local Roman Catholic Bishops: Brandt, Zubik, Waltershield, and Persico, now the Bishop of Erie; the Catholic Bishop of Richmond, Virgina, was also was a recipient, along with those specifically charged with the protection of children by a number of dioceses in the State of Pennsylvania.
H.E. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Papal Nuncio (Ambassador of the Holy See) to the United States of America, holds a doctoral degree in civil and canon law, and speaks a number of languages fluently. Repeatedly, he has enjoined American bishops to co-operate with the civil authorities on matters of clerical misconduct. As a recipient of this email, he now stands credibly accused of institutional hypocrisy.
Another recipient is the current Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Religious, the Vatican Dicastery (department) responsible for those who are religious (monks) within the Roman Catholic Church. H.E. João Cardinal Bráz de Aviz, now can also be legitimately credibly accused of doing nothing. Even more seriously, the Secretary (Vice President) of this Congregation, at the time, and a recipient of the email, H.E. Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin C.Ss.R, ironically recently installed as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Indianapolis also did nothing. As an American, and the former Global Head of a large religious Congregation, for a number of years – this Archbishop has no excuse for his failure to act, with said failure being completely egregious.
But the strongest criticism must be addressed at Monsignor Charles J. Scicluna, recently appointed as an auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Malta. Repeatedly, he has publicly stated that bishops must cooperate with the civil authorities. He has stated :[it’s]”simply not acceptable” for bishops to fail to act when reports of abuse surface, and that “we need to use the tools that canonical law and tradition give us for the accountability of bishops.”
Moreover, during a conference in Rome during the course of 2012, he promised tough canonical penalties against bishops who do not co-operate to ensure the safety of children. Evidently, these were completely platitudinous words without substance or foundation, as is evidenced by the contumaciousness of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in not following the Norms of laid down by the Church.
Regrettably, all the aforesaid evidences the most serious, sustained, deliberate COVER-UP, undertaken with an alacrity that can only be described as alarming.
Complainant’s Canonical Denunciation of Archabbot Nowicki.
Said denunciation to the competent Vatican Dicastery is nascent from the cover-up that characterised the original canonical investigation of the allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against Archabbot Nowicki. Said cover-up involved: suppression/destruction of key evidence; subjugation of key witnesses, and other serious procedural errors too numerous to be outlined within this letter. It must be noted that the original investigation, and exoneration of Archabbot Nowicki was conducted by Abbot Timothy Kelly, now subject to a posthumous lawsuit for the sexual molestation of an altar boy in the U.S. District Court in the State of Minnesota. Some pages from said lawsuit are enclosed.
Rev. Fr. Mark Gruber O.S.B.
During the original investigation, Archabbot Nowicki, spuriously claimed that the complainant, a former professed Junior monk of St. Vincent Archabbey was put up to making this allegation by a certain Rev. Prof. Mark Gruber, a trenchant critic of the management of St. Vincent College, and subsequently accused by Nowicki of downloading and viewing pornography on a St. Vincent College computer. Inconveniently for Archabbot Nowicki, the said former Junior monk spoke at length to two Professors at St. Vincent College, seeking their sagacious counsel about what to do, and how to handle the episodes of the Archabbot’s sexual harassment towards his person. It is indubitably noteworthy that these conversations took place long before the Rev. Prof. Gruber saga at St Vincent College. Hence, it is very important not to conflate these two completely separate issues.
Chair of the Extra Mile Foundation.
It is expedient to remind this department that the Chair of the Extra Mile Foundation, Mr. J. Christopher Donahue, is also the Chair of the Board Of Directors of St. Vincent College, Latrobe. Additionally, another member of the Board of Directors of said Foundation, Mr. Arthur J. Rooney, II, President of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has deep associations with St. Vincent College, as the “Steelers Training Camp” camp is located there each year. Egregiously, the said Mr. Rooney turned a blind eye to Archabbot Nowicki’s misconduct by refusing to cancel the Steelers summer camp, when allegations of Archabbot Nowicki’s misconduct were brought to his personal attention during the summer of 2012.
ACTION To Be Taken by This Department.
Therefore, it is respectfully suggested to this department that an immediate INDEPENDENT investigation needs to be commenced into child protection at the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and the Extra Mile Foundation. Due to the significant influence of these two gentlemen (Donahue/Rooney) in Pittsburgh society, it is even more urgent that these allegations are rigorously investigated in an independent, impartial manner and without pressured bias by a “neutral outsider” from this department for the protection of young and vulnerable children.
Finally, it is instructive to inform this department that Archabbot Nowicki’s mentor, the now retired but infamous Roman Catholic Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert G. Weakland, in a deposition, under oath acknowledged routinely shredding allegations of sexual misconduct brought to his attention by recidivist clergy in his Archdiocese, with the said Archbishop then stealing $450,000 of church funds to buy the silence of his homosexual lover.
Dr. Sturdivant, I thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
_______________________
James Carr
CC:
Mayor of Pittsburgh, Luke R. Ravenstahl.
Pennsylvania State Governor, Thomas W. “Tom” Corbett.
Pennsylvania Attorney General, Kathleen G. Kane.
H.E. Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Cardinal Bertone, S.D.B., Secretariat of State, Vatican.
Enclosures:
1. Mr. James Carr’s e-mail to the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, copied to senior Catholic Church officials, in Rome, and those tasked with child protection for the Church in the State of Pennsylvania. (Copy).
2. Mr. Patrick Marker’s letter to Monsignor Persico, now the Roman Catholic, Bishop of Erie, PA. (Copy).
3. Redacted statement outlining Archabbot Nowicki’s alleged sexual misconduct, and supporting letter from the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious, acknowledging receipt of the canonical denunciation (complaint), certificated by a Notary Public. (Copy).
4. Mr. Patrick Marker’s letter to Mr. Arthur J. Rooney, II., President Pittsburgh Steelers. (Copy).
5. Response from Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney P.C., attorneys for the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Copy).
6. Pages from the Abbot Timothy Kelly lawsuit filed in Minnesota outlining the alleged sexual molestation of an altar boy. (Copy).
7. E-mail received by James Carr from “Purple”. (Copy).
8. “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).
