From today's Spokesman-Review story, written by John Stucke:

"A gun-wielding man walked onto the Gonzaga University campus one night in 1950 threatening to kill a Jesuit priest named Michael Toulouse. The university president and another priest stopped him before he could fire a shot at Toulouse for sexually assaulting his 14-year-old son, according to sworn statements filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Gonzaga and Jesuit leaders soon moved Toulouse out of town, those documents say.

"Toulouse, who died in 1976 and is buried at Spokane's Mount St. Michael Cemetery, was a popular teacher at Gonzaga High School – now called Gonzaga Preparatory School – and lived in the Jesuit house at St. Aloysius on the university campus. He taught some of the best and brightest boys and was an early critic of an education system he claimed focused on achieving mediocrity rather than rewarding intellect. His classes were free-form and unpredictable, according to press accounts from 1948. Toulouse was brilliant; a psychologist, teacher and mentor. And a pedophile.

"He would ask altar boys to awaken him before mass at St. Aloysius Church in the mornings, according to the lawsuit. Sometimes he would sexually assault them, swear them to secrecy and buy their silence with cash left on his dresser."
Read the rest

Diarmuid O”Murchu will be speaking on “Revisioning the Divine in Creation’s Story” tomorrow evening (Tuesday,September 26) at 7:30 in the Globe Room at Cataldo across from St. Al’s on Gonzaga’s campus.

The talk is sponsored by the Benedictine Sisters at the Monastery of St. Gertrude, the Sisters of Providence and Gonzaga university’s department of religious studies. There is a $15 fee to attend.

Diamuid O’Murchu is a prominent theologian in creation spirituality tying together new ideas in the sciences to spiritual thought and practice. It promises to be a very thought-provoking presentation.

Just returned from a three-day reunion in San Diego with the 1975-1976 Gonzaga-in-Florence group. There were about 90 of us there that year, many from GU but many, too, from other schools throughout the country.

About 30 showed for the reunion. We meet every five years and it is the most profound reunion I attend. We experienced so much together at 19 and 20, and Italy was not as Disneylandized as it is now. We didn't have e-mail or cell phones and calls home were rare and very expensive. So we had each other.

This reunion we are 50 and 51, and real life issues are catching up. Two of our classmates have died. At least four that we know of have battled cancer. We know of at least one who has lost a spouse. Almost all of us have lost a parent.

Everyone has struggled with something hard -- addiction or infertility or emotional illness or children with disabilities. Some divorces. Some dreams that faded and died.

We laughed. We drank good wine. We ate good food. But mostly, we talked. And the conversations got deep quite quickly. It's an amazing group, my "community across time." Or, as one put it, "our school of the heart."

No matter where they came from, they had all read the story of Father Leary's dark past, though none of us were yet at GU when he was president. The story made the front pages of many newspapers throughout the country.

But here is the irony for me: Leary is the man who had the vision for a Gonzaga in Florence. He started it up. If he hadn't, none of us would have traveled there our junior year, met one another, bonded so deeply and for so long.

So, as I'm learning over and over again, people who do very bad things to others are also capable of creating things that lead to good for others. Does one negate the other?

We discussed this irony, a bit, but none of us raised our glasses to Leary, that's for sure.

Correction to story below from our Thursday accuracy watch:

Gonzaga University was not sued, nor did it settle a suit, over allegations of sexual misconduct and assault involving a Jesuit professor at the school. The suit was filed against the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus. Due to a reporter's error, a story Wednesday incorrectly stated the university was the defendant.

From Shawn Vestal's story Wednesday:

"A Jesuit professor at Gonzaga University accused of making sexual advances and assaulting a seminarian in a civil lawsuit that was settled by the university has returned as a professor at the school.

"The return of political science professor Michael Treleaven came during the same recent period when the university announced that its former president, John Leary, had abused young boys. It has caused some to question whether GU is taking aggressive action against current misconduct, even as it acknowledges crimes from the past.

"I think it's just part of the pattern of lies and deceit from the Catholic Church about the activities of its priests," said Michael Willing, the former seminarian who sued the school. "I think it's deplorable."

"John Whitney, the provincial superior of the Oregon Society of Jesus, said in an interview with The Spokesman-Review on Sept. 8 that the allegations involving Treleaven were not as serious as Leary's abuse of young boys.

"Michael Treleaven has never been accused of any misconduct with minors," Whitney said. "I think it's very different than what we're talking about with Leary."

"Whitney described the incident as an "adult-adult thing, where there was a pass made and rebuffed."

Kathleen Parker, a conservative syndicated columnist, had an interesting take on the pope controversy.
I don't often agree with Parker, but I think this line summarized an interesting dynamic as Europe becomes more and more secular.

She wrote:
"Contrary to what fanatics have insisted, the pope was as critical of the West as of Islam, if not more so. While Islam suffers faith without reason, he said, Western culture suffers from reason without faith."
Read it all

I got this very interesting e-mail from Don Jensen who now lives in Seattle. He wrote:

"I was student body president at Gonzaga in 1968-69 when Jack Leary was university president, and then resigned. And another part of the story, is that the student body shut the school down over his resignation...and held a day of meetings exploring what was happening to the university....demanded that the Bishop, and the Jesuit Rector, and the head of the Board of Trustees speak, and explain what was going on.

"It was called "The Day of Affirmation" as I recall (who knows why today) and it was big news in Spokane( probably in the SR from those days)....and very apt for the times.

"They all came to our meeting in the Kennedy Pavilion and spoke earnestly to us about the direction of the University, and denying that this was anything but Leary being tired and ill. It was of course kind of silly in retrospect...since our concern that the University had fired Leary because he was too liberal was not the real story.

"I was invited back to campus to speak a few years later( 1973 or so) and was told by one of the Jesuits what the real story was. It seemed it was generally known at that time."

From National Catholic Reporter's John Allen:

"As Benedict XVI's apology on Sunday plays to mixed reviews, a consensus seems to be emerging around three conclusions about the firestorm triggered last week when the pope quoted a 14th century text asserting that Mohammed brought "things only evil and inhuman":

"In his Sept. 12 lecture at the University of Regensburg, Benedict did not intend to take a swipe at Islam. If he intended to criticize anyone, it was Western intellectuals and their tendency to separate reason from religious faith.
From a communications point of view, his use of language was at best risky, and arguably ill-advised.

"This crisis aside, Benedict does have a more hawkish approach to Islam than Pope John Paul II, and that promises further delicate moments ahead.
Read the rest

Catholicism for a New Millennium will be holding its next lecture for the Fall this Thursday, September 21 at 7:30 pm in the Globe Room of Cataldo across from St. Al’s church.

The talk is entitled “the Da Vinci Phenomenon-- and what it can teach us about ourselves.”

The talk will be given by Tim Clancy S.J., associate professor of Philosophy at Gonzaga and pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic church.

Here is a brief teaser:

The Da Vinci Code has indeed been a phenomenon. In the three years since its publication it has sold 60 million copies in 44 languages, making it already the best selling novel of all time. It has also spawned a cottage industry of books and videos seeking to answer the many questions it has raised in readers’ minds. It has also evoked intense criticism. It has been condemned as “deception”a “hoax” “blasphemy” “sacrilege”.

The talk will address the question of what lies behind such unprecedented popularity and hostility. What has the Da Vinci Code tapped into? What does it have to teach us about ourselves in the new millennium? In particular the talk looks at the appeal of conspiracy theories, the fragmentation and polarization endemic to modern life, and the fear that we have lost touch with nature, both our own and that of the wider world.

In our parish bulletin at St. Al's on Sunday, the survey results were announced. Parishioners were asked if they would donate to a settlement for abuse survivors.

"The results are still being compiled but the preliminary figure show 40 percent willing to contribute to the diocesan bankruptcy settlement and 60 percent saying no."

The 40 percent figure seemed high to me, because I have heard so many Catholics insist they wouldn't contribute.

I appreciate pastoral administrator Don Weber's openness on this, especially his last line in the notice: "Let us remember that our primary goal is always to seek healing for victims of sexual abuse."

It's been a week since it broke, but the Leary story won't go away. I've been flooded with e-mails from Catholics who want to just express their thoughts and deep feelings about it. Some knew Leary. Most did not.

And this afternoon, Nicholas K. Geranios of the Associated Press reported this bizarre development:

"Advocates for people abused by Catholic priests are demanding that the Northwest leader of the Jesuits take a lie detector test regarding his knowledge of past abuse by the former president of Gonzaga University.

"Victims’ groups doubt that abuse by the late Rev. John Leary that was revealed last week was only recently discovered in Jesuit files.

“How can the Jesuits settle cases involving Leary but claim they have never read his file? It defies common sense,” said Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

"But the Rev. John D. Whitney of Portland, Ore., leader of the Oregon Province of Jesuits, declined the demand."
Read the rest

The Leary revelations continue to evoke lots of emotional reaction. I've mostly heard from older Catholics who knew Leary. Some feel betrayed that they never suspected he might have another side to him that wasn't so great. Others are angry at the paper for dredging up old stuff.

An 84-year-old Jesuit priest, visiting in Spokane but not from here, left me the following voicemail message which I think sheds light on Catholic and secular culture in 1969, when Leary was caught abusing young men and told to get out of Spokane or be arrested.

The 84-year-old priest said:

"Leary was not a bad man. He was a very good man. He was very talented. He made mistakes. You're talking about things that happened 30 years ago in terms of today's advanced pyschology and insights into this kind of thing.

"Back in those days, it was the policy from presidents to popes to senators not to talk about things like that. Hiding and keeping secrets was the policy. That was something a person had to who had any information like this.

"It was against the rules of civility to reveal the escapades of presidents and priests and bishops. That was the policy.

"We didn't have the norms that we do at the present time. When you talk about concealing things, that didn't even apply in those days. You couldn't do anything else. No one was trying to cover up anything."

I have more thoughts to post on this, but wanted to get my column on Leary up now on this blog.

Read it here.

At St. Al's yesterday, we were all asked to fill out a survey at the end of Mass. Supposedly, parishioners throughout the diocese are being given similar surveys to see how much willingness there is for parishioners to contribute to a settlement.

Will be interesting to see the response.

We were asked:
1) "What is your current yearly giving range?"
2) This yes or no question:
"Would you be willing to personally donate towards the settlement of the diocesan bankruptcy?"

3)"In addition to your parish giving what range would you be willing to donate each year for the next four years to assist with the settlement?
4) This yes or no question:
"Would you be interested in attending a parish meeting to discuss these issues?"

From today's Spokesman-Review, written by John Stucke and Benjamin Shors:

"In 1969, amid fresh allegations that the president of Gonzaga University had sexually abused young boys, the university, the Spokane Police Department and Jesuit hierarchy orchestrated a stunning cover-up that preserved the reputation of the institution and a man revered as a leader in Spokane.

"Spokane police ordered the Rev. John P. Leary to leave town within 24 hours or face arrest in April 1969. It was an offer that Leary's superiors at the time accepted.

"I can only surmise that fear of scandal and of harm to Gonzaga University gripped those Jesuits, and led them to accept the offer of civil authorities," the Rev. John D. Whitney, the Jesuits' current provincial superior based in Portland revealed Friday. "Fear, however, is not an adequate excuse and is not consistent with our faith and calling."

The rest

Just in from the Associated Press:

"Former Gonzaga University President John Leary was involved in the sexual abuse of boys and young men in the 1960s, the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus said today.

"The actions of Leary, who died in 1993, were covered up by Jesuit officials and he was transferred to other jobs in the West, said a press release from the Rev. John D. Whitney of Portland, Ore., leader of the Oregon Province.

“While today, stronger safeguards and clearer policies are in place, the Jesuits wish to publicly acknowledge the failures of our history and apologize to those who have suffered,” Whitney said in the release.

"He called the cover-up “uncharacteristic.”

"No details were released on how many people were molested. Whitney planned to meet with reporters later today."

Read it all

I wrote my column today (click here) on how little there was in airports to feed the soul of a traveler. Plenty for the body now.

I suggested expanded chapel services of all faith traditions. This sent me wondering if there was a list anywhere of Mass times in airports that offer Mass. Couldn't find any general list, but I didn't do a long search.

Did find a link to a site that list Mass times all over the world. Click here. But no airport list. If you have one, let me know.

Just back from several days away. Part work. Part vacation. Lots to catch up on. I wanted to ease back into the blog with a gentle story. And here is one, e-mailed to me by Al Rossi, a Spokane attorney.

He wrote:
"I am writing to you is to suggest that you (or someone) do an article on a woman known popularly as "The Rosary Lady."

"I came across her years ago, when I had a broken Rosary. I suppose I could have done so, but it didn't occur to me to go to a jeweler to have it fixed. I went instead to Kaufer's thinking that they might have a suggestion. The woman there said "call the 'Rosary Lady'and gave me a phone number.

"It seemed to be a little odd, not to mention a little presumptious, to call a stranger about getting my Rosary beads fixed. But, sure enough, she agreed to pick them up at my office the next day. When she came by the next day, she explained that there was an undisclosed man in St. Thomas Moore Parish who found his calling in fixing Rosary beads.

"If I could part with them for a day or so, she would return them to me, as good as new. I would have been happy to pay to have them repaired, since they had a special sentimental value for me, but she, as you can probably guess, wouldn't hear of it.

"Sure enough, a day or so later, after I came back to my office from court, my receptionist handed my Rosary beads back, along with a second Rosary for my wife, Tami (who at that time was not yet Catholic). She also had either a figurine or a crucifix (I forgot which) that the Rosary lady had given to her for her part in the transaction.

"I never heard from the Rosary lady again. And now I am not sure I could even get in touch with her again.

"Surely I am not alone. The Rosary Lady no doubt touched other people's lives too."

Thanks, Al. Does anyone out there know who The Rosary Lady might be?