I was doing some research on the net when I found that one of my favorite columnists for Newsday (in NY), Paul Vitello, has since moved to the New York Times.  In the past and prior to spewing my rantings on The Indy Voice, I would send these aforementioned rants in the form of repeated emails to my favorite columnist.  He was also so kind as to respond to me and its made me reminiscient and somewhat nostalgic for a past life lived in a different state, listening to and reading different perspectives from one of the nicest guys around.  Without further ado I present to you a "letter to Paul Vitello circa 2002."

Mr. Vitello,

Let me begin by stating that I am sorry for having to saddle you with this email but I read your column often, have written to you once before and believe that you will at least understand where I'm coming from.  If you take away anything from this let it be this:  keep up the good work and don't let them up for air.

Every time I see a report concerning another person having been molested by a priest it infuriates me.  I have never been molested myself, not that it is pertinent, but I feel that I have almost a unique view on what should be done with the church.  Let me describe to you how I feel with a  fictional story that I just cannot stop thinking about. 

Today I molested a young boy.  It was no different than the other times I have done this but this time the parents found out.  You see I work in a profession where a lot of young children are around me and parents trust me enough to allow them to be alone with me.  I picked this profession for that very reason.  Not only do the parents trust me with there children but I am so respected that they would never believe I would do anything wrong with their babies. 

I know exactly how I am going to handle this situation; I’m going to do exactly what I’ve done before—nothing.  My superiors will find out and they’ll discipline me by sending me to another location, but this is exactly what I want.  If I was to stay here eventually others might hear about the allegations and they wouldn’t allow me exclusive access to their children, and I can’t have that. 

What makes me giggle about all this is that when I am eventually uncovered, as I’m sure will happen because I’m just insatiable, I’ll just admit to it happening once, hold a press conference explaining what I did and that “I’m sorry” and I’ll just go on with my life.  I still get together with my ex-superiors to reminisce about days past. 

Sound like something all too familiar, huh?  I never once said I was a priest, did I?  What if I was a cop or a day care center worker?  How about if I was a teacher?  No, I never said once that I was any of these things, because if I was a cop, teacher, or any other person but a priest I would be in jail, my superiors, EVERY SINGLE ONE of my superiors, would be in jail had they known and did nothing about it.

What you just read is a fantasy as you and I know it.  Had this been my own true story the screams you would have heard would have been my own, in a maximum security penitentiary because I had just been jumped and gang raped by a bunch of enraged ex-church goers who had been molested and/or understand that you never, EVER, mess with a child, because when you do, your likely to end up in jail with the very likeness of the person you have created by your actions. 

The only press conference I would be holding would be to say no comment due to the pending criminal case.  I wouldn’t be able to smile in public.  I wouldn’t be able to wear the uniform of a respected man in public.  The only uniform I would get to wear would be orange and have numbers on the back of it.  My friends, family, neighbors and co-workers would not be shown on television being interviewed using words like “forgiveness” because they would give respect to the victims and their families, addressing their remarks to them and not concerning themselves with my situation and what I have brought upon myself.  I would be lucky to get a plea bargain and “God forbid” a jury trial. 

Where is the victims and society legal representation in all this?  I call for every DA in every part of the US where an incident like this has taken place to do a FULL investigation.  I don’t care what the League of Sanctimonious large hat wearers are doing, I want to know what my government is doing to protect children where I live.  I want the priest(s) who have committed these crimes arrested.  I want the pastor, bishop, cardinal, even the Pope, arrested and prosecuted as if he did the crime himself, if they allowed this to go on and/or, even worse, facilitated it happening again by moving the individual to another parish.

I don’t know if I missing something here but to the best of my recollection of the separation between church and state I don’t believe that it allows members of the church to commit heinous felonious acts and get away with it.  I don’t care if the victim never presses charges, I want justice and I am outraged, and infuriated that I have not heard of one arrest, one indictment, one conviction.  I want justice.

I know from personal experiences exactly what goes on in the Catholic Church.  I have read about Christ since I was a young boy, if Christ was on this earth now, the church would see a fury the likeness mankind has never known.  Jesus Christ was a man of forgiveness but what these men have allowed to happen to these “innocents” I don’t know if even he could forgive them. 

Mr. Vitello, if you feel even an inkling of what I have stated here please continue writing about these injustices and pressure law enforcement agencies to get off their hands and convict these bastards.

Thanks for listening,

The Indy Voice

For articles by Paul Vitello, click here