The recent promotion of Bishop McElroy from San Diego to the cardinalate has led a clergy sexual abuse victim to tell her story about how the Diocese of San Diego has done little to help her.
There is rarely, if ever, any true concern shown for the victim; sometimes counseling is offered but more often as a way to appease than to help the victim. It can take decades for a victim even to begin to seek justice for the abuser. And most often it is done out of a concern to prevent the abuser from continuing to abuse. They also need to face being triggered by reports of abuse similar to theirs and sometimes need to deal with reemergence in the news of their own case.
Bertrand ultimately confessed to abusing Mastrogiacomo and was convicted of ritual rape. Sign up to get Crisis articles delivered to your inbox daily. Recently, Rachel learned that Bertrand, despite being a registered predatory offender, is a part of a Bible study in an evangelical church where he has contact with vulnerable individuals. That, of course, has terribly shaken her and has led her to consider what more she must do to protect the vulnerable.
Clearly, the Diocese of San Diego is not monitoring Bertrand for who knows what reasonβindifference to abuse? Fear that Bertrand could expose more of the corruption in the diocese if he is reined in? Sadly, the least objectionable explanation would be neglect; but it would be criminal neglect. What triggers Rachel now and provokes revictimization is the promotion of Bishop McElroy from San Diego to the cardinalate, for he failed to act when she reported Bertrand to the diocese and is failing to protect the vulnerable from Bertrand.
A rather full accounting of the abuse she experienced although some of the most disturbing details are omitted is available in an article on Crux. It is a must read. Here, I am interviewing Rachel about the absurdly difficult steps she needed to take to get some modicum of justice regarding her abuse, about the ongoing trauma she experiences from the mishandling of her case, and about the failure of the diocese to monitor convicted ex-priest Jacob Bertrand.
