The Larry Reuter case from many angles, at Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit:
13 comments:
Anonymous said…
Good and Holy Jesuits.
Please fix this problem.- May 4, 2010 8:18 AM
kate said…
As everybody knows, Jesuits can be so different from each other.
In this case, a later provincial, new in the job, found that an abusive Jesuit who was still in ministry should be removed.
In my case, featured in the NY Times last week, later Jesuit provincials (Missouri) totally messed up, putting an abusive Jesuit BACK in ministry AND violating a legal contract that the first Missouri Jesuit provincial had bound the province to already, including his successors.
Jesuits are so varied. Some are honest. Some lie. Some are good communicators. Some hide. Some deal with people honestly and fairly. Some look for all the excuses they can find. Some want to help. Some want you to go away. Some admit mistakes. Some never will.
- May 4, 2010 1:04 PM
Anonymous said…
Glaringly absent is identification of the sex of the victim…Ad nauseam we read of theses stories. I am convinced that the evil to which these priests fall prey is the result of the death of their spiritual life. Yet nowhere is this mentioned in the saga of evil to which we are daily subjected…
I hope that you are persevering, Kate. I will remember you in my prayers tonight. Be well and trust in His Mercy…
- May 4, 2010 9:56 PM
Maria said…
Kate–Sorry.Above comment was mine.
Maria- May 5, 2010 12:26 AM
Robert Carter said…
During my nine years in Jesuit life (1991-1999), two Jesuits made my life amazingly difficult.
One was Fr. Paul Carrier, who has been removed from public ministry after his ties to sexual abuse in Haiti were made public.
The other was Fr. Larry Reuter, rector of the Loyola Jesuit Community and campus chaplain.
After years of psychological manipulation and feeling an outcast because I failed to conform to their “vision” of the Church, I have been vindicated.
Jesuit provincials – why admit young men into formation when you leave them in the hands of men such as these.
- May 5, 2010 1:43 PM
Jean-Francois Thomas s.j said…
The word sorry is not enough to express what I feel, as a Jesuit, when I read the terrible story of Kate, or the psychological abuse (in Jesuit formation)of Robert… For sure, there is a daily fight between good and evil for every human being, but an institution like the Society of Jesus could have avoided so many failures, sins and crimes in its ranks.Fidelity seems to be a reality of the past or an ideal never real. All Jesuits must take the cross and repent for their own weaknesses and for the ones of their fellow Jesuits. There is no escape if we really want purification. May the Lord bless and console all our victims.
- May 5, 2010 5:17 PM
Joseph Fromm said…
I am speechless.
- May 5, 2010 6:30 PM
Robert Carter said…
Merci, Pere Thomas. Your apology is not necessary, though it is appreciated. May God bless you in your work.
Abuse in the formation process was far too common in the 90’s. Too many men were made to feel outcast because they identified with more conservative & traditional schools of theological thought.
More insidious was the not so subtle attraction some men had to the younger scholastics. Fr. Reuter had his favorites among the scholastics at Loyola Chicago. Having the rector of the community make eyes at you over the dinner table was disconcerting – at best.
I always suspected him of being a “chickenhawk” (a man who is attracted to younger men), but never had enough evidence to prove it – until now.
For the record, I am now married and am quite active in ministry at our parish. My Jesuit formation has not gone to waste.
- May 5, 2010 10:19 PM
Jean-Francois Thomas s.j said…
Dear Mr. Carter, yes indeed it is difficult today for a Jesuit to be so called “conservative” (meaning in fact just faithful to the Church teaching). I entered the novitiate in the 80’s and the problem was widespread. Good you were able to go through and that you did not lose hope and faith, now happily married and serving, loving the Church in another way.But for many years , the same Jesuits who have been ruining many vocations are also the ones who are now involved in many cases of sexual abuses, since all the different kinds of abuse are connected together. Hedonism is too often the center of religious life and personnal sacrifice is put aside. The lack of deep spiritual and sacramental life is at the root of our failures and sins as Jesuits.
Go on with the good life. Be blessed.- May 6, 2010 12:41 AM
Anonymous said…
i knew fr. reuter when i first moved to chicago back in the early 80’s. my own jesuit background from cincinnati st. xavier was deep, with 2 uncles in the society as well.
my faith is not shaken, nor is my affection for the jesuits i have known so well over the years.
however, we must take our medicine and shut up. no mea culpa’s, no hand wringing, no salvation through novena. in my life, i had known several jesuits who were obviously effeminate, but never heard of any impropriety, ever. i had, though, know of homosexuality/pedophelia in camp counselors and athletic coaches. that said…you can call it a lie and you can call it a damn lie, but it’s the same thing. only difference is, obviously, jesuits take vows which transcend contracts signed by coaches and counselors.
i am so disappointed. i have worn my jesuit upbringing on my sleeve my whole life, with fierce pride. it has defined me in my life, and has defined my family for more than 100 years. i am glad my parents and 2 jesuit uncles are not alive to see this.- May 6, 2010 2:10 PM
Anonymous said…
Why did Reuter have so much power at the Jesuit Provincial’s office even after he admitted to sex abuse in 1990? Why was he part of the Jesuit team to investigate “Miconduct” cases and decide the fate of other pedophile priests? Isn’t that like ‘the pot calling the kettle black?’
- May 8, 2010 6:54 AM
Anonymous said…
I just learned of this case from my parents. Having moved to the North Shore in 1978, I spent my senior year at Loyola Academy. As president of LA, Larry Reuter was instrumental in making me feel like I belonged: he introduced me to group of students who lived close to my new house, with whom I quickly became good friends. He encouraged me to help with the school play. I feel lucky to have eanded up–in this year where I was the new guy–in a school where he was in charge.
None of this excuses what appears to have happened in these accusations. But it is possible for a man to have done many good things and, regrettably, a few bad ones.
- May 8, 2010 4:03 PM
Jim Bowman said…
An image to explain it might be Jekyll and Hyde.
- May 8, 2010 10:52 PM
Blithe Spirit 