‘Absolute Power’
"He knew these kids were very vulnerable," said Wall. "He knew they were hungry. He knew they were cold. He knew they had nothing. And he provided food, candy and money, and had his way with them."
In St. Michael it's not difficult to find middle-aged men who can recount experiences of abuse by "Brother Joe," as Lundowski was called. One of them is Stephan Tom, 54. Tom says he will never forget the time Lundowski asked him if he knew about oral sex, and then attacked him. "He grabbed me and threw me on the bed," says Tom. "He unbuckled my pants. I was fighting. I was crying. I told him, 'No! No!'"
Tom Cheemuk remembers Lundowski sternly telling him that he should never speak about what happened, and that no one would believe him, anyway. The boy could scarcely have spoken the truth to Lundowski's superior, Father George Endal, now deceased. The priest was also sexually abusing him, Cheemuk says.
These days Cheemuk concentrates on spending time with his wife and children, trying to heal, trying to stay sober. He still hasn't told his mother about what really happened. She is a village elder and a regular at Sunday mass. Cheemuk doesn't attend mass himself, but he sometimes longs for the church of his childhood, the one that existed before Lundowski and Endal stole his innocence.
"I miss going to church on Christmas," he said. But he cannot go back, not yet. The memories still haunt.
© 2008
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Member Comments
Posted By: eddiewhere @ 02/01/2008 6:15:23 AM
Comment: Comment: Neutering, from the Latin ne??ter (of neither type).
Abusing Eskimos. WOW. The Catholic Church is filled with evil priests who disguise themselves as men of GOD. The Catholic Church needs to let priest get married or people will not trust them. It is obvious that this abuse has been going on for centuries and is institutionalized. This abuse has even spread to the furthest corners of the earth. Not even the eskimos can escape. This is crazy. THey need to "neuter" priests so that they will not commit this horrific crimes against Humanity. If they agree to be selebent then they should be neutered, if not let family men lea d the church and rid it of these sicko's. Sterelizing priest should become law. Neutering, from the Latin ne??ter (of neither type).
THE CHURCH ONLY BANNED pRIEST FROM GETTING MARRIED IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. tHE CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS LOSING LAND TO THE WIDOWS OF pRIEST. uNFORTUNATELY THIS ABUSE IS INTSTITUTIONALIZED AND HAS BEEN GOING ON IN THE VATICAN FOR CENTURIES. thIS IS WHY THEY DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE THE STATUS QUO, THE ARE pART OF IT. IT IS TIME pRIEST ARE ALLOWED TO BE HUMAN. IT IS AGAINST BIOLOGICAL Nature FOR A MAN TO STAY SELEBENT. tHIS IS MADNESS AND IS CAUSING pRIESTS TO ENGAGE IN VULGAR ACTIVITY. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CANNOT BE REFORMED, THEY WILL NOT ALLOW pRIEST TO BE HUMAN, IT IS NOT IN THEIR ECONOMIC INTEREST. THIS IS A FACT.
Posted By: jimcarr60 @ 01/30/2008 5:15:37 PM
Comment: To Mr. Cheemuck, I offer the most heartfelt apology for the wrongs done to you, and the many others, by men clothed in the garb which once stood for charity and safety of the highest order. There is no more heinous sin on earth today. No amount of money, no explanation, no promise to be more cautious, will remove this ugly stain from the Catholic Church. This breaks my heart, since I, too, am a Catholic and believe in the "fullness of truth" that our faith preserves in the name of Christ.
What angers me is any attempt to answer these sins with an explanation meant to dampen the damage done to people and the Faith. The statement that pedophilia was not understood "back then", or the comparisons made of similar behavior performed by other Reigions, or secular groups.
At no time in the history of the Catholic Church could these sins be rationalized. Catholic priests are highly educated in Catholic Morality, Catholic Obediance, the Word of God, and voluntarily accept celibacy as a means of devoting themselves wholly to God and the needs of the Church. At NO moment during their act of molesting, could they EVER think that what they were doing was not a grave sin. Impossible! Unless they were truly out-of their-minds. The fact that they cleverly warned their victims about telling on them, stands as the simplest proof that they were doing something wrong. Saying that all pedophiles act this way is evading the truth of the matter at hand: A Catholic Priest is held to an extremely higher standard, and he knows it - has always known it.
Words fail me in explaining my utter disgust with the whole matter. I want the Bishops and Priests of the Church to beg forgiveness from the world with no strings attached. Admit that in this area, you have failed as Men of God, you have damaged the Church immensely, you have wreaked havoc on the very souls of innocent people and may have been responsible for their hatred of God, and lastly you have sullied the name of God, having Him re-mocked and scourged by a new generation.
Please rise out of this hell you wanted no part of, Mr.Cheemuk. God loves you even more, for He sees what you have suffered from these demons posing as priests. Do not let their stink cling to you anymore, you have "told on the Devil" and God wants to give you a great big hug.
Posted By: joanneroy @ 01/25/2008 9:56:45 AM
Comment: What happened to these innocent children was absolutely heinous and wrong, but lets not forget that all molesters use authority of some sort to lure children. This happens everywhere, not just the Catholic Church. Babysitters misuse their authority, pastors, reverends, priests, boy scout leaders, parents, uncles, etc.... , all use their position of authority to manipulate their victims. The Catholic Church absolutely handled this situation wrong, but lets be real honest here about how most people back then dealt with sexual abuse- they didn't! People sat back in silence and did nothing b/c we don't have the kind of information and resources that we do today. People didn't understand that pedophilia is a disease and more often than not, incurable, so reprimanding and transferring a priest was thought to be enough- clearly wasn't, but again, this was the mindset of that time. The question is, how will the Catholic Church prevent this today and how will those that molest be handled?
Lastly, anyone who believes that allowing priests to be married will cure their pedophilia is just ignorant. This isn't about hormones, this is a sickness and there is no cure.