Diocesan Threats–2003--December 2019
Photo by John Carroll
I met with Monsignor Rohlfs and Patricia Gibson at the Bishop Sheen Center on February 19, 2003, two weeks after Haitian Hearts first and only meeting with Bishop Jenky and the “new Haitian Hearts Committee”. I told them that I still intended to petition for a Catholic Tribunal against OSF. Both of them had been entirely supportive of this idea in 2002 and had dictated notes for me in December regarding this petition. However, at this meeting in Rohlfs office, they told me that if I filed a petition for a Tribunal against OSF, they would go to the media and oppose Haitian Hearts.
I felt that I had just been shot between the eyes. Both of them, leaders of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, were threatening me. I had trusted them. Rohlfs was a neighbor of mine and Gibson–I had confided in her and shown her my private notes in 2002.
After sizing up this situation in Rohlfs office, I told them I was going to walk to the Chancery to make an appointment to see Bishop Jenky and petition for a Tribunal. I figured they could do what they wanted to do with the media–I had no control of that.
I told them I was going to petition for a tribunal court and I left the Sheen Center incredibly dismayed with the leadership of the Peoria Catholic Diocese. The walk to the Chancery was a block away and located right next to the Cathedral.
I had been attempting to speak with Bishop Jenky unsuccessfully for a year. His secretary, Fr. Jason Gray, had been denying me this opportunity. But now on February 19, 2003, Father Gray gave me an appointment for the next day to discuss a tribunal court with the bishop. (I am pretty sure Fr. Gray knew I was on my way.)
Over the next 24 hours, I read as much as I could about Catholic Tribunal Courts and studied the Ethical and Religious Directives of the Catholic Bishops of the United States. I wanted to be prepared for Bishop Jenky and make a good case for a Tribunal against OSF. As it turned out, my preparation was not important.
The next day I arrived at the Chancery and was led upstairs to Bishop Jenky. I noticed his office was kind of dark and he was seated at a table next to Patricia Gibson. And the bishop did not appear happy to see me.
He told me that the day before was the first time he had heard that I wanted to file a petition for a tribunal court against OSF. I thought this was kind of strange because I had been talking to Gibson and Rohlfs about it for the previous eight months. And as mentioned, Gibson and Rohlfs even dictated a letter of petition that my brother transcribed in Rohlfs office in December, 2002. I wondered why Bishop Jenky was just now hearing about this?
Bishop Jenky was aware of OSF’s lack of respect for Haiti’s children’s lives as evidenced by Paul Kramer’s call to the American Consulate in Haiti in December 2002. And he was also aware of OSF cutting all funding for Haitian kids surgeries in July 2002. In my opinion, these actions by OSF were in opposition to Catholic social teaching. However, it sure did not appear that Bishop Jenky was interested in hearing about the Ethical and Religious Directives of the Catholic Bishops of the United States regarding health care.
At the meeting, I told Bishop Jenky about my concerns with activities at OSF, including slowing down surgeries for very sick Haitian kids, and Keith Steffen’s comments about me in his office at OSF. And when I told Bishop Jenky specifics, he was livid. I asked Bishop Jenky what he would think if the same things were said about him. His eyes were very big and angry-looking as he replied, “I would be mad as hell”.However, amazingly, Bishop Jenky told me there would be no tribunal court against OSF and that he would not judge against OSF. He told me that he wore the red miter which meant he was in control.
Bishop Jenky said, “OSF is a 1.6 billion dollar industry, Doctor.” It was very clear to me that Bishop Jenky feared the power of OSF in the community. And he wouldn’t listen to me regarding more specifics about what the tribunal court would be about. He just assured me that there would be no tribunal court against OSF.
Bishop Jenky even told me that if I continued to press for a petition for a tribunal court against OSF, and talks with OSF fell apart, then I needed to “return in one year to go to confession for the killing of 18 Haitian children (who were on the list for heart surgery).” When I heard this, I looked at Patrician Gibson across the table. She looked shocked, but she said nothing. I asked the Bishop to repeat what he had said so that I could write it down. So he repeated it almost verbatim and I wrote it down.
I think he knew then that he would be the one withdrawing support from the Haitian kids, but he needed someone to blame. He said several times, “This is not going to work…” meaning his involvement with Haitian Hearts.
I left the Chancery that day completely dejected, but it was another good learning experience for me regarding the corporate Catholic Church. I knew the Diocese of Peoria had helped and sanctioned OSF’s oral contraceptive policy and OSF-HealthPlans oral contraceptive and sterilization policies with OSF Corporate Ethicist Joe Piccione a decade before. These policies were set up under Archbishop John Myers which permitted OSF to provide artificial birth control, an action that clearly contradicts church teachings. Bishop Jenky knew all about the OSF contraceptive policy but was not going to challenge them.
Why were these policies allowed at OSF? Because of the money. In the early 90s, OSF was worried they would lose patients and important preferred provider agreements if they didn’t allow OSF physicians to prescribe oral contraceptives from their OSF offices. OSF had needed the Diocesan approval to allow contraceptives at OSF. And OSF probably helped the Diocese in return.
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Denouement and Learning Points–2019
A tribunal is a “search for the truth. I was seeking Bishop Jenky’s intervention for a moral and honest discussion with those involved. The truth would be discovered and justice would be served. I did not think that OSF had much of a chance in a court like this that would seek the truth. Unfortunately, Bishop Jenky refused to intercede. Catholic Canon Law would not be used to seek the truth.
When I left the chancery in February 2003, I felt really let down. It seemed Bishop Jenky already had his mind made up even before I had this appointment with him. I could tell from the beginning of the meeting that he was not going to listen to me. I know his responsibilities are huge and that the Catholic Church was never meant to be a democracy, but I expected him to honestly consider what I was saying regarding a church tribunal against OSF, especially since Monsignor Rohlfs and Patricia Gibson had been very open to the idea for many months prior to my meeting with Bishop Jenky. Bishop Jenky told me in his office that he would not rule against OSF. It was over.
I was getting an unwanted glimpse into the Catholic Church’s handling of the clergy abuse problem. I thought of all the Catholic moms across the United States who had gone to their bishops concerned about inappropriate behavior by their parish priests since the 1950s. I also thought of how they were not listened to or may have been turned away by their Diocese when they tried to register a complaint. I had been turned away for over a year for an appointment with Bishop Jenky. And then once I got the meeting with him, he would hardly listen and then told me that I needed to go to confession to him if my Haitian kids had a bad outcome.
Rohfls told me in person, "You have nothing cold on them (AMT)." He told me this because both he and Bishop Jenky were afraid to take OSF to task for their support for AMT. I met with both Rohlfs and Patricia Gibson in Rohfls office the day before I met with Bishop Jenky. In the meeting with Rohlfs and Gibson, Rohlfs told me that he would go to the media against Haitian Hearts if I had a tribunal court against OSF.
John A. Carroll, MD
www.haitianhearts.org
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