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Our Mission Our mission is to help allow the Hand of God to bring a healing touch to St. Peter Church as well as the Universal Catholic Church. This would include members of the parish community as well as the community at large. Healing involves exposing and addressing the wound, not covering it up untouched. Education, awareness, vigilance, and outreach are all methods that can promote healing. Providing an opportunity for people to voice concerns and questions is another important avenue for healing. These are some things we hope to offer on this web site. |
Behind the Name The people behind this web site are Roman Catholics. We believe in the Faith, however we are concerned for the condition and culture of the institutional church that has been conducive to the abuse of thousands of children, many who are now adults with no recourse for the abuse they suffered long ago. We have also learned of many other abuses of power on the part of the hierarchy. We work and pray for accountability, truth, healing, openness, lay input, intervention, compassion, and sincerity by the hierarchy, all clergy and religious, and all lay members. |
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The Child Abuses The abuses of Fr. Mark Campobello happened at a time when St. Peter Parish in Geneva was launching a fundraising campaign in excess of $8 million for an addition to the parish school, renovation of the parish offices, and the construction of an Adoration Chapel. When the school principal was told by a teacher of the alleged abuse, she told the teacher it was nothing more than hearsay. In 2002, she again refused to inform civil authorities of an alleged physical abuse of another student. In 2006, Pastor Jarmoluk praised Principal Bray and credited her with the $8 million renovation. School parents gave her a standing ovation. |
The Choir In the Summer of 2003, the St. Peter choir, lead by parish music director Jim Priovolos, traveled to Rome, Italy to perform on several occasions. The choir, accompanied by pianist/organist Howard Clark, recorded a music CD titled, Praising the Lord Throughout the Year. Priovolos later resigned from his parish position and a new music director by the name of Michael Pavone was hired to replace him. In September 2003, the choir met with the pastor to discuss matters relating to the personnel changes within the choir. The following day, two choir members were dismissed by Pastor Jarmoluk from their paid positions at the parish center. The following Sunday and ever since, the choir was a fraction of what it had been. Pavone was later arrested, tried, and convicted of the brutal murder of a New York man. He later died in prison. |
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The Backlash Employees have been fired, and volunteers have been dismissed, demoted, and denied involvement in ministries. Careers have been threatened, parishioners have been attacked and lied about from the altar and in the church narthex, and accusations of slander and defamation by Pastor Jarmoluk's personal attorney have circulated throughout the community - all because caring people asked questions or raised concerns. "Shut up and leave" is the response to those questions. Now, Jarmoluk associates with a website with a hateful blog apparently run by a con man on parole for fraud and deceptive practices. |
The Silence "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." - Edmund Burke. Despite all that has happened at St. Peter - the clergy abuse, the continued employment of Michael Pavone even after the parish administration was informed of his possible connection to an open murder case, the continuous fleeing of parishioners to other churches, the ever-decreasing collection baskets and the ever-increasing parish debt - all but a few parishioners have remained silent. Pastors and priests of neighboring parishes have all remained silent. |
The Crisis in the Church Through the Eyes of One Parish
WeAreCATHOLICS.com is produced by concerned Catholics from Geneva, Illinois, a suburban community west of Chicago and the home of one of the several St. Peter Catholic parishes within the Diocese of Rockford. We are concerned for the healing of the parish, the Church Universal and, most importantly, for the victims/survivors of clergy abuse and their loved ones. Our concern also extends to other abuses by members of the clergy - verbal, physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, and other abuses of power. Our primary concern is for the children but also for the safety and healing of all adult members of the Church and the wider community that have been affected by the current crisis in the Church. At the same time, we express support for all Catholic priests of integrity who live holy and spiritual lives while faithfully carrying out the duties to which they have been called.
"Jesus was not condemned by wicked people. He was condemned by the silence of good people. Let us never be silent about injustices among us. Let us always speak up for the wounded in our midst."
Read A Basic Timeline of Events
Read a Collection of Notable Quotes
Read City of Angels Coverage of St. Peter
Read a Catholic Mandate for Lay Members of the Church
Read "Disappointed by the Catholics: One Internet Exchange"
Read Comments and Questions to this website
"The release of voicemails that are communications between parishioners and their pastor contradicts every ethical and moral standard we promote at the USCCB."
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In December 2002, a priest who had previously lived and worked at St. Peter Parish on two separate occasions, was arrested on charges of sexual abuse of a minor. His name is Fr. Mark Campobello.
Shortly thereafter, another young woman came forward with similar allegations against Campobello. After an original plea of not-guilty, Campobello accepted a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to one count for each victim. He received an 8-year sentence and was recently released from prison after serving less than four years.
Case closed? Not quite.
When good-hearted people hear of the hardships of others, they almost always respond compassionately with concern for their well-being and offers to walk with them through their journey of recovery. Whether it be a destructive hurricane, the devastation of cancer, a tragic car accident, a slip on the ice, or a father of six experiencing a recent lay-off from his long-time employment, individuals often reach out with service as well as their prayers. Often, churches and faith-based organizations are the ones that coordinate such outreach.
Not so in cases of sexual abuse by clergy, as we have learned at St. Peter. Many individuals wanted to respond to their natural inclinations of expressing support to the victims, especially after the guilty plea. Yet, the resistance by the parish administration, staff, ministry leadership and pastoral council to compassionate outreach for the victims of Fr. Campobello couldn't have been stronger. Claims were made that action is not needed and that individual prayer for the victim was enough. One parish ministry leader insisted that no outreach was necessary because she was "sure they know we are praying for them". According to staff members, the parish was excused from providing any outreach or prayer intentions for the victims because the pastor, Msgr. Joe Jarmoluk, had a "bad history" with the family of one of the victims.
Instead, many parishioners rallied around Pastor Jarmoluk as he rejected offer after offer by parishioners to help provide methods of intervention for the victims as well as for the parish. Some parishioners even supported Jarmoluk's coordinated backlash against the few parishioners who spoke out publicly in support of the law-enforcement investigation and the search for truth. The pastor retaliated against parishioners who asked questions or expressed concern by calling them a sinner from the altar, firing them from their paid and volunteer positions at the parish, threatening to fire them from their paid positions at the parish, filing complaints against them at their workplace through his attorney, threatening to sue them, preventing their business from getting a contract with the parish, and allowing other parishioners to publicly call them 'evil' and send them anonymous letters through the mail.
More than 150 blessed prayer cards with the intention of the healing of the victims, the parish, and the Church Universal, were stolen - one by one- from the parish chapel which is steps away from the staffed parish center. After years of opening petitions up for the audience to share aloud at daily Masses, the pastor banned such prayers the day after healing for the victims, parish, and Church were petitioned. Other priests were told by the pastor that "some people were praying for the wrong things" and so personal intentions have since been banned at daily Masses.
Bishop Thomas Doran of the Rockford Diocese in which St. Peter of Geneva belongs, has never addressed the parish regarding the arrest, charges, or guilty plea of Fr. Campobello, neither in person nor through any other written or verbal communication. Though he is well aware of the backlash led by Msgr. Jarmoluk and his followers, he has never taken appropriate action to put an end to it. Instead, he has rewarded those who have led the charge, including presenting one parishioner with the Catholic Woman of the Year Award shortly after she publicly judged parishioners who had called for outreach and cooperation with law enforcement authorities "intrinsically evil". He has only since visited the parish for Confirmations and the ground- breaking ceremony for the new $8 million facilities expansion of the parish center, school, and chapel.
During the criminal investigation, parishioners were told by the pastor that there was no intervention because Fr. Campobello was "innocent until proven guilty". After the guilty plea, there was still no intervention. As a matter of fact, five months went by before there was any mention of the determination of guilt and it hasn't been mentioned again since.
In the meantime, Msgr. Jarmoluk hired a new choir director by the name of Michael Pavone. Pavone was arrested in May 2004 for the 1999 murder of a man in Buffalo, New York. Sources close to the case insist Jarmoluk knew of the possible connection of Pavone to Keith Sutherland's murder. Pavone's brother insisted he provided all of Michael's employers with a videotape exposing his brother's crooked past. If so, the pastor chose to keep parishioners in the dark about it, including the parents of the children Pavone instructed. Pavone was allowed to continue working at Easter Masses. He was arrested on Easter Monday and later passed away while incarcerated in New York.
In 2006, two years after Campobello was taken into custody, several individuals came to Geneva from New York City claiming to be filming a documentary about the Campobello case and the scandal in the Catholic Church. They said they were with a media company called CTLNYC which stands for Cross the Line New York City. They started a web site and an anonymous message board which recorded hateful and slanderous comments, threats, and attacks upon the victims of clergy abuse. A St. Peter staff member acknowledged that Jarmoluk was at least one of the anonymous bloggers on the message board. Jarmoluk posed for photos and granted an interview for the documentary titled, Forsaken: A Monsignor's Fight to Save his Faith. The documentary, which was never about Campobello but Jarmoluk, was supposed to be "released to theaters nationwide in 2007".
Bishop Doran placed precepts upon Jarmoluk commanding him to stop the filming of his documentary, fire his attorneys, and apologize to all of the parishioners he has offended. Jarmoluk has never apologized. Within months his attorney was in court on his behalf attempting to get out of giving a court-ordered sworn deposition. Since these precepts, Jarmoluk released on his web site a personal and private voicemail left for him at the parish center two years prior by a parishioner. Jarmoluk's picture was featured on the web site home page and many of the documents posted on the web site are stamped, "JARMOLUK FILE".
Jarmoluk escorted CTLNYC cameramen around the 2007 parish Barn Sale for spontaneous on-camera interviews with adults and children in attendance. He spoke to the cameras as he celebrated the Barn Sale Mass for volunteers. There is evidence that the person who calls himself 'Rocky' from CTLNYC is a known con-artist who has convictions in three states for fraud, theft, and deceptive practices. He served time and was given 45 years parole by the Texas Department of Justice. He uses the identity of Brett Hamilton, the public address announcer of the Philadelphia Flyers. The real Hamilton informed his employers that someone in Illinois was using his name as an imposter. The original director of 'Forsaken' bragged of previously filming pornography on his myspace page and advertised 'Forsaken' as "a very funny film". Jarmoluk's involvement with CTLNYC and his defiance of Doran's precepts are well known to the bishop, the diocesan vicar for clergy, and the diocesan human resources director/attorney, Ellen Lynch.
The poor leadership of St. Peter Parish and the Rockford Diocese has led to loss of many faithful Catholics from the institutional Church. Many parishioners of St. Peter now receive the Sacraments at neighboring parishes, the nearby Marmion Abby, or elsewhere - even outside the bounds of the diocese. Many families have left the Catholic Faith for other demoninations and quite a few have left institutional religion altogether. This mass exodus from the parish is not necessarily a result of the clergy abuse that occurred here, rather the failure of the parish and diocesan administrations to follow the law - moral, civil, and canon - as well as their own written policies. Bishop Doran has, for the most part, turned a blind eye to the mistreatment of parishioners by a couple of his priests here.
Families and idividuals belong to churches in order to be uplifted and spiritually fed, not assaulted and abused by their 'leaders' and fellow members. Churches ought to be sanctuaries of peace and love , not breeding grounds for violence and hate. Many have left and have vowed never to return. Others have left for the safety and protection of their family but hope to return to the parish or to the Catholic faith in the event of effective and meaningful reforms. In the meantime, the disasterous darkness which has enveloped St. Peter continues to drag the parish into a spiritual and financial abyss that will take years from which to recover.
In 2003, parishioners were informed that weekend collections had not only not increased as anticipated with the overall growth of the community, but they actually decreased from the previous year. In 2004, parishioners were informed that the parish needed to collect an average of $36,000 per week in order to meet the budgetary needs of the parish. Instead, the parish has seen weekly totals drop as low as $17,756 and $18, 087 with the average collection not much higher.
Why not just forget it and "move on"? Because we are Catholics. Because we are Christians. We speak out because we are Catholics. We reach out because we are Catholics. Jesus never preached to turn away from suffering, to turn our backs on injustice, or to remain silent in the face of evil. Those false teachings have been perpetuated by popes, cardinals, bishops, and monsignors. Unfortunately, they have been accepted without question by many unenlightened Catholics who still believe priests are infallible or, at least, not accountable for their actions. We are Catholics. We accept the divine teachings of Christ, not the misguided words and actions of the men at the controls of His Church.
"Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and your religious act like religious." - the late Archbishop Fulton J Sheen to an audience of lay Catholics