Sex Abuse Crisis in the Church! People Who Live In Glass Houses, by Gene Thomas Gomulka

By Gene Thomas Gomulka, Complicit Clergy, July 31, 2024

Gene Thomas Gomulka is a sexual abuse victims’ advocate, investigative reporter, and screenwriter. A former (O6) Navy Captain/Chaplain, seminary instructor, and diocesan respect life director, Gomulka was ordained a priest for the Altoona-Johnstown diocese and later made a Prelate of Honor (Monsignor) by St. John Paul II.

Several Catholic media sources have rightfully addressed the scandalous drag queen depiction of the Last Supper at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. Those same Catholic outlets, however, need to report how bishops like George Lucas, Thomas Paprocki, and others have been credibly accused of engaging in or covering up sex abuse and clerical drag queen parties in their own dioceses.

As noted in “Addressing the Present-Day Culture of Sexual Predation and Cover-Ups in U.S. Seminaries,” The Catholic World Report documented how videos were found in the basement of Mother of Dolors Church in Vandalia, Illinois showing “up to a dozen Springfield priests dressed in drag and engaging in homosexual acts.” The problem is not only what these priests did, but that they continue to serve in ministry, presently holding high-ranking positions on Bishop Thomas Paprocki’s leadership team.

The Catholic media should not throw stones at the organizers of the Olympic Games if they are not willing to report even more egregious sacrilegious acts on the part of Catholic bishops and priests. Omaha Archbishop George Lucas, accused in court documents of abusing a former seminarian in St. Louis before he was made the bishop of Springfield in Illinois, said, “I have never had sexual contact with another person.” As a clerical sex abuse investigator, why do I believe Lucas is lying?

In a report entitled, “Clerical Abuse and Misconduct: Diocese of Springfield in Illinois,” after speaking with Lucas’ alleged victim, I wrote: “Lucas was ordained a priest in 1975 and served as the vice-rector of St. Louis Preparatory Seminary from 1982 to 1987. A former seminarian alleged in 2006 that Lucas, while the vice-rector in 1987, made sexual advances toward him, asking what he liked sexually and if he liked older men.  The former high school seminarian, who was 17 years old at the time, said he rejected Lucas’ multiple advances and later left the seminary.”  Because I found the former seminarian’s testimony to be very credible, I cannot believe that Lucas is telling the truth any more than I believed Pope Francis who, in his book, On Heaven and Earth, wrote, “It [sex abuse] never happened in my diocese.”

Another reason I believe Lucas is not telling the truth is because of the way he handled allegations that he engaged in anal sex with Father Peter Harman in the presence of priests, seminarians, and two gay Catholic laymen at an orgy in his episcopal residence in Springfield. Details of the orgy are documented in the Youtube video, “The Vortex – The NAC Swamp.”

Just as Pope Francis retained a defense attorney, Jeffrey Lena, to help clear him of allegations found in the “Testimony” of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò that he was covering up for predator ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, so too did Lucas retain attorney Bill Roberts to defend him against allegations of clerical homosexual misconduct.  The 2006 Special Panel on Clergy Misconduct report produced by Roberts and Lucas’ self-appointed investigatory panel resembles “The McCarrick Report,” not for what it reported, but for what it did not report.

In July 2016, the late psychotherapist and researcher, Richard Sipe, reported the following to then-San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy for action on the part of Pope Francis, “I have interviewed twelve seminarians and priests who attest to propositions, harassment, or sex with McCarrick.” Like many reports of clerical sex abuse, McElroy dismissed Sipe’s allegations as not credible just as Attorney Roberts and the Springfield Special Panel dismissed Thomas Muñoz’s allegations of homosexual misconduct on Lucas’ part as not credible.

When the Catholic News Agency (CNA) reported that Lucas’ Special Panel found the allegations of sexual misconduct against him to have been “proven false,” no one questioned the findings or the methodology of having Lucas investigate himself.  If an attorney like Roberts were to represent a person accused of murder, and if in the course of the representation, he were to believe that his client was guilty, he could not let this be made known.  Likewise, by retaining Roberts, Lucas was assured that no matter what Roberts uncovered, he would not be allowed to make that information public without the risk of being disbarred.

It was not until years later, in 2021, that Mr. Kenneth McCabe, a highly credentialed retired FBI Special Agent in Charge (SAC), questioned the validity of the conclusions drawn by the 2006 Special Panel. McCabe found Tomás Muñoz’s account of the orgy to be “entirely credible.” In a sworn affidavit filed with the Court, the former FBI SAC argued that the diocese never authentically investigated the accusations against Lucas and Harman. As a result of the whitewashed report, Bishop Thomas Paprocki who succeeded Lucas, allowed Harman, in time, to become the rector of the North American College (NAC) in Rome despite his alleged sexual involvement with Lucas in the presence of seminarians.

CNA’s report that the misconduct allegations against Lucas were “proven false” by the Special Panel failed to uncover problems involving a polygraph test and the involvement of a detective agency employed by attorney Roberts.

Let’s imagine that you are the cleaning lady at the White House who reported seeing Monica Lewinsky engaged in oral sex with President Clinton. In order to confirm that you are telling the truth, you welcome being given a polygraph test. You know if you lie, the needle on the polygraph test will jump.  You anticipate being asked, “Did you witness President Clinton engaged in oral sex with a White House intern?”  However, with the sensors connected to your body, you are asked, “Did you have sex with President Clinton?”  Because the needle jumps, the sensors are removed and you are dismissed and accused of lying.  Absurd?

Tomás Muñoz alleged that he was paid $300 by then-Springfield Bishop Lucas after participating in an orgy in his episcopal residence.  In his testimony, Muñoz never said that he had sex with Lucas at the orgy, but that he witnessed Lucas being sodomized by Father Peter Harman. However, when he was asked by William O’Sullivan of the Ross Agency, “Did you have sex with Bishop Lucas?” it’s not at all surprising that the needle jumped.  Because of this reaction, Roberts and the Special Panel argued Muñoz was not telling the truth and, along with CNA, claimed that the allegations against Lucas were “proven false.”

Another proof that Lucas indeed did “have sexual contact with another person” is found in the fact that the whitewashed 2006 Springfield Diocese Report makes no mention whatsoever of the involvement of William O’Sullivan or his Ross Agency.  Ordinarily, when a diocese employs an outside investigator with law enforcement experience, such involvement is mentioned in order to add credibility to the findings of any report that may be generated. Roberts knew that the polygraph test was a fraud and, consequently, wanted to hide the involvement of O’Sullivan. By leaving out his name, the findings of the Special Panel exonerating Lucas become all the more incredible.

Bishops like Lucas, along with some 150 other bishops reported to be credibly accused of abusing minors and vulnerable adults, are often also accused of covering up sexual abuse involving priests under their supervision.  In 2018 Lucas was accused by Cynthia Yesko of covering up her abuse in the Springfield Diocese before his appointment to Omaha.  In September 2021, Lisa Roers reported being satanically sexually abused by Omaha priest, Father Dennis Hanneman, when she was 9-11 years old.  Less than three weeks after writing to Lucas, she received a cold dismissive letter claiming that her allegations were investigated by the archdiocese and found to be “not credible.” She knew that Lucas was covering up for Hanneman and that the so-called “investigation” was a whitewash because neither Lucas nor anyone from the archdiocese inquired about the name or address of a second victim mentioned in Lisa’s report. Abandoned and betrayed by Lucas, Lisa had no choice but to file a police report with the Antelope County Sheriff’s Department documenting abuse by Hanneman and a cover-up by Lucas.

Church leaders and their lay lackeys like William Donohue of The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights would like Catholics and the public to believe that clerical sex abuse is history when they write, “The homosexual scandal began in the mid-1960s and ended 20 years later. Today, it hardly exists.” Unfortunately, that, like Lucas’ statement to the media about never having had sex with anyone, has also been shown to be not true.

Like the case involving the late Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin and his accuser, Steven Cook, it remains to be seen how much hush money Lucas’ alleged victim in St. Louis will be paid in an out-of-court settlement.

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