Illinois Diocese Involved in Damage Control, Says Catholic Activist Group
by Jim Brown
January 17, 2005
(AgapePress) - A group that exposes abuses within the Roman Catholic Church says the diocese of Springfield, Illinois, is a "hotbed" of homosexual perversion.
Last month, Catholic priest Eugene Costa was found severely beaten and unconscious in a Springfield park that has a reputation as a hangout for homosexuals. Now the diocese has stripped Costa of his parish and his position as chancellor because of his history of lurid behavior.
Stephen Brady, with the group Roman Catholic Faithful, calls the decision to remove Costa a "preemptive strike," and contends the diocese is doing damage control.
"The diocese is removing Costa just to sort of limit damage that comes from all of this -- because a lot of the key people in the hierarchy have now been exposed as predatory homosexuals," Brady says, adding that "it doesn't seem to phase Rome to the point where they'll do anything."
Brady says immorality runs deep within the diocesan leadership. "[Retired Springfield] Bishop [Daniel] Ryan ... just had a domestic disturbance call at his home this summer, where he kicked his former boyfriend because he caught him with another man," he notes. "[And] we recently interviewed an individual who also gave us some firsthand testimony alleging he was present and participated in some immoral activity at the Springfield Cathedral rectory this summer."
Brady believes homosexual leaders in the diocese have placed like-minded people into positions of authority in order to protect their own secrets.
"These are guys who are supposed to consider homosexual activity an abomination," he laments. "Now we have Vicar General Renken and Father Steffan [tribunal officers in the diocese] who are known to be a homosexual couple, yet they hold key positions within the hierarchy."
Brady says his group will continue to expose abuses within the Catholic Church, and plans to release more damning information about other leaders in the Springfield diocese. "It's a hotbed of perversion here in this diocese -- in many [dioceses], unfortunately, the homosexuals seem to be taking a strong foothold," he adds.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
