The following letter about Fr. Robert Williams was published 7-8-2002 in the Dallas Morning News.
| Story: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/viewpoints/stories/070802dnediseverson.7a958.html |
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A true hero emerged from the priest sex scandal
07/08/2002
I serve on the parish council at St. John's Catholic Church in Ennis, where Rudy Kos preyed on our children and our community. We approach the 10-year anniversary of his removal as our pastor. The past 10 years haven't been easy. As a community, we have suffered. But we not only have endured; we have prevailed.
Indeed, we are thriving – through the leadership of a true servant priest, Father Fred Caldwell; through a deacon whose homilies and classes regularly soar toward eloquence; through an almost exponentially expanding ministry by which non-Catholics join our faith; through numerous other active parish programs; and through a growing school.
Part of our success in rising from the ashes of betrayal, anguish and rage is that we remember. We remember Father Robert Williams, who was Rudy Kos' assistant. He truly was a priest for all seasons. Many of us believe that his perceptiveness, his steadfast courage and his dogged determination – often in the teeth of disbelief and resistance – were the ultimate reasons for Rudy Kos' removal.
Though a seasoned psychologist, Father Robert at first couldn't believe what he was seeing. But unlike so many others in our church, he acted swiftly and decisively when he did believe. He sought advice from friends and professionals. He alerted his superiors. He wrote a letter documenting Rudy Kos' behavior.
In an act of unfaltering courage that risked any hope for advancement in the church or utilization of his special gifts and education, he challenged the bishop face to face to act on the accumulating weight of the evidence, even if it didn't yet include a victim's allegation.
Father Robert first recognized the deviancy of Rudy Kos' behavior in the fall of 1991. Rudy Kos wasn't removed until the fall of 1992. Through the ordeal of that terrible year, I witnessed firsthand, through frequent conversations, Father Robert's agony.
Gripped by doubt, punished by his boss Rudy Kos and ignored by the bishop, he suffered through a dark night of the soul. But he didn't relent. His faith held firm. Through his suffering, his faith and his desire for holiness, he saved our parish.
What has happened at St. John's during the past decade can serve as a model for the renewal of the Catholic Church. Through servant priests, through sharing the beauty and power of the Gospels, through evangelization and Catholic education and through works of charity and outreach, the Catholic Church in America will thrive again.
I haven't lost faith in the church. I believe in it. I believe in the hierarchy. I even can believe it was doing the best it could. And I can forgive seven times seven. The Catholic Church isn't an institution based upon a book. It is a living community with a collective memory. What we need to remember is the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and the example of our saints and heroes.
Father Robert is such a hero. Life may go on, the media may pass on to other stories, and even the memories of some of those most affected by the tragedies and scandals of the past 10 years may fade. But in Ennis, we will remember Father Robert and others like him. Many exist.
Burying neither head nor talents in the sand, Father Robert Williams faced the unthinkable, thought it through, acted, suffered, endured and prevailed. So will we as a church. In Ennis, we know the way.
Randolph Severson lives in Ennis.
Grace in truth, not in secrecy.