Dr. Jeffrey M. Bond
President
College of St. Justin Martyr
142 Market Road
Greeley, PA 18425
(570) 685-5945

July 31, 2002

Rev. Monsignor James J. Graham, Judicial Vicar
Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
222 N. 17^th Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-1279

Dear Monsignor Graham:

I am a baptized and practicing Catholic living in the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania. On February 9, 2002, I submitted a libellus to the Tribunal of the Diocese of Scranton (a copy of which is enclosed) charging serious malfeasance on the part of members of a clerical association of that diocese, the Society of St. John. The malfeasance in question is not limited to the sexual abuse of youth. This libellus was rejected, and an investigation never undertaken, by the Scranton Tribunal. The reasons for the rejection are set forth by the Scranton Judicial Vicar, Msgr. Patrick J. Pratico, in two letters to me dated March 1, 2002 and March 19, 2002, copies of which are enclosed.

I hereby wish to appeal the decision of the Scranton Tribunal in this case to your Metropolitan Court of Second Instance. In accordance with the original petition, I ask your Court, therefore, to make a full and proper investigation of the Society of St. John for the grave wrongdoing, and cover up of the wrongdoing, by its members, and to investigate the continued support of the Society, and cover up of the Society's scandalous behavior, by the Diocese of Scranton, and to impose canonical sanction.

Please note that since the time of the original petition to the Scranton Tribunal there has been filed in Federal Court a lawsuit alleging the homosexual molestation of a minor by Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity and Rev. Eric Ensey, former Superior General and former Chancellor of the Society of St. John, respectively. The Diocese of Scranton is named in this lawsuit. These priests are also under criminal investigation by the District Attorney of Lackawanna County and the Pennsylvania State Police. Furthermore, the Board of Directors of the College of St. Justin Martyr and I have filed lawsuits against both the Society of St. John and the Diocese of Scranton.

In addition, I am in possession of a statement by a former seminary vice rector indicating that another priest of the Society of St. John, Fr. Marshall Roberts, had been dismissed from the vice rector's seminary for having proposed a homosexual relationship with another seminarian.

I wish to state that the American Bishops' Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People issued on June 14, 2002 in the wake of the Dallas Episcopal Conference, clearly states in its conclusion that the standards in civil and criminal law regarding the abuse of young people are not to be confused with the Catholic Church's moral standards in such cases. That is, the Church has a right and a duty to make its own investigation and to impose sanctions on those among its clerical members who have been found, through reasonable and sufficient evidence, to have committed abuse, regardless of the outcome of civil or criminal proceedings.

Along with the ample evidence, documentation, affidavits, and testimonies of the Society of St. John's serious misconduct, sexual and financial, I am available and ready to assist you in your investigation.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Jeffrey M. Bond