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| Fr. Jerold W. Linder, S.J. |
The allegations against Father Jerold W. Linder, S.J., which he denies, entered the legal arena last year, when Meadows filed suit on behalf of Bart and William Lynch. Twenty-four years ago, when the boys were four and eight years old, they attended a camp-out near the Bay Area of families associated with the Christian Family Movement. As Kathleen Smith, a mother involved with the Movement describes it, "CFM is an international group of lay people, approved by the Vatican and the Oakland California diocese". Mrs. Smith recalls that in the mid-1970s she approached Father Jerry to act as the spiritual advisor for the lay organization. He accepted and acted in that capacity until 1979.
Bart was four, he remembers, when Father Jerry assaulted him in the course of a CFM camping trip. "Violence is the key issue, even more important than the s@xual abuse. I literally feared for my life. Whispering in my ear, Father Jerry said, 'You want to live, don't you. Don't tell anyone, or I'll kill you.'"
This was after Father Jerry had s@domized the four-year old. "I remember blood in my pants and Father Jerry burying them in the woods."
Marylou T, a CFM parent, recalls that afternoon. "It was a mystery to me as to why Father Jerry ended up with the Lynch boys. That afternoon when it came time to make dinner everyone came back except Bart, Will and Father Jerry. People went in little groups looking for them. Finally, after some time passed, Father Jerry and the two boys appeared from the woods. Everyone clapped."
Link (here) to read the full article and the detailed account at Counter Punch
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