Monsignor Alan Placa was not only a civil lawyer but a highly placed priest in the administration of the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre New York. The Bishop, William Murphy, himself an underling to Cardinal Law in Boston, understood and appreciated the importance of a top lieutenant capable of handling the priest abuse storms and media inquiries. First and foremost, Murphy knew Placa understood that his first duty was to protect the institution of the church at all costs. Placa even admitted as much to the mother of a victim when he coldly told her, “My job is to protect the Bishop.”
Yet Placa had another side. He was an abuser himself. In order to continue the lifestyle by which he could entice young boys, he had to have access to money. So he befriended Rudy Guiliani. The former Mayor of New York accepted the friendship and had Placa baptize his children and annul his first marriage. The two became close and the relationship worked to the advantage of both ambitious men. Placa’s dark side included abusing young boys even though he was supposed to be the Bishop’s point person in dealing with allegations of priest abuse.
It was a classic case of the fox guarding the hen house. Placa is named in the 2003 Suffolk Grand Jury Report as “Priest F”. After being relieved of his priestly duties, Guiliani even hired him as a consultant in his powerful New York firm. When news of Placa’s sordid past came to light, many called for his resignation. Guiliani refused to remove his friend and Bishop Murphy never sought his defrocking (laicization from the priesthood). Murphy being from Boston, had seen how his mentor and friend Cardinal Law was rewarded for “hanging in there” in Boston. Law became the titular head of a Roman church with a cushy life and plenty of money. Murphy knew Rome would not punish him for protecting the church so he never made a move against his former lieutenant Placa.
This is how it works in the Catholic Church. Blind loyalty and obedience to the institution is rewarded. Survivors of sexual abuse are to be fought and treated as enemies of the Church. That’s why we need the new law in New York, the Child Victims Act passed into law. As Prof. Marci Hamilton has noted, the new legislation accomplishes two purposes: “First, a window permits victims to identify their perpetrators in public documents. When California had a window in 2003, the public learned the names of 300 predators it had never heard before. Children and families are much safer as a result. Second, it sends victims a message that we as a society believe they were wronged and they have the right to sue those who harmed them. Simultaneously, predators learn that the states passing the legislation will not permit them to continue to operate in the shadows.”