S2 Ep9: Captain Gene Thomas Gomulka
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Gene Thomas Gomulka is a retired Navy Captain and Chaplain, author, investigative reporter, and screenwriter. He also works pro bono as a sex abuse victims’ advocate who helps those who were sexually abused or unjustly reprised against by Church leaders and their attorneys for reporting abuse.<br>
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Gomulka earned a B.A. in Philosophy from St. Francis University and an S.T.L. from the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. After serving for five years as an associate pastor in State College, PA and teaching courses in Dogmatic Theology and Liturgy at St. Francis Seminary in addition to serving as the Diocesan Respect Life Director, he entered active duty service in 1980 and retired with the rank of Navy Captain (O6) in 2004.<br>
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Saint John Paul II named Gomulka a Prelate of Honor in 1999 with the honorific title of “Monsignor.” After he and Dominican Father Thomas Doyle suffered reprisals in 2004 from then-Archbishop Edwin O’Brien for their work in exposing and combating clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church, Gomulka retired after 24 years of active duty military service and took a leave of absence from the priesthood. During his leave Gomulka published The Survival Guide for Marriage in the Military and spoke at military family conferences on bases throughout the country.<br>
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When it became clear that his bishop who had been covering up sex abuse did not want a priest abuse advocate working in his diocese, Gomulka later married and was blessed with twin children, Luke and Sasha, who were born on his birthday. Upset with the ongoing sex abuse of minors and vulnerable adults in the Catholic Church, Gomulka believes that bishops and priests who engage in or cover up sex abuse should be incarcerated, laicized, or excommunicated. Among all the titles he has been afforded throughout his life (e.g., Father, Monsignor, Chaplain, Padre, Captain), his favorite title is “Dad."<br>
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