Timeline 1963: Father Gerald Fitzgerald went to the Vatican in Rome where he had an audience with the Pope at the time, I believe it was Leo. The number I don't remember. What was the purpose of Father Fitzgeralds ' visit? He went to warn the pope of the crisis the Church was facing with regard to the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. How did Father Fitzgerald have knowledge of this crisis. In the 1950's Father Fitzgerald had helped found the Order of the Paracletes. This order treated priests, nuns and other religious who were suffering from alcohol and drug addictions and other psychological problems. By the end of the fifties and into the early sixties, Bishops from across the country were sending their problem priests{ pedophile priests] to the treatment center in New Mexico. After attempting to treat these problem priests for several years, Father Fitzgerald came to the conclusion that pedophilia was not treatable. He had gone to his superiors who ignored him.