Five Priests Accused Of Sexual Abuse Removed From MInistry In Philadelphia

Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles Chaput speaks during a news conference Friday, May 4, 2012, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

By David Gibson
Religion News Service

(RNS) Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput announced Friday (May 4) that five priests accused of sexually abusing children last year would be barred from ministry and could be defrocked, while three others were cleared by a church-led investigation and could return to pastoral work.

The eight were among more than two dozen priests who were suspended from ministry as a result of accusations made in a scathing February 2011 grand jury report on the sexual abuse of minors by clergy in the archdiocese.

One of the 27 suspended priests is Monsignor William J. Lynn, who was not accused of direct abuse but of covering up for clergy molesters while overseeing personnel matters for the archdiocese from 1992 to 2004. Lynn is currently on trial in Philadelphia on charges of child endangerment, the only church official ever to go before a jury for allowing abusers to prey on minors.

The district attorney is still reviewing six of the cases for possible criminal referral. But the statute of limitations on most of the accusations has expired, leaving law enforcement with little power to sanction any alleged abusers.

The archdiocese set up a blue-ribbon investigative panel to determine which of the priests was guilty of a credible accusation. Punishments would be levied under the church's canon law and could range from defrocking, or "laicization," to an order to live a life of prayer and penance under supervision and away from children. The five priests named Friday by Chaput can also appeal their removal to the Vatican.

One of the 27 accused priests died before a determination of his guilt could be made; the fate of the remaining accused priests is still awaiting a decision by an archdiocesan review board. Chaput said that decision would come in a "matter of weeks."

"I've been in Philadelphia for less than a year, and I've tried as quickly as possible to understand all of the many issues facing our local church," said Chaput, who was transferred from Denver to succeed Cardinal Justin Rigali, who was tainted by the grand jury findings that church officials ignored "credible" allegations of sexual misconduct by priests.

"During that time, dealing with sexual abuse and protecting children has been -- and will remain -- a top priority for me and for this archdiocese," Chaput said. "Our actions, including these outcomes and the steps we have taken to improve our policies and procedures, show that we have learned from the past. No lesson from the sexual abuse scandal is more important than the understanding that the people who suffer most are the victims."

Victims advocates were unconvinced. Barbara Blaine, head of SNAP, the leading advocacy group for victims of clergy sexual abuse, said she was "shocked" that only eight cases had been resolved after more than a year.

"Parishioners and the public should continue to be highly skeptical of these secretive internal church processes and redouble their efforts to get victims and witness to contact police and prosecutors," she said.

Terence McKiernan, head of BishopAccountability.org, a lay-led church reform group, said Chaput "missed a crucial opportunity" because he "could have made Philadelphia the bellwether for nationwide reform of a system that has never delivered on its promise. He has not done so."

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Comments

[bryanzth]

03:00 PM on 05/15/2012

Too little, too late. Let's have married priests, both men and women.

Nah, the RCC won't countenance that. They have left me long ago.... and I don't care.

Anglican, UU, Orthodox, Old Catholic and skads of other alternatives are more fruitful.

I'd say that by the year 2050, the Vatican will have ReMaxx sign in front of it...

BZ.

[banjo man]

08:01 PM on 05/14/2012

Good God.....they are "still" doing that? To think...this religion was against birth control.....they got bigger problems than birth control..... I wonder what God is going to do to these molesters someday. My only concern...is what is God waiting on.....it is continuing and God is not stopping it.

[JoeLosFeliz]

10:23 AM on 05/14/2012

In other words, if you want to abuse children, become a priest. Even if you're caught, you probably won't face any legal consequences in the real world. Got it.

[Dave4ObamaSinceDay1]

09:27 PM on 05/11/2012

Why is the church deciding on the fate of these priests? Turn them over to the prosecutor and let them determine guilt of innocence....

[bryanzth]

03:01 PM on 05/15/2012

Correct!

BZ.

[veroden208]

07:16 PM on 05/11/2012

It's about time!!! Now please help the children who have been savaged and their families. They have rough lives ahead of them and are going to need help. And its your responsibility!!!

[Patrick Brennan]

04:59 PM on 05/11/2012

First of all, as for Chaput,as an ex-catholic in Denver - GOOD RIDDANCE. As for those he punted GOOD RIDDANCE. I guess there are different levels of sin AND garbage.

[alanm47]

11:16 AM on 05/11/2012

It is the cover up of these horrific crimes that disturb me the most. Priests who abused children should have been reported to the police immediately. Being a priest does not give you a pass to attacking children. This is what attracts Pedophiles and perverts into the priesthood to begin with. Priests who are accused of abusing children and those who cover it up should be treated like anyone else, and sent to prison if convicted.

[Charles Harless]

06:49 PM on 05/10/2012

Three of them were cleared by a church lead investigation? Shouldn't the investigation be done by the authorities?

[Jan Wiese]

12:19 AM on 05/09/2012

Until all people who work with children must take polygraphs routinely, especially priests (due to the protection from the church they enjoy), this will continue. If people withheld all money from the Catholic church until the problem was solved, crimes reported, and priests punished and children protected, then we could count on a solution. As a Catholic since adulthood, I refused to let my son be an alter boy and I refuse to attend or support in any way, the Catholic Church. I am appalled that those who profess to be holy have acted to protect those who are truly evil. Sexual child abuse happens in other churches and places, too, and I'd like to see the same conditions applied. But the Catholic church protects the evil priests and gives the good priests a bad name and reputation. I have no respect for the Catholic church.

[bendygirl]

07:31 PM on 05/08/2012

It's not celibacy itself that is the problem - though that IS insanity and not natural. Except that the sexual abuse of children is not based on being attracted to adults - it's predatory behaviour by people who either a) have a genuine sexual preference for children (a true pedophile) or b) people who simply do not recognize that children are not for sex (sexual predators) - a pedophile can also be a sexual predator - but an otherwise heterosexual person with an appetite for predatory abuse makes up the bulk of those who abuse children.

Marriage does not stop this instinct to prey on children or commit acts of sexual violence; for most of them it's not the prepubescent-ness of children that attracts them (many of the victims are well into puberty, it's more rare for them to be actual children) - it's the power of privilege and position that gets them off. They get off on the power of abuse.

[yoyo1900]

01:48 PM on 05/08/2012

The whole idea of celibacy in the church is insane. Men and women need to express their sexuality as it is natural. Most of the priests that I have met are homosexual and some even have secret lovers yet the church has been so vocal against gay people. They should look in their own backyard first before throwing stones at others.

[phal4875]

02:10 PM on 05/08/2012

The Catholic Church seems to attract some priests who are immature sexually. They express that by pursuing young people. Allowing priests to marry mature adult women might attract a different group to the priesthood.

[Cye]

01:28 AM on 05/10/2012

I think perhaps some become priests in the hope that a holy life and a vow of celibacy will prevent their sexuality from finding expression.

[alterego55]

01:18 PM on 05/08/2012

"while three others were cleared by a church-led investigation and could return to pastoral work."

Since when in America is justice served by a religious sect? Oh yeah, since Christian Dominionism took over our US Constitution.

[Hillbilly49]

10:58 AM on 05/08/2012

This must be what most people refer to as a "token effort" to weed out pedophiles from the Church of Rome.

[Schwartz47]

10:12 AM on 05/08/2012

All I can say is this. Red is positive, black is negative and make sure your instrument of pleasure is wet.

[Hillbilly49]

10:59 AM on 05/08/2012

F & F What you just said might be considered shocking.

[Caedwyn]

08:17 AM on 05/08/2012

Here's my thing... If the CEO of Disney Corp. KNEW that the guy in the Mickey suit at Disneyland was sexually abusing & raping little kids, ordered all of his other employees to cover it up, threatened the victims & their parents if they went to the police, moved the guy into the Goody suit - and did this for DECADES - would anybody EVER take their kids to Disney again? Would anyone EVER buy another Disney product? So why is it that the RC Church gets a pass on this? Why do otherwise good, decent people who are Catholic tolerate, and even make excuses for this behaviour?
I just don't get it.

[phal4875]

02:11 PM on 05/08/2012

Religion is very difficult for people to abandon. When one grows up in a church, its teachings tend to stick.