ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat & Chronicle
Gary Craig
Staff writer
(March 18, 2005) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester suffered lapses in its oversight of priests when it allowed the Rev. Michael Volino to work in the school at St. John the Evangelist Church in Greece, despite concerns about Volino's contact with children, Bishop Matthew Clark said today.
The bishop, who conducted a series of media interviews throughout the day, said the diocese is studying how the oversight slipped and is crafting ways to ensure it does not happen again.
"We have to figure out how that happened and why," Clark said. "That's part of our challenge ... in the days ahead. If that was a breakdown, and it seems pretty clear it was, it was a breakdown not in good intention or not in the common sense of the people involved in it.
"... I think thus far this remains murkier than I'd like because we don't have that kind of clarity on hand by which to help us understand more fully what happened," Clark said.
The diocese has come under criticism since Volino's arrest earlier this month on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. In 2002, the diocese asked Volino, now 41, to undergo a weeklong evaluation at a Maryland-based psychiatric center for priests because of questions about behavioral issues and maturity.
Posted by kshaw at March 18, 2005 05:51 PM