June 09, 2005

Michael Smerconish | THE EX-PRIEST WHO FLEW UNDER THE RADAR

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

HOW did a defrocked priest end up in my kitchen?

That's what has me preoccupied this week. My puzzlement arises out of the extensive coverage of the latest local twist in the sex scandal that continues to plague the Philadelphia archdiocese.

A week ago, the Catholic Standard and Times reported that two priests were defrocked and a third (already retired) was barred from the ministry for more of what has become the same-old same-old with some men in black.

But what was a Page 10 story for the Catholic weekly was a front-page story in the Inquirer. It reported that the Rev. Martin J. Satchell, now 39, was ordained in May 1993. He then served as assistant pastor at St. Raymond of Penafort in Germantown until September 1993, when he was dismissed because of a "credible allegation of misconduct involving a minor."

That was the underlying charge, which led to his recent defrocking - at his request.

His photo accompanied the Inky story, and when I saw it, I paused because something about him was familiar. After a moment of thought, I couldn't place him, and turned the page.

A day or so later came the next revelation: Four years after he was canned by the archdiocese for being "accused of abusing a teenage boy," he began to teach middle school at the prestigious Haverford School for boys on the Main Line, where he stayed for three years.

Posted by kshaw at June 9, 2005 06:41 AM