WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
kshaw@telegram.com
WORCESTER— The Rev. Robert M. Hoatson, a Catholic priest from New Jersey, and three local people quietly demonstrated and handed out leaflets yesterday morning in their quest to have the College of the Holy Cross rename its Millard Art Center.
The demonstration, which involved holding signs and handing out leaflets, was held on behalf of Patricia A. Cahill of Lancaster, Pa., who said she was sexually abused by the priest for whom the center was named. Ms. Cahill received a settlement for counseling from the Camden, N.J., diocese after she reported the alleged abuse by the Rev. Daniel F. M. Millard, who was her uncle.
Joining Rev. Hoatson in front of the main gate with signs were George “Skip” Shea of Uxbridge, an alleged victim of the Rev. Thomas Teczar; Daniel E. Dick of Worcester, victim support coordinator for Worcester Voice of the Faithful; and Richard Chesnis of Worcester, who has alleged his son was sexually abused by the Rev. John Szantyr.
Ellen M. Ryder, spokesman for Holy Cross, said the college will not comment on the demonstration other than what officials there have said in the past.
The Holy Cross administration, after speaking with other members of the Millard family, said recently that the college takes seriously allegations of sexual abuse, but they will not change the name. The priest’s brother, the late Charles E. F. Millard, and family members, donated money for the building. Other members of the family have denied Ms. Cahill’s assertion that she and other family members were abused by Rev. Millard, who died in 1973.
The demonstration “went very well,” Rev. Hoatson said. They had a number of “thumbs up” signs from workers going onto the Holy Cross campus, he said. Founder and president of Rescue & Recovery International, Rev. Hoatson said he expects to be at the college each week until the name of the art center is changed.
Rev. Hoatson, who said he was sexually abused by two Irish Christian Brothers, drives weekly from New Jersey to Boston where he has been supporting people who say they were sexual abused by Monsignor Frederick J. Ryan when they were students at Catholic Memorial High School. He also stopped Monday night in Northampton to deliver a check to a survivor of clergy sexual abuse and regularly visits with a clergy abuse survivor who is currently incarcerated at the federal prison at Devens. The organization provides direct support to survivors, he said.
Rev. Hoatson worked at Catholic Memorial before entering seminary when he was in his 40s. Monsignor Ryan was a chaplain at the school. Now a priest of the Newark, N.J., diocese, Rev. Hoatson holds a Ph.D. from Fordham University.
“Why do they allow themselves to be embarrassed like this?” Mr. Dick said of the college administration as he sat on the sidewalk outside the main gate. He said changing the name would be the proper thing to do. Mr. Shea said he was impressed that a priest was willing to “stand with the victims,” which brought him out in support of the attempt to change the name of the art center.
“It’s a huge sign of hope to me,” he added.
Ms. Cahill could not attend yesterday but in a statement said survivors of clergy abuse “want justice, restorative justice” and justice is born of truth.
“As long as the Catholic Church refuses to make amends to the survivors of sexual abuse by their priests and nuns, restorative justice is denied the survivors and the abuse is continued. Holy Cross is a perfectly imperfect example of this type of re-victimization,” she said.
Speaking out on the issue has been “a terrifying experience,” she said. But she hopes if her efforts can influence “just one nun, or one priest to keep their hands to themselves and maybe one child will be spared. I wish someone had done this for me.”
John Aretakis of Albany, N.Y., who is Ms. Cahill’s lawyer, said since Massachusetts is considered to be “ground zero” in the clergy sexual abuse scandal, Holy Cross needs to show more sensitivity to victims and be “on the side of the victims.”