PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By David O'Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer
In a turnaround, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia yesterday announced that it had removed two nursing-home chaplains who had sadomasochistic or otherwise inappropriate physical relationships with teen boys in years past.
Both men were identified Wednesday in a Philadelphia grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse in the archdiocese that blasted two previous archbishops for systematically concealing the crimes.
The lengthy report assails the archdiocese's reassigning abusive priests and failing to notify the communities where they were placed. The report questions why the Revs. John H. Mulholland, 66, and Robert L. Brennan, 67, were allowed to stay in ministry despite evidence of the two men's proclivities.
After the report was released last week, Donna Farrell, the archdiocese's spokeswoman, said a special review board had studied Brennan's and Mulholland's cases and concluded that their actions had not crossed the threshold of sexual abuse, allowing them to remain in ministry.