HARTFORD (MA)
Hartford Courant
November 2, 2005
By JEFFREY B. COHEN, Courant Staff Writer On the day set aside each year to honor Catholic saints, Katherine Carlman went to a noon Mass at SS. Cyril and Methodius Church in Hartford, hoping to hear one of the inspiring sermons she has come to enjoy from the Rev. William Przybylo.
But Przybylo didn't say any of the Masses on All Saints Day Tuesday, the day after he was one of 14 priests named in a $22 million settlement between the Archdiocese of Hartford and 43 people who alleged sexual misconduct. Przybylo is the only one of the 14 still active in the ministry.
In his place for the day was Monsignor Gerard G. Schmitz, a seminary classmate of Przybylo's and the archdiocese's vicar for priests. Schmitz spoke of a difficult and painful day - for the parish, for the church, for Przybylo, for his alleged victims and for their families.
And for people like Katherine Carlman.
"He is a great priest, and I was looking forward to hearing one of his sermons today, because he speaks so well and he's so inspirational that, on this feast day, it would have been nice to hear him speak," Carlman said after a Mass that drew about 70 people. "So we missed him in church today."