December 17, 2005

Corrections/clarifications: Sundborg story contained errors

WASHINGTON
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A story in Wednesday's Seattle Post-Intelligencer about the Rev. Stephen Sundborg contained inaccuracies and an omission.

Sundborg, during his tenure as Provincial of the Northwest Jesuits, had six annual hour-long conversations with priest James Poole that Sundborg characterizes as "accounts of conscience." Sundborg says Poole was required to reveal anything in his personal life that weighed on his conscience.

Sundborg says he is bound by church law not to reveal anything in those conversations and therefore cannot say whether Poole confessed to any criminal activity.

The P-I is aware of no evidence that Poole told Sundborg he had sexually abused minors.

Sundborg says that, in other discussions with Poole, the priest discussed sexual contact with adult women but did not confess to any improper sexual activity with minors.

Sundborg stressed that, although he could not have reported the contents of the confidential conversations to law enforcement authorities or anyone else, he could have acted on any information received by reassigning Poole or by taking any other action necessary to protect other potential victims from him. The P-I story omitted that fact.

Sundborg said he could and would have forwarded any report from a third party regarding improper sexual activity with a minor to law-enforcement authorities. He said that during his time as Provincial he did not receive such a report about Poole.

Sundborg said that after allegations of improper sexual activity with 10 to 12 adult women during Poole's previous assignment in Alaska came up in the early '90s, he removed Poole from his position in Tacoma and sent him to a treatment center for troubled clerics. When Poole returned to Tacoma, Sundborg said, he was closely monitored and counseled. When accusations about assaults on minor girls during Poole's time in Alaska surfaced in 2003, after Sundborg had left the post as Provincial, Poole was removed from the ministry.

Sundborg, who is now president of Seattle University, said in a deposition relating to a lawsuit about Poole that if he had heard of criminal acts from any priest in the "accounts of conscience" while he was a Provincial, he could not have reported them to authorities. He explained to the P-I that in such a situation he would try to get the priest to speak to him in an unrestricted conversation about those acts so that he could take action, and failing that would take any steps necessary to protect others from the offending priest.

Posted by kshaw at December 17, 2005 07:45 AM