Archdiocesan Files of Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham
Reply by McCormack to St. Ann's Parishioner

April 14, 1987

Rev. John B. McCormack had been asked by Cardinal Law to answer a parishioner's letter to Law that cited an allegation against Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham and expressed concern about Birmingham's possible behavior toward the parishioner's son. McCormack stated that Birmingham "assured me that there is absolutely no factual basis to your concern regarding your son and him. From my knowledge of Father Birmingham and my relationship with him, I feel he would tell me the truth." However, two months before, Bishop Mulcahy had met with a different boy who claimed to have been abused by Birmingham at St. Ann's. The boy's mother said that "another boy might be involved with Fr. Birmingham." Bishop Banks discussed the allegation with Birmingham, who "admitted there had been some difficulty" and agreed to resign. Mulcahy's and Banks's reports of those meetings are in the Birmingham file, and were presumably there when McCormack wrote the response below.

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