Archdiocesan
Files of Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham
Notes by Sr. Catherine E. Mulkerrin | Page 1
October 13, 1992
These notes report a phone call from Sr. Grace Kenning SND, who had been contacted
by a Boston Globe reporter investigating reports that Rev. Joseph E.
Birmingham sexually abused boys at St. James parish in Salem MA, where Kenning
had been principal at the parish school and had "handled things discreetly."
The notes summarize some of Kenning's memories about the situation. Eight to
ten boys had been "fondled," and Kenning had met with Rev. John J.
Jennings, head of the Priests' Personnel Board, to discuss the allegations.
She told Jennings that Birmingham should not be near any children. She also
arranged for the boys to see a local doctor, who met them as a group and concluded
that "no boy had been severely harmed."
[Back to Birmingham
document list, the main
Birmingham page, and BishopAccountability.org
home.]
