Criticized Priest Is Transferred, by Terry Lee Goodrich, Fort Worth Star-Telegram [North Richland Hills TX], January 19, 2007

Criticized Priest Is Transferred

By Terry Lee Goodrich
Fort Worth Star-Telegram [North Richland Hills TX]
January 19, 2007

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/16497348.htm

The Rev. Tim Thompson, criticized for mishandling information about a priest accused of sexual abuse, has been transferred by the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese from St. John the Apostle in North Richland Hills to St. Mark Catholic Church in Denton.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a national victims' group, has said Thompson and former diocese leaders did not report to police information they knew about the Rev. Philip Magaldi, who was accused of sexual abuse of a minor in the late 1990s.

SNAP had asked that Bishop Kevin Vann discipline Thompson.

Thompson

Thompson and the Rev. Michael Olson, the diocese's vicar general, said the transfer had nothing to do with SNAP's criticism and is not a disciplinary measure.

"I respect SNAP's position that we need to take these things very seriously," Thompson said. He said he learned about the alleged abuse when "a person came in and talked to me about something someone else had said. I asked if there were any photos or evidence of child molestation and they said no. In retrospect, I might have said, 'This is something I need to talk to the police about.'"

But Olson said that "police told me that they wouldn't accept hearsay. I understand SNAP, but I don't think [the criticism] fits here."

Magaldi served at St. John the Apostle from 1993 to 1998. He retired from the ministry in 1999 after a second complaint of sexual abuse of minors. Thompson said his time at St. John the Apostle did not overlap with Magaldi's.

Thompson's transfer "sounds ironic to me," said Kristopher Galland, director of SNAP's Dallas-Fort Worth chapter. "I think the water was getting so hot they decided to move him."

The reassignment, set for the first weekend in March, falls in line with the diocese's custom of transferring priests after they have led a church for about six years, Olson said.

"St. Mark's is a young and growing church, and they're going to need a new building" before long, Olson said. He said Thompson has shown skill in leading such projects.

Thompson, who announced the move to his congregation Sunday, said church members have been supportive.

Terry Lee Goodrich, 817-685-3812 tgoodrich@star-telegram.com