BishopAccountability.org
	Former Bishop Feared Scandal over Paquette By Sam Hemingway Burlington Free Press August 15, 2008 http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080815/NEWS02/808150319/-1/NEWS05 Bishop John Marshall in the late 1970s feared what would happen to the state's Roman Catholic diocese if people knew he had employed a priest who was molesting altar boys, a former diocesan chancellor acknowledged Thursday. Monsignor John McSweeney made the admission under questioning by Jerome O'Neill, an attorney representing a Waits- field man who has sued the diocese, claiming that, as an altar boy in the late 1970s, he was molested by the Rev. Edward Paquette. "The concern was, if the people of this diocese knew that Father Paquette and other priests were molesting boys and that Bishop Marshall was covering it up, people would leave the diocese in droves, would they not?" O'Neill asked. "That was what Bishop Marshall was worried about," McSweeney answered. Moments later, O'Neill asked McSweeney if Marshall were more concerned about a scandal than about the safety of children. "He was worried about both," McSweeney said. Marshall was the diocesan bishop between 1972 and 1992. He died in 1994. McSweeney's comments came near the end of the second day of the trial in Chittenden Superior Court in Burlington. It followed a review of court documents chronicling the hiring of Paquette by the diocese in 1972 despite reports that Paquette had molested boys at parishes in Indiana and Massachusetts. According to the lawsuit filed by the Waitsfield man, now 40, Paquette fondled him between 20 and 50 times in the sacristy at Christ the King Church in Burlington. He claims he has suffered emotional and psychological harm from the abuse, plus sexual intimacy problems. Another former Christ the King altar boy was awarded $8.7 million in damages following a six-day trial on nearly identical claims in May. The Free Press does not identify the victims of alleged sexual abuse without their consent. The diocese claims the Waitsfield man waited too long before filing his lawsuit and did not try to mitigate the impact of the abuse over the years. Diocesan lawyer Tom McCormick, in opening arguments before the six-man, six-woman jury Wednesday, argued the diocese's conduct must be judged by what people understood about pedophilia in the 1970s, not today. Paquette, now retired and living in Westfield, Mass., is not a defendant in the case. McCormick had McSweeney look over a series of documents, including letters indicating Marshall relied on advice from the Rev. Tom Kane, a church psychologist who was treating Paquette's "homosexual" impulses, in deciding what to do with Paquette. In a key exchange that took place in April 1978 as Christ the King parents were expressing outrage to Marshall about Paquette's conduct, Marshall asked Kane what he thought about Paquette's remaining at Christ the King despite the turmoil. "Our thinking is that, knowing the awareness of others concerning his problem, Father Paquette will have reason for 'self-control,'" Marshall wrote. "In view of your statement that 'Father Paquette will benefit only minimally from therapeutic intervention,' do you think that the danger of scandal is already too risky?" Kane wrote back, telling Marshall he thought the bishop's plan might work. Marshall, however, later changed his mind and suspended Paquette from his priestly duties after more parents of altar boys came to him with complaints. At one point, McCormick asked McSweeney how he would define the word "scandal" as referred to in the Marshall letter. McSweeney, as the diocese's chancellor in the 1970s, was a senior church administrator and confidant of the bishop. "It is behavior which would lead others to do bad things," McSweeney said. With state courts closed today because of Bennington Battle Day, the trial will resume Monday. Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or e-mail at shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.