BishopAccountability.org
	Groups Seek Grand Jury Probe of Diocese Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests March 28, 2011 http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_press_releases/2011_press_releases/032811_groups_seek_grand_jury_probe_of_diocese.htm WHAT Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will call on -- Rhode Island's attorney general to launch a full scale grand jury investigation into clergy sex crimes and cover up by the Providence diocese, and -- Rhode Island's Catholic bishop to --seek out others who may have been hurt by a former Catholic priest who was convicted of molesting at least one child, and --post on his website the names of all credibly accused child molesting clerics. WHEN Monday, March 28, 10 a. m. WHERE Outside the chancery of the Providence Catholic diocesan headquarters ("chancery") One Cathedral Square, in downtown Providence RI WHO The national director of a survivors' self-help group called SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) and the co-director of a Boston-based research group called BishopAccountability.org WHY Three weeks ago, for the second time in recent years, Philadelphia prosecutors released results of a lengthy grand jury investigation into the Catholic hierarchy there. These two groups want a similar probe launched into clergy se crimes and cover ups in the Providence diocese. Last August, a civil lawsuit was filed by two men who charge that they were sexually assaulted by a priest, Fr. John Francis Dority, from 1966 to 1972 beginning when they were ages 10 and 13. The suit is still pending although Catholic officials have failed to disclose it or the allegations against Dority. Documents about Dority's alleged sexual assaults will be made public today for the first time. They show that Dority was convicted in 2005 of molesting a 12-year-old RI boy. His arrest was reported by the Providence Journal Bulletin in September 2003. (At the time, Dority lived in Woonsocket) But his status as a Roman Catholic priest, and the existence of other accusers, has not been revealed until now. According to the state's sex offender registry, Dohirty was released from prison in 2007 and he now lives in Coventry, Connecticut. BishopAccountability.org and SNAP will call on Bishop Thomas Tobin to disclose whether Dority worked as a priest in Rhode Island, warn the public about him, and aggressively seek out any others who may have seen suspected or suffered his crimes. According to the Official Catholic Directory, Dority belongs to a New York-based religious order known as the Franciscans (technically, the Order of Friars Minor, Province of the Most Holy Name), which has long run the popular St. Francis Chapel, now at 275 Westminster Street, Providence. Besides Massachusetts, Dority also worked at Catholic churches New York, New Jersey and Brazil. His victims are represented by Boston attorney Carmen Durso (617-728-9123). SNAP and BishopAccountability.org will also urge Bishop Tobin to finally make public a list of priests accused of child sexual abuse. Twenty-four other US bishops already have published such lists: http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AtAGlance/lists.htm In January 2007, in an obscure court document (LINKED BELOW), Tobin admitted that the diocese has received allegations of child sexual abuse against 125 of its priests since 1970. This means that more than 10% of Providence priests are alleged child molesters. There are 195 US dioceses, and only four or five have a documented accused priest percentage as high as Providence's. http://www.bishop-accountability.org/docs/providence/2007_01_09_Young_v_Gelineau_Tobin_Petition_Certiorari/Tobin_01.htm On its website BishopAccountabilty.org lists, by name, some 29 publicly accused Providence diocese child molesting clerics. (The actual number is likely much higher because only clerics against whom allegations have been lodged in the public domain – in civil lawsuits, criminal prosecution or news accounts – are listed. CONTACT Anne Barrett Doyle, BishopAccountability.org, 781-439-5208, barrett.doyle@comcast.net, David Clohessy, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, 314-566-9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com
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