Vatican Orders Harlem Priest Wallace Harris, Accused Child Molester, to Life of Penance
By Larry Mcshane
A prominent Harlem pastor who dodged prison despite charges of molesting 10 high school kids was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance by the Vatican. Monsignor Wallace Harris, once the highest-ranking black cleric in the Archdiocese of New York, received the lesser of two possible punishments from Rome, said archdiocese spokesman Joe Zwilling. The popular priest — who arranged Pope Benedict’s jam-packed 2008 Mass in Yankee Stadium — could have been defrocked. Instead, “he’s living in a church-run facility, under very, very close supervision,” Zwilling said Thursday. “He is not allowed to act as a priest. He is not allowed to present himself as a priest. “His actions are carefully monitored, and he has been assigned as a priest to a life of prayer and penance.” Zwilling said the Vatican’s ruling was the final, formal acknowledgment of the archdiocesan investigation that led to Harris’ resignation from St. Charles Borromeo Church in September 2010. Harris, a one-time possible candidate for bishop, was accused by an NYPD officer and nine other men of molesting them while they were attending Cathedral Preparatory Seminary. Harris was a teacher at the West Side high school in the 1980s. He became pastor at the W. 141st St. church in 1989, and later gave the invocation at Gov. David Paterson’s inauguration. The now 64-year-old priest avoided prosecution by the Manhattan district attorney because the statute of limitations in the case had expired. Zwilling said the Vatican did not explain its decision to allow Harris to stay on as an ordained priest, although he said that sometimes age or illness are factors in handing down punishment. Contact: lmcshane@nydailynews.com
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