Ndictment of Fitchburg Pastor Shocks Church Members

By Paula J. Owen
Telegram & Gazette
April 3, 2012

http://www.telegram.com/article/20120403/NEWS/104039937/1116

FITCHBURG — St. Joseph Parish members are grappling with feelings of shock and betrayal after the indictment last week of their former associate pastor on charges of possession of child pornography and stealing from the church.

The Rev. Lowe B. Dongor, 36, is still at large, said Timothy J. Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., as authorities with a warrant for his arrest try to find him. He is believed to have fled to his homeland, the Philippines.

In July, Rev. Dongor — the Diocese of Worcester's first Filipino priest — was placed on administrative leave and relieved of his duties from any public ministry after state police were notified by a computer service that one of Rev. Dongor's laptops contained images of girls around age 10 or 11 with their chests and genitals "prominently displayed.

The computer company copied the images to a thumb drive, stopped work on the laptop and reported its findings to police.

Additionally, during an interview on July 1, Rev. Dongor allegedly admitted to police he stole $40 to $50 at a time from the parish office to wire home to his family in the Philippines. He also allegedly admitted to paying for subscriptions to websites to access child pornography and to using search engines to find child pornography while he lived at the parish in Fitchburg from August 2010 to June 2011.

Not far from the parish, bells from St. Joseph's were audible in Doris M. Rousseau's home yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Rousseau, 94, said she attends Mass almost every morning at St. Joseph's and donates what money she can to the church. She was born in her home at Beech and Pratt streets and has been a member of St. Joseph's her entire life. She said she was shocked and saddened when she heard about Rev. Dongor's indictment.

"We trusted him," she said. "He was young and we needed new blood and a new priest to help out. It is hard to take, really. It is like I don't want to know."

Church officials, she said, were not upfront at first about why they asked Rev. Dongor to leave.

"I kind of wondered why," she said. "We needed a priest so bad."

The Bourque family lives down the street from St. Joseph. Diane B. Bourque, 67, said she and her two sisters, who also live in Fitchburg, are all members of the church.

"We were shocked," she said. "I'm glad they caught it. As far as I know, he never touched anyone."

"That we know of," added her husband, James R. Bourque, 70.

"Gladly, his stupid mistake led to the investigation — hats off to the one that reported him," Mrs. Bourque said. "Whose side was God on? He was on our side."

"I'm glad he's gone," Mr. Bourque said. "He should be brought back to face the charges and punishment he deserves."

His wife had a different view.

"He can stay there — let the Philippines deal with him," she said. "Who wants to spend thousands of dollars to (extradite) him?"

The church is directly across from 19-year-old Melissa A. Guertin's parents' house. The sophomore accounting major at Assumption College said she used to attend church there.

"It is kind of disturbing, but it seems to be going around in the church itself," she said. "I think his form of punishment is having to flee and being kicked out of the church. Priests I know go into the church because they love it and want to do that with their lives — getting kicked out is enough."

Raymond L. Delisle, spokesman for the diocese, said the church treats child pornography the same as it does sexual abuse of minors — removing anyone involved from the ministry. The diocese also notified bishops in the Philippines about Rev. Dongor, he said.

"We made it known — the charges involved and that he was not in good standing," Mr. Delisle said.

"There is going to be a lot of emotional pain for people in the church, and feelings of betrayal are the most common of all. A priest is someone you do put trust in."

As for Rev. Dongor taking money from the church, Mr. Delisle said it was a good "wake-up call" for the church to review its policies. He said church officials do not know how much money Rev. Dongor ultimately stole.

"The amount is not the issue — trust is the issue," he said. "There are over 100 parishes in Worcester County and (incidents) are very few and far between, but when they do happen, it is a wake-up call to everyone to review the system and look at if we are really following everything or becoming complacent."