5 Priests Are Defrocked in Philadelphia

By Jon Hurdle
New York Times
May 4, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/05/us/5-priests-are-defrocked-in-philadelphia.html?_r=1

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia spoke at a news conference on Friday.

PHILADELPHIA — The Roman Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia announced Friday that five priests under investigation for sexual abuse would be permanently removed from ministry, while three other priests had been exonerated. The 8 were among 26 priests who were suspended in early 2011 because of past accusations of sexual abuse or improper sexual behavior.

The five who will be removed were deemed "unsuitable for ministry," while the other three may return to active ministry immediately, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, announcing his first major action in the scandals since he took office last fall.

His predecessor, Cardinal Justin Rigali, suspended the 26 priests after a withering grand jury report in February 2011 accused the archdiocese of allowing as many as 37 priests to keep working, and remain in possible contact with children, despite "substantial evidence of abuse."

At a news conference, Archbishop Chaput said that one of the priests in the grand jury report had died, and that church officials had not yet reached conclusions about 17 others. Six of those priests are still under criminal investigation by the Philadelphia district attorney's office.

Eight other priests never named in the report were exonerated last year. Two others had already left the archdiocese.

The announcements were a small step forward for the 1.5-million member Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which has been racked by charges that widespread abuses were ignored, even as it struggles with contentious cutbacks in neighborhood Catholic schools and parishes.

"We cannot change the past, but I pray and I do believe that the lessons of the last year have made the church humbler, wiser and a more vigilant guardian of our children's safety," Archbishop Chaput said.

The grand jury allegations were especially shocking to many church members because they suggested that priests under investigation for abuse were still wearing the cloth years after the national church had declared a zero-tolerance policy.

When the suspensions were announced in February and March 2011, church critics called them long overdue and evidence of official failure to act. But many priests and church supporters called them an overreaction to bad publicity, unfairly tarring priests who had not been credibly accused of crimes.

Some priests had been accused of serious sexual abuse, others of "boundary issues" violations like improper sexual conversations or light physical contact.

The grand jury report led to criminal charges against Msgr. William J. Lynn, who was responsible for looking into abuse claims but, it alleged, had been more concerned with shielding the church from scandal. Monsignor Lynn, the most senior church official in the country to be criminally indicted in the sexual abuse scandal, is on trial in Philadelphia on charges of conspiracy and child endangerment. He has pleaded not guilty.

At least one priest who was declared unfit this week has told friends that he is angry and innocent, and will appeal the decision.

Asked to describe his meetings with the priests whose investigations have concluded, Archbishop Chaput said they were "difficult, very difficult." For those found suitable for ministry, he said, "there was great relief and joy."

The five defrocked priests will be under permanent supervision from now on, the archbishop said, "leading lives of prayer and penance and not allowed to wear a collar." He added, "Minimally, it would require a process of monitoring for the rest of their lives."

The five will not face criminal charges, said Tasha Jamerson, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, because the statute of limitations had run out by the time of the grand jury report.

Barbara Blaine, the president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said Friday, "We are shocked that 14 months after a grand jury raised concerns over 37 accused priests, only eight of these cases are resolved."