Report: Charges Pending against Upper Merion Priest

Main Line
July 27, 2012

http://mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2012/07/26/king_of_prussia_courier/news/doc5011fe9882ee0500692106.txt

Criminal charges were pending against an unnamed priest at Sacred Heart Church on Thursday evening, Fox 29 News reported on Thursday afternoon.

The pending charges are related to an alleged sexual assault that took place in the 1990s, according to the news report.

Neither Philadelphia police, Upper Merion police nor Fox 29 News have identified the priest. The Times Herald has not independently confirmed that a priest has been charged. Fox 29 had earlier tweeted that a priest had been arrested but that tweet has since been removed.

The Rev. Tadeusz Gorka, who has been serving at Sacred Heart Church as parochial administrator since July 2, had not been arrested, according to a woman who answered the telephone at the church late Thursday afternoon.

The Rev. Andrew D. McCormick, who was put on administrative leave in 2011, had not been arrested, McCormick confirmed.

McCormick was identified in a March 2011 grand jury report as one of 21 priests put on administrative leave by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Then-Cardinal Justin Rigali said at the time that there was no presumption of guilt for any priest identified in the report.

McCormick has been living in Pottstown, he said Thursday afternoon in a brief telephone interview. He said parishioners had called his business manager in response to the news item originally reported by Fox 29 News.

Philadelphia Police Officer Jillian Russell confirmed late Thursday that McCormick had not been arrested by Philadelphia police.

Upper Merion Police Lt. Jim Early said there had not been an arrest of a priest in Bridgeport or Upper Merion as of late Thursday.

The Times Herald will continue to update this story as information becomes available.