Selective Memory Isn't Sacred

By Dianne Williamson
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
September 11, 2012

www.telegram.com/article/20120911/COLUMN01/109119858

[House of Affirmation - BishopAccountability.org]

Memory is a funny thing.

Over the weekend, Msgr. Thomas Sullivan told The Boston Globe that the Diocese of Worcester would never sell properties that hosted Mass to anyone who would hold a same-sex wedding.

"We wouldn't sell our churches and our properties to any of a number of things that would reflect badly on the church," he said. "These buildings are sacred to the memory of Catholics."

So much is wrong with that statement I hardly know where to begin. Neither does David Lewcon, who probably wishes that his memory wasn't so good.

"The mere fact that I'm stumbling for words pretty much says it all," Mr. Lewcon said.

First, the monsignor was speaking in reference to the House of Affirmation, a Northbridge building whose very name is synonymous with scandal, not sacred memory. Next, his statement conflicts with what he told me in July, when I asked why the diocese abruptly pulled out of negotiations with two gay men who wanted to turn the aging mansion into an inn and banquet facility.

Yesterday, James Fairbanks and Alain Beret of Sutton filed a lawsuit against diocesan officials in Worcester Superior Court that claims they were discriminated against based on their sexual orientation. The smoking gun is an email sent by Msgr. Sullivan to the diocesan broker, a day after the men made a revised offer of $550,000 for the property.

"I just went down the hall and discussed it with the bishop," Msgr. Sullivan wrote, in an email inadvertently sent to Mr. Beret. "Because of the potentiality of gay marriages there, something you shared with us yesterday, we are not interested in going forward with these buyers. I think they're shaky anyway. So, just tell them that we will not accept their revised plan and the Diocese is making new plans for the property. You find the language."

In July, when I asked Msgr. Sullivan why the deal fell through, he said, "They couldn't come up with the money. This happens all the time."

I told him that the potential buyers believed they were rejected because of the concern of gay marriages being held on the property. Was that an issue?

"No, it wasn't," Msgr. Sullivan answered. "It was an issue of them not having the financing. That was all."

That clearly wasn't all, and it will be up to a court to decide whether the diocese's action was illegal, or an allowed expression of future use for its property. But Msgr. Sullivan's outrageous claim that the House of Affirmation is among properties "sacred to the memory of Catholics" requires no judge or jury. Though founded as a counseling center for troubled priests, the House would eventually become embroiled in the clergy abuse scandal.

"For me, it's one of the least sacred places in all of Northbridge," said Mr. Lewcon, 58. He worked at the center as a teenager, and in 2002 settled a lawsuit with the diocese for $110,000 after disclosing that he was sexually assaulted when he was 16 by a priest affiliated with the center. "It's a dirty, dirty place. What went on behind the scenes, I don't even want to know about."

Mr. Lewcon is among several men who settled sexual assault lawsuits against priests closely affiliated with the House. These included the notorious Rev. Thomas Kane, founder and executive director, who operated the center based on a bogus doctoral degree. It was closed in 1987 amid financial improprieties; its victims would later refer to the center as a pedophile boot camp where children suffered repeated sexual abuse.

Sadly, there wasn't a lot of affirming going on at the House of Affirmation. If this is the building that the diocese claims holds memories so sacred that they'd be tainted by the prospect of a marriage between two loving, committed adults, it has a lot more to worry about than a lawsuit.

Contact: dwilliamson@telegram.com