Bishop Discusses Abuse Allegations

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Gallup Independent
December 10, 2012

http://www.gallupindependent.com/Independent/Index.html

GALLUP — Less than a month after Bishop James S. Wall took the helm of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, he made national news with the issuance of just one news release.

More than three years later, during a one-hour interview Nov. 16, Wall offered some surprising revisions to that statement.

On May 12, 2009, Wall issued a news release announcing he was “undertaking an evaluation process of files of all priests who are, or have, conducted ministry in the diocese.” One of the purposes of the review, it stated, was to determine whether or not the Gallup Diocese had the “necessary information on its priests,” including current background checks and “information that pertains to credible and verifiable accounts of abuse of children, youth, and vulnerable adults.”

Under the heading “Informing the Public of Action Taken,” the release stated, “Upon the conclusion of this current review process of priest personnel files, the diocese will post on its Web site a list of priests, if any, who have been removed from ministry. Information posted and provided to the public may contain the name of the priest removed and past assignments.”

That seemed straightforward enough at the time, and it made headlines across the country.

New assertions

However, during his recent interview, Wall made some new assertions that seemed to contradict those statements made in 2009.

Wall was asked why he has yet to post the names of sexually abusive priests on the diocesan website.

“I never said that I would,” Wall said. “But the names, as you know, that are out there in the public are the names that the diocese has already released.”

To the contrary, there are 19 diocesan and religious order priests who have worked in the diocese who have been publicly accused of the sexual abuse of minors. Only eight of those names were first released by Gallup diocesan officials. The other 11 were identified through police reports, court records, media investigations and other Catholic dioceses.

And exactly what clergy members were removed from ministry and who was formally laicized by the Catholic Church is still unknown because that complete information has not been released.

Boland’s removal

One priest who was very publicly removed from ministry was the Rev. John Boland. His removal in early 2009 by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, Gallup’s temporary apostolic administrator, sparked the review of the diocesan personnel files after Olmsted discovered Boland had been arrested in Winslow on a sex abuse allegation in 1983.

Boland eventually signed a plea agreement to a lesser charge and returned to ministry. But after Olmsted removed him, Boland’s guilt or innocence continues to be debated within the diocese. Wall, however, said he believes the initial allegation was credible.

“I do because he’s out of ministry,” Wall said.

When asked about three other alleged victims in Winslow who have reportedly leveled abuse allegations against Boland in recent years, Wall would only talk about the 1983 case because he said he is not free to discuss ongoing litigation.

The Diocese of Gallup doesn’t make announcements when new abuse allegations are filed or when it negotiates out-of-court settlements with victims, so Catholics in the pews and the general public are left in the dark as to the real numbers of abuse allegations, like those newer ones against Boland.

Wall said the release of that information is up to the alleged victims and their attorneys.

“I don’t think that’s been our policy in the past to do that,” he said. “If somebody does make a settlement, I mean they’re free to make those announcements. That hasn’t been ours.”

Proper authorities

Wall said alleged victims can also take their allegations to law enforcement officials.

“If it’s an ongoing allegation, ... people are free to bring those forward to the proper authorities,” Wall said. “When we’re dealing with a case, we have to help discern whether this is a credible accusation or not as well.”

Although Wall repeatedly said the diocese turns over credible accusations to the authorities, no police report, court record or law enforcement agency has ever indicated the Gallup Diocese has reported a sex abuse allegation.

Navajo County in Arizona is home to many alleged abuse victims, particularly in Winslow. When contacted this week, Navajo County Sheriff K.C. Clark and Lt. Jim Sepi of the Winslow Police Department verified they have never received abuse allegation information from the diocese. Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon answered similarly when contacted in 2010.

Wall said he would not be willing to allow prosecutors in Arizona or New Mexico to go through diocesan personnel files because it would be unfair to the many good priests who have had no credible accusation made against them.

“I wouldn’t, and I think it’s ... unfair and unjust for anyone to do that,” Wall said. “If ... it were court ordered or the authorities said we had to then we would have to. We would have to comply with the law. But I just think that’s unfair.”

Therapy dispute

Wall was asked about the public dispute between Phoenix attorney Robert E. Pastor and the diocese over the payment of therapy fees for three of Pastor’s clients, all alleged clergy abuse victims. Pastor said Deacon Jim Hoy, the diocese’s chief financial officer, had written a letter putting a $2,000 cap on therapy funds for his clients.

“It is the policy of the Diocese of Gallup to help with counseling for individuals but the Diocese does not have the financial resources to make open-ended commitments to pay for counseling,” Hoy wrote in the letter dated May 21. “Due to its financial constraints, the Diocese has had to put a cap of $2,000 per claimant on what it can contribute toward the cost of counseling.”

“We don’t have a therapy limit as in terms of policy,” Wall said. “But what we request, through our victim assistance coordinator, is that they give us good feedback, they provide us with information pretty much how the progress of therapy is going. And ... we don’t have a lot of money to be able to spend. And we want to be able to make sure that we can use those resources well, so if we do have any future alleged victims that we are able to also reach out and minister to them as well.”

Wall did strike a conciliatory note with abuse victims.

“I think ... child abuse, whether it’s within the church or it’s outside the church, is horrific,” he said. “And it ... shatters people’s lives. And when it takes place within the church, and perhaps it’s at the hands of a priest — somebody who’s trusted — it can do a lot of damage, an awful lot of damage. And I just think that’s a horrible, tragic situation. And unfortunately, you see people’s lives kind of spiraling out of control because of the abuse at the hands of someone else.”