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Accused
Gallup Priest Removed from Ministry
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola Gallup Independent
January 29, 2014
http://gallupindependent.com/
GALLUP — A priest working in the Diocese of Gallup has
been removed from ministry because of a recently reported
credible accusation of abuse that allegedly took place decades
ago.
The Rev. Timothy Conlon, O.S.C., a member of the
Crosier Fathers and Brothers religious order, was removed from
his two Diocese of Gallup rural Arizona parishes over the
weekend.
“The alleged abuse took place approximately 40 years
ago in North Dakota before Fr. Conlon was ordained a priest, but
has just been reported to Church authorities and the Crosiers,”
media official Lisa Cassidy stated in a news release issued by
the Crosier Province of Phoenix Monday. “The Crosiers have not
been aware of any other claims of sexual misconduct against a
minor by Fr. Conlon previous to this report.”
According to a letter Gallup Bishop James S. Wall sent
to his priests Monday, reports of the two credible accusations
of sexual abuse came from the Diocese of Fargo, N.D.
Crosier Prior Provincial Thomas Enneking, O.S.C., and
Wall removed Conlon from ministry. The Crosier news release
stated law enforcement has been informed of the allegation, but
it did not name the specific law enforcement agency.
Conlon has been working in the Gallup Diocese since
November 2011, according to Wall’s letter. Conlon has served as
the parish administrator at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
in St. Johns and San Rafael Parish in Concho. The Crosier news
release said Conlon was in the process of becoming an official
Diocese of Gallup priest through incardination into the diocese.
Conlon was a crime victim himself April 15, 2010,
while he served as the pastor of the Sacred Heart Parish in
South Phoenix for the Phoenix Diocese. When one of Conlon’s
parish employees was stabbed multiple times by an assailant off
the street, Conlon came to her assistance and was also stabbed
repeatedly. Both Conlon and his parish employee were
hospitalized for their injuries. Their assailant, Carlos Miguel
Manriquez, was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault.
According to Catholic media reports at the time of the
attack, Conlon joined the Crosiers about 40 years ago and was
ordained a priest in 1979. He has worked in ministries in
Nebraska, New York and Arizona. Conlon was the vicar for
Hispanic ministry for the Phoenix Diocese and was the national
director of the fundraising Crosier Campaign.
Crosier Province officials have requested anyone aware
of sexual misconduct by a Crosier priest or religious brother to
contact the province at 602-443-7100.
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