Father Wadeson Reinstated After "Re-examination" Clears his Name, by Janela Carrera, Pacific News Center (April 15, 2015)

Father Wadeson was ousted last year after it was discovered that he had been previously accused of sexual molestation.

Guam - Outsted priest Father John Wadeson will be reinstated to the ministry at the Archdiocese of Agana after the Archdiocese of Los Angeles appeared to have cleared his name for the record.

Father Wadeson was removed from the Archdiocese of Agana after it was revealed that he had twice been accused of sexual molestation in the 1990s. The issue blew up in the local community as some accused the Archdiocese of turning a blind eye to Father Wadeson’s history.

His name appeared on a list of accused priests in 2004 and he was even banned from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

However, in a statement issued yesterday, the local Archdiocese says the Los Angeles Archdiocese cleared Father Wadeson’s name noting that a re-examination was conducted last year and they concluded that no settlement was made and Father Wadeson was never convicted. As a result, he remains a priest in good stsanding.

On April 10, 2015 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles in its weekly diocesan newspaper, The Tidings, published a report stating the Archdiocese of Los Angeles had conducted a thorough re-examination of the whole issue concerning the alleged accusations against Father John H. Wadeson. The Tidings made the announcement in its print edition. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has concluded that there is no reason to preclude Father Wadeson from serving in priestly ministry showing that all the rumors and alleged calumnies against him were unfounded. The Archdiocese of Agana therefore announces that Fr. John Wadeson has been reinstated fully to public ministry according to a decree dated April 13, 2015.

(The notification that Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles sent to Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, OFM, Cap. D.D. is included below, verbatim)

The name of Rev. John H. Wadeson was included in the Archdiocese’s “Report to the people of God” issued in 2004. In 2014 at the request of Father Wadeson a reexamination of the matter was conducted. In relation to accusations first made in 1992 concerning alleged sexual misconduct in the 1970’s against Father Wadeson, then a member of the Society of the Divine Word [SVD], the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is aware that the allegation was investigated by the Society at the time and was not verified. No settlement was offered or paid by the Archdiocese or, as far as it knows, by the Society. Having reviewed the documentation presented by Father Wadeson, and following the 2014 reexamination, the Archdiocese has concluded that there is no reason to preclude Father Wadeson from serving in priestly ministry. For this reason Father John Wadeson remains, to the knowledge of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a priest in good standing.