Support Group: Bishop Owes Details on Suspended Priest

By Rick Mills
Morning Sun
July 7, 2015

http://www.themorningsun.com/general-news/20150707/support-group-bishop-owes-details-on-suspended-priest

A nationwide support group for people abused by priests says Catholic Church officials should provide further details about a Mt. Pleasant priest suspended for improper behavior.

Parishioners need to know the nature of what the Rev. Denis M. Hearnes did and releasing the facts could also ensure that any potential crimes are investigated, said David Clohessy, director of the Missouri-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“Saginaw’s bishop owes parishioners and the public more information about a just-suspended priest,” Clohessy said in a press release. “We hope the local Catholic hierarchy will be more honest about the allegations.”

Hearnes, priest at St. Mary’s University Parish in Mt. Pleasant, was put on administrative leave for inappropriate behavior related to his ministry, Bishop Joseph R. Cistone of the Saginaw Diocese said Monday.

Cistone said the suspension was due to “boundary violations” that surfaced last week.

Cistone did not go into detail on what boundary violations were committed or who was harmed, but assured parishioners and the public that they did not involve children.

Clohessy, whose SNAP group is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims, blasted Cistone’s use of the term “boundary violations” instead of more specific details.

“Cistone’s deliberately choosing to keep his flock in the dark by using a vague and confusing term,” Clohessy said.

“Fr. Heames may have broken church law. But he also may have violated secular law. If Cistone refuses to be specific, citizens and Catholics might not be able to help police and prosecutors pursue Fr. Heames, and a potential criminal may walk free.”

Cistone announced the suspension of Hearnes first to his congregation over the weekend and then in a press release on the Diocese’s official website on Monday.

“Last weekend, it was brought to my attention that Father Heames has been involved in boundary violations related to his priestly conduct serious enough to require appropriate assessment and treatment,” Cistone told parishioners at St. Mary University Parish.

Besides saying that children were not involved, Cistone provided no details on what happened.

“It is important to assure you that these actions in no way involved minors,” Cistone said. “Nonetheless, peoples’ lives have been affected and Father Heames will need to address these matters in a comprehensive way.”

Cistone said the diocese cannot yet address Father Heames’ future ministry and that church officials are making arrangements to ensure the Sacramental and administrative needs of the parish are met, the press release said.

“Even as priests, we still deal with weaknesses and sin as any other person,” Bishop Cistone said. “It greatly distresses me to know that any person entrusted to our care has been harmed by a minister of our church.”

Clohessy, meanwhile, called for anyone who knows what happened to contact authorities and not just church officials.

“We beg anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes or misdeeds in the Saginaw area – whether by Fr. Heames or other church officials – to call secular authorities, not church officials. Speaking up protects the vulnerable,” he said.

Heames was assigned as parochial administrator of St. Mary’s University Parish in 2012 and also appointed as adjutant judicial vicar for the Diocese of Saginaw. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2008 and his first assignment was as associate pastor at Sacred Heart in Mt. Pleasant.