Rockville Centre Resources – October 2002

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17 Suits Name Former Priest in Sex Abuse

By the New York Times
October 4, 2002

Boston, October 3 -- The defrocked priest at the center of a sexual abuse scandal here was named as a defendant today in 17 new civil lawsuits, filed by men who say he sexually abused them as children.

The plaintiffs said the abuse by the former priest, John J. Geoghan, took place from 1964 to 1996, when they were 7 to 15 years old. Mr. Geoghan is serving a 9-to-10-year sentence for groping a 10-year-old boy in 1991.

Mitchell Garabedian, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said they, including one plaintiff who is now 17, were groped, molested and raped.

The lawsuits also implicate 20 other clergy members who worked with Mr. Geoghan or supervised him. They include Cardinal Bernard F. Law, Bishop William Murphy, and retired Bishop Joseph Maguire of the Diocese of Springfield, Mass., who are named as defendants in two suits each, and Bishop Thomas V. Daily, who is named in six of the suits.

Mr. Garabedian said that 141 claims, most of them now settled, had been brought against Mr. Geoghan since 1994. Today's suits, with two filed in June, bring to 19 the number of civil suits pending against him. Last month Mr. Garabedian reached a $10 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Boston in 86 cases against Mr. Geoghan.

Mr. Geoghan also has two criminal trials pending, one set to begin Dec. 2. He is charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child in one trial and two counts of child rape in the other.

Mr. Garabedian, who declined to discuss any possible settlements of the latest suits, said evidence would show that while Mr. Geoghan was supposedly on sick leave from St. Joseph's parish in Boston's Hyde Park neighborhood, he was actually being considered for work in another parish while being treated for pedophilia.

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Boston, Donna Morrissey, said, "We haven't seen the lawsuits that have been filed, but we are committed to settling all lawsuits in a fair and equitable manner."

One plaintiff, Douglas Fage, 45, says he was groped at age 10 or 11 by Mr. Geoghan at St. Paul's in Hingham, Mass. He said he was bringing suit against Mr. Geoghan for the safety of children, including his 16-year-old son.

"Hopefully with all this coming out I won't have to worry about my son going into a church," Mr. Fage said.

[Photo Caption: John J. Geoghan, a defrocked priest, is again accused of abuse. (Pool Photo by Kevin Wisniewski)]

COMMENTARY:
LI Bishop's Mansion: Biggest Waste of Money, Bar Nun

By Jimmy Breslin
Long Island (NY) Newsday
October 8, 2002

I must apologize today to William Murphy, whose job for now is bishop of the Rockville Centre diocese on Long Island. He is about one strong voice coming out to lead the betrayed away from being gone. But until then, I correct all errors.

I wrote that the convent at St. Agnes Cathedral that he was taking over for a huge private residence had room for 36 apartments.

That was wrong, and I admit it. It made the bishop mad, and it should have. He said my figure of 36 apartments wasn't fair or just. He is right. I never should have said 36 apartments.

The convent has room for 37 apartments.

A housing specialist, Ed Ward, points out that once 56 nuns lived in the St. Agnes convent and therefore the number of apartments, 37, is correct.

Some months ago, there were only six nuns left and Murphy moved them out in favor of opulence. There were only six nuns left because virtually no young women or young men are entering the religious orders. The people at the top are the cause of it.

This is why he is known as Mansion Murphy and he goes beyond a matter of some local bishop drowning in greed. He is a symbol of why, the land over, this has turned into the rustiest church of all.

The amount of money that Murphy is spending on rooms for himself is an embarrassment. One thing he doesn't have to worry about is feeling ashamed. He is devoid of that. The renovation work the bishop has ordered will cost over $5 million, including the $1.6 million for placing gold plating on the brass pipes of the church organ.

You've got to be crazy to give the place any money. When you go past St. Agnes, clutch your purse or keep your hands in your pockets.

Murphy said the convent was "close to the cathedral, which is my cathedral, and if it makes sense that I could be close to my cathedral, then I should be." In New York, one of the oldest expressions is "the super in my building." It is a way of talk. Murphy appears to believe it. "My cathedral."

The bishop is making three spaces on the third floor of the convent. One is for himself: a bedroom, marble bath, sitting room and large study. In the sitting room are two exquisite armchairs that are in front of a fireplace. Both chairs appear equal to the task of absorbing a direct hit by a big bishop coming straight down.

But some good side to side swaying of the same real avoirdupois could splinter the arms of the chairs.

There is a dining room with a new table and 12 upholstered chairs. Murphy can sit and tell 11 people at once about himself.

A second suite is for Murphy's secretary. All you have to do is call out from the study and the secretary rushes in ready to do anything. Murphy also is going to have a suite that he refers to as "the cardinal's suite." He must think that he can house Cardinal Law of Boston, who is going to be run out of there for sure, and soon. Law, Murphy and Daily of Brooklyn were in the diocese headquarters in Boston, in charge, when pedophiles like Geoghan and Shanley were being transferred from parish to parish to savage the young.

Murphy can't think of himself becoming a cardinal with his record. But he can see himself and Law observing the evening from the long covered porch of the convent and gazing at the sweeping lawns and toasting each other.

The one part of the renovation that causes concern is the kitchen. He says he spent $120,000 on a Sub-Zero refrigerator and freezer unit and a six-burner Viking professional range. That is reasonable for a single millionaire. But an adjoining pantry has an under-counter temperature-controlled wine-storage cabinet that can hold 50 bottles.

Now that is a lot of wine, even for a church.

The special temperature cabinet has a top shelf set at 45 degrees, for white wine and champagne, and a lower shelf set at 55 degrees for red wine.

By heritage, Irish, even Irish bishops, are not very good at wine. Never have I heard anybody with an Irish name announce, "I'm going to stop for a good glass of wine."

I know that wine is 12 percent alcohol. And if you get into bottles of it, get 10, 12 glasses down, get going good, you have maybe 144 percent alcohol somewhere in there.

Then you have that marble bathroom where a guest who trips can have this head up for grabs.

Mansion Murphy now has this obscene big house in Rockville Centre, and the dizzy judgment to show the place off.

Mike Bloomberg took Gracie Mansion in New York out of the dreams of these grubby politicians whose only reason to run for mayor has been to live in the place. Rather than live in the house, he has turned it into a museum. Mansion Murphy could surpass this. He could get out and turn his convent into 37 apartments instead of living there alone and talking about himself all night.

Once again, keep your money clear of this man.

One Bishop’s High Cost of Living

By Dick Ryan
National Catholic Reporter (NY)
October 25, 2002

http://www.natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives/102502/102502d.htm

It all began when Newsday’s Jimmy Breslin wrote a column criticizing Bishop William Murphy of the Rockville Centre diocese on Long Island for spending more than $5 million on renovations for St. Agnes Cathedral that included a palatial residence for himself.

The residence has been constructed on the old convent building’s third floor, which initially was being renovated for the six Dominican sisters who lived there but who had moved out while the renovations were in progress. When the convent was first built in the 1930s, it was able to house 56 Dominican sisters who established and taught in the St. Agnes elementary and high schools, but that number had dwindled to six in recent years.

In 2000, the year that the late James McHugh was bishop, the parish had made an arrangement under which the third floor would be renovated to meet the needs of the remaining nuns and the first two floors and basement would be converted to parish offices.

However, when Murphy first came to Rockville Centre a year ago, he was not satisfied living in the cathedral rectory because it lacked privacy. He thought that a separate house originally donated by the family of the late Bishop Walter Kellenberg was not large enough to entertain visiting prelates or other dignitaries.

So the bishop decided to ask the sisters to find quarters elsewhere so that he could renovate the convent’s top floor to suit his own tastes and perceived needs. The original estimate of $500,000 for construction and furnishings for his new residence has since ballooned to $800,000.

“The sisters, I think, were disappointed,” Murphy told a Newsday reporter recently, “but a disappointment they expressed with great generosity. They understood my dilemma.”

Sr. Virginia McGuire, who was prioress of the Dominican Congregation of the Holy Cross at the time said, told Newsday, “It’s a difficult thing to say no to the bishop, but the question was asked.”

Fr. James Kelly, cathedral rector, was quoted in the Newsday story as saying, “Most people have a fond spot in their heart for the sisters, they bore the heat of the day, they lived simple lives and were heroic in their witness.”

Breslin had written earlier that the 5,000-square-foot top floor was large enough to have 36 apartments and could easily be used for other purposes, an observation that Murphy branded as “misinformation” that wasn’t “fair or just.”

It was at this point that the bishop decided to invite a Newsday reporter and photographer to the residence that he moved into in early October so that the record could speak for itself. If the public reaction by Catholics is any indication, that decision may have been ill-advised.

With a ‘cardinal’s suite’

Complete with photographs of a lavishly decorated living room, a new fireplace with an oak mantel and a kitchen that features top-of-the-line appliances and equipment, the story describes in detail the private wing in the residence. This includes the bishop’s bedroom and marble bath, a bedroom and study for his secretary, Fr. Joseph DeGrocco and a separate suite called “the cardinal’s suite.” A public wing has a fourth bedroom for visiting laity.

The ceiling in the dining room has been lowered at additional expense so that a chandelier could be installed. An extra $120,000 was spent on three Oriental rugs and a new table was bought for the dining area along with 12 specially upholstered chairs. The Murphys’ personal art collection adds to the design.

Aside from all the most modern appliances, the kitchen has a double Sub-Zero refrigerator with an adjoining pantry that has an under-counter temperature-controlled wine storage cabinet for 50 bottles of wine. The top shelf in the cabinet is set at 45 degrees for champagne and white wine while the lower shelf is set at 55 degrees for red wine. There is a six-burner Viking professional range.

Originally, the estimated cost for the convent renovation, gold gilding for the cathedral’s organ pipes and a new parish center (still unfinished) was set at $5.5 million according to the Newsday report. So far, $4.7 million has been pledged while only $2.7 has been collected.

“The convent was already under renovation, and it was close to the cathedral,” Murphy explained to the reporter, “which, of course, is my cathedral and it makes sense that if I could be close to my cathedral, I should be.”

After the story broke, one angry Catholic wrote to Newsday, “On behalf of practicing Catholics in the Rockville Centre diocese, I would like to remind Bishop William Murphy of one simple fact: St. Agnes Cathedral is not his cathedral; it belongs to all of the members of the diocese.”

Another wrote, “Thank you, Bishop Murphy, for so clearly demonstrating the arrogance of the current leadership within the Roman Catholic church. That arrogance, combined with the leadership’s cultural ignorance, will be significant in redefining the role of the Catholic church in our society.”

If the bishop thought that a story in Newsday, with pictures, would clear the air and correct “misinformation,” another story was about to break that would compound his problems in the community. A few days after the story about his new residence appeared, it was reported that Catholic Charities in the Rockville Centre diocese is terminating a $1.1 million home care program that will no longer serve 500 indigent, mentally ill people on Long Island. The service will end in December. Catholic Charities attributed its decision to “mounting expenses.”

“It’s interesting that our deficit [$140,000] is about the same amount as what the church is spending on the kitchen appliances and Oriental rugs in the [bishop’s] residence,” Kate Bishop, the program’s coordinator, fumed to the press. “Our mission is to serve people who are marginalized and disenfranchised. For them to turn around, with no notice, and end the program, is horrible.”

This is not the first time that the Rockville Centre diocese has come under criticism for its financial priorities. A few months ago, Murphy drew some fire when he hired Howard Rubenstein Associates, one of the most high-powered, and high-priced, public relations firms in the country to develop public relations strategies in the wake of the priests’ sex abuse scandal. It may have been Rubenstein who advised Murphy to invite the press to describe his new residence for the public. (* see clarification box below)

A new monastery

The bishop has also announced plans to invite 12 contemplative nuns from Nigeria to come to the diocese and establish a monastery in which they will devote all their energies to praying for vocations. As part of the plan, he hopes to “find generous lay faithful who will help us build them a new monastery.” As for the six sisters displaced by the new residence, two were elderly and are living in the order’s main convent in Amityville; the others are temporarily living in a convent in Hicksville.

If there had been any consideration that Murphy would offer the Kellenberg house to the sisters to compensate for the loss of their convent, that was squelched when the bishop expressed his intention to sell the Kellenberg house to defray some of the renovation costs for his residence.

Perhaps in answer to the angry outcry following the news about his new residence, the cutback in Catholic Charities services and his expensive public relations efforts, Murphy recently informed all his priests that, “one of my principal tasks in the next 12 months is to focus on better communications.”

As part of this, he has also announced ambitious plans for the diocese’s first synod that will allow people to share their ideas and thoughts on everything from parish councils to fund-raising and even building projects. According to the bishop, the synod “must involve as many people as possible through listening sessions, feedback, collating of suggestions and ideas.”