PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Archbishop Chaput makes final decisions in two more cases of priests placed on administrative leave following the February 2011 Grand Jury Report
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced today that Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., has made final decisions in two more cases of priests placed on administrative leave following the February 2011 Grand Jury Report. Priests on administrative leave are not permitted to exercise their public ministry, administer any of the Sacraments, wear clerical garb, or present themselves publicly as priests.
Archbishop Chaput has decided that Father Joseph J. Gallagher and Father Mark S. Gaspar are unsuitable for ministry due to substantiated violations of The Standards of Ministerial Behaviors and Boundaries. They will have no public ministry in the Archdiocese. They do have the right to appeal the decision to the Holy See.
Announcements were made at the parishes where both priests last served when they were placed on administrative leave in March of 2011. Follow up announcements were made at those parishes this weekend regarding the final decisions in their cases. Crisis counselors were made available.
Father Gallagher’s and Father Gaspar’s cases followed the same procedure as all other cases of priests placed on administrative leave following the February 2011 Grand Jury Report. Prior to an investigation conducted by the Multi-Disciplinary Team, the case was submitted to the appropriate local district attorney’s office. After being released by the district attorney, an investigation was conducted by the MDT. The results of the investigations were provided to the Archdiocesan Review Board (ARB), now known as the Professional Responsibility Review Board (PRRB) , which provided a recommendation to the Archbishop, who made the final decision. This rigorous investigative process involved more than 20 experts in child abuse.
Archbishop Chaput said, “As I’ve done in the past, I relied closely on the Professional Responsibility Review Board and the Multi-Disciplinary Team during this process. The counsel provided by these experts, who have devoted their careers to combatting sexual abuse, is key to this work. I’m grateful for their efforts. After reviewing all the facts, as well as recommendations from competent external authorities, I made the decisions I feel are right and just.”
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