UNITED STATES
dotCommonweal
Grant Gallicho August 19, 2013
The Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, has agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that Archbishop John J. Myers–who served there as bishop from 1990 to 2001–failed to remove a priest from ministry despite having evidence that he had abused a minor. (Myers, you’ll recall, has come in for some criticism regarding his handling of accused priests in his current diocese, Newark.)
The plaintiff, Andrew Ward, now twenty-five, accused the late Rev. Thomas Maloney of molesting him in 1995 and ’96, when Ward was eight. About a year earlier, a woman informed the diocese that Maloney had abused her sister when she was ten years old. Myers denies knowing anything about it. Indeed, if anything comes through in the 2010 deposition of Myers, just unsealed as part of the settlement, it’s that the archbishop’s memory is less than ideal.
For example, Myers doesn’t remember much about the generous gifts Maloney gave him over the years (starting in the late 1980s, apparently). Does he recall receiving Maloney’s own “precious” camera? No. What about gold coins? Sort of. The silver object so large “it could be tied around one’s neck like the proverbial millstone,” as Myers desrcibed it to Maloney in a thank-you note? Hard to say.
Now, it’s not unusual for priests to give gifts to their bishop following confirmations. Such offerings usually amount to $1 per child, rarely totaling more than $500. But many bishops set up trusts to receive such funds for later disbursemet to charity. Myers apparently used them to cover personal expenses–including his mother’s health care, his vacations, and his trips to the track.) (SEE UPDATE BELOW.)
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.