BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB TV
December 8, 2018
By Daniel Telvock
Civil attorneys who defend priests accused of sexual abuse do not have any standing in the legal proceedings run by the Catholic Church.
That is the instruction local attorney Mike Taheri received from the Archbishop of Boston.
Taheri is the attorney for The Rev. Samuel Venne, who has denied allegations of sexually abusing minors decades ago.
Venne, 76, is on administrative leave after the Diocese in June “substantiated” the allegations against him. The diocese has refused to give Venne a copy of the allegations made against him, but a church official met with him in the spring to go over the complaints.
Taheri’s July 30 letter to Cardinal Sean O’Malley raised objections to the process employed by the Diocese of Buffalo for investigating allegations of sexual assault. He said the Diocese of Buffalo is violating basic due process rights of clergy.
“In the spirit of advancing these notions of basic fairness,” Taheri offered four proposals for church leaders to consider for improving the diocesan legal process, including opportunities for priests to offer evidence during preliminary investigations and giving accused clergy copies of the written allegations made by the accuser.
O’Malley responded Sept. 14 that the concerns he raised are matters of canon law, a set of laws and principles enforced by authorities of the Catholic Church. O’Malley is the chief confidant of Pope Francis on setting rules that protect minors from sexual abuse.
“The grave matter of a cleric’s dismissal from the clerical state is deliberated and adjudicated under canon law, it is not considered by civil law and the final determination regarding the process is reserved exclusively to the Holy See,” O’Malley wrote.
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