PITTSBURGH (PA)
Post-Gazette
March 9, 2019
By Keith C. Burris
I was painting an attic wall, actually slathering on KILZ before applying paint, and was happy for an interruption. It was from my brother John — a text. Had I read the list of clergy abusers released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus? It was printed in the Columbus Dispatch. My brother knew a couple of the names. He thought I might know more.
I did.
I attended St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus, a truly great school then and now and a place for which I have abiding affection. Back in the day, St. Charles also had a college, a minor seminary, in the same building. I knew eight of the names on the list — some because they were what we called then “the collegians” and some because they were faculty members. One, recently accused, and eventually beloved by the St. Charles community, was the supervisor of my dorm. Seeing his name stunned me. We crossed swords many times and he threatened to expel me at least once. But we also had long talks about poetry, writing, and politics. I admired him.
Two people on the list did not surprise me. One was a collegian and one (Fr. X) the onetime assistant pastor of my church. The first was gifted, a charmer, and the last person I would have thought a predator — until I saw something that much later clicked in my head. The latter you would not think a predator either. But a guy with a screw loose, yes. His thing was the Boy Scouts. He was a Boy Scout chaplain.
When I lived in Connecticut, we had a local doctor, another “good guy,” who was heavily into Scouting, and, as it turned out, child porn. He was sentenced to prison. Did he diminish Scouting in Connecticut? Not the idea. But certainly the organization.
Did these priests diminish Catholicism in central and east central Ohio? Not the idea. But certainly the organization.
They operated with impunity, in church after church, for decades. None went to prison.
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