ROCHLAND COUNTY (NY)
Rockland/Westchester Journal News
Oct. 8, 2019
By Matt Spillane
Two more pastors of Catholic churches in Westchester County have been placed on leave amid decades-old accusations of child abuse.
Monsignor Edward Barry of Holy Rosary in Hawthorne and Rev. William Luciano of Blessed Sacrament in New Rochelle have been temporarily restricted from ministry, Cardinal Timothy Dolan wrote in letters to parishioners of those two congregations on Oct. 3.
Barry and Luciano have each been accused of inappropriate conduct with a child decades ago, Dolan said. Luciano’s allegation stems from the 1980s, Dolan said. No other details were available on the nature of the accusations.
Dolan added that both priests are presumed innocent while the Archdiocese of New York investigates.
Rev. Sebastian Pandarathikudiyll will serve as temporary administrator of Holy Rosary, while Bishop Gerald Walsh will temporarily oversee Blessed Sacrament.
Dolan’s letters to Holy Rosary and Blessed Sacrament parishioners were sent a day after he sent a similar letter to parishioners of St. Vito-Most Holy Trinity Church in Mamaroneck.
Monsignor James White, the pastor of St. Vito-Most Holy Trinity, was placed on administrative leave after someone accused him of abuse dating back to the 1980s, when he was the dean of discipline at Cardinal Hayes High School, an all-boys school in the Bronx.
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