TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade [Toledo OH]
November 6, 2024
By Sarah Readdean
The Catholic Diocese of Toledo has announced the credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against deceased priest Msgr. Michael J. Doyle and has placed him on its clergy status report.
The report lists diocesan clerics who have been placed on administrative leave or removed from ministry as a result of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, as well as those who have been credibly accused after their deaths.
According to the diocese’s Sunday announcement, the alleged abuse took place more than 65 years ago. Monsignor Doyle died in 1987.
Monsignor Doyle served as an active priest of the diocese from 1925 to 1977. He was associate pastor at St. Ann Parish in Fremont in 1925 and St. Peter Parish in Mansfield from 1925 to 1930. He was assistant director of Catholic Charities from 1932 to 1946. His activity between 1930 and 1932 is not included on a list of his assignments.
The priest served as chaplain of Saint Anthony Villa, a former orphanage in Toledo, from 1935 until his retirement in 1977. He continued to reside at the orphanage until 1980.
The diocesan Pastoral Center in downtown was named for him — Monsignor Doyle Hall — in 2002, according to the diocese. His name has now been removed from the building.
Advocates with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests had been urging the diocese to remove the sign since a 2002 settlement with a woman who alleged she was abused as a child by Monsignor Doyle.
“While it’s a step in the right direction, getting the sign down, it never should have taken over two decades,” said Claudia Vercellotti, a local leader with SNAP. “It negates the victim they settled with in ’02.”
Ms. Vercellotti said the victim from the earlier settlement had been at the West Toledo orphanage, which closed in 1984.
“When you pay a settlement, it is a passive acknowledgement of wrongdoing,” she said. “And to leave that [sign] up, to walk into that building the entire time and have it adorned ‘Monsignor Doyle’ … it’s unconscionable.”
The diocese told The Blade in 2020 that “resolution of a civil case does not constitute an admission of liability.”
Despite the 2002 settlement, the diocese’s news release said a first allegation was made against Monsignor Doyle in 2020.The independent diocesan review board had determined there was not enough information to substantiate the allegation.
“At that time Bishop [Daniel] Thomas had insisted upon the additional review even of allegations made against deceased priests who had died prior to an allegation being reported,” according to the release.
Ms. Vercellotti criticized the diocese’s handling of the news about Monsignor Doyle being credibly accused.
“It is disingenuous to release a press release at noon on Sunday,” she said. “He might as well have done it in the middle of election night.”
Upon review of what the diocese says “is the second allegation made against Monsignor Doyle,” the review board recommended that the deceased priest’s name be added to the diocesan clergy status report. Following diocesan policy, parishioners at the parishes he served were notified over the weekend, the news release said, and announcements will be placed in those parish bulletins.
“He was at an orphanage. The most vulnerable kids we could possibly be talking about were that which were in an orphanage,” Ms. Vercellotti said. “Who protects them? Where is the massive outreach to every person that was in there?”
After the orphanage closed in 1984, it became a facility for troubled youths until 2001. Blade reports from the years following the change cite multiple incidents of St. Anthony’s employees or volunteers being sentenced for sexual or physical abuse at the Saint Anthony Villa.
The diocese stated its commitment to transparency and the healing process of those who report harm by clergy.
“The Diocese of Toledo remains vigilant in ensuring the protection of children and providing a safe environment for all young people, as well as ensuring the dignity and integrity of the priesthood,” according to the release.
To report any sexual abuse of a minor by diocesan personnel, individuals may call the Diocese of Toledo’s victim assistance coordinator at 419-214-4880.
SNAP, the survivors’ network, has also advocated for removing the name of Msgr. Jerome Schmit from the CYO Athletic Complex on Holland Sylvania Road and the honorary street sign near Fifth Third Field.
Monsignor Schmit allegedly interrupted the 1980 police investigation of the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl by Toledo priest Gerald Robinson, who was arrested 24 years later and convicted in May, 2006.
“Who you honor matters,” Ms. Vercellotti said. “We don’t honor those that bring harm to kids or cover it up.”
Monsignor Doyle is the second deceased priest added to the clergy status report in the last month.
Father Michael Madden, who served the diocese from 1963 to 1997 and died in 2007, was announced as credibly accused to parishes on Oct. 12 and 13, according to diocese spokesman Kelly Donaghy. A letter also appeared in the Oct. 20 bulletin for the Catholic Parishes of Sandusky.
The allegation dates back more than 40 years, according to the diocese.
Among his assignments, Father Madden served at St. Rose Parish in Lima, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Toledo, Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Sandusky, St. Wendelin Parish in Fostoria, St. Michael Parish on Kelly’s Island, Mother of Sorrow Parish in Put-in-Bay, St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Toledo, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Martin, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Bono, Holy Angels Parish in Sandusky, and Community of the Risen Christ in Toledo. He was chaplain at the Medical College of Ohio and St. Bernardine Home in Fremont before he retired in 1997.
When checked Wednesday afternoon, Father Madden’s name was not found on the clergy report.
Contact Sarah Readdean at: sreaddean@theblade.com.
First Published November 6, 2024, 5:37 p.m.