(NY)
New York Daily News
January 31, 2022
By Lenard Greene
A Queens priest has been stripped of his clerical collar after a Catholic Church review board substantiated claims of misconduct, officials said Monday.
Not only was the Rev. John O’Connor forced to step down as pastor of St. Gregory the Great in Bellerose, he was completely removed from the ministry upon the recommendation of an independent panel investigating allegations in a lawsuit against O’Connor.
The board had been investigating claims made in a Child Victims Act lawsuit filed against O’Connor on Aug. 13, 2020. This probe turned up new evidence concerning a March 2000 accusation detailing “inappropriate internet communications with teenagers” while assigned at St. Athanasius Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, the board said.
O’Connor’s removal from the ministry means that he is no longer permitted to celebrate Mass publicly, cannot exercise any public ministerial duties and cannot live in an ecclesiastical residence.
His name will also be added to the list of “credibly accused priests” on the Diocese of Brooklyn website.
Queens Catholic churches are part of the Brooklyn diocese.
After the 2000 accusation, the Brooklyn diocese placed O’Connor on leave to allow him to receive treatment from May 2000 to August 2001. He returned to ministry in the diocese in August 2001, and continued treatment through 2005.
Officials from the diocese, including Msgr. Sean Ogle, visited St. Gregory the Great on Sunday to inform parishioners of O’Connor’s removal.
“The overall sentiment was one of great sadness,” Msgr. Ogle told the Tablet, the diocese newspaper. “Several parishioners said the only thing we can do is pray for everyone involved.”
In a letter to parishioners, Bishop Robert Brennan announced that Msgr. Edward Ryan, who O’Connor had succeeded as pastor, will serve as the temporary administrator of the parish.
“I am aware this news is disturbing and even devastating to many,” Brennan said. “I encourage us all to stay vigilant in our commitment to protecting our children and youth.”
The diocese investigation followed a lawsuit filed against O’Connor, the church and the diocese by a 36-year-old plaintiff who said O’Connor started abusing him in 1996 when he was 12.
According to the lawsuit, O’Connor would drive several altar boys, including the plaintiff, to dinner and a movie. When O’Connor was alone in the car with the boy, he would massage the boy’s neck and shoulders before proceeding to move his hands along the boy’s leg and groin, the lawsuit alleges.
The priest would then fondle the boy’s penis over his clothes, the lawsuit said. The boy was confined to the passenger seat, the lawsuit said, and could not avoid the touching or escape the sexual abuse.
The lawsuit also attacks church officials for allegedly concealing the abuse and moving O’Connor around from parish to parish.
The plaintiff says that because of the abuse, he has suffered chronic mental health issues, which have required and will require counseling and other treatment.
O’Connor’s attorney, Frances Hatch, declined to comment.
O’Connor was ordained on June 23, 1993 and completed post-graduate studies in Rome before serving in Brooklyn and Queens.
New York’s landmark Child Victims Act went into effect in 2019. The new law adjusts statute of limitations timelines so that victims of long-ago sexual abuse can sue for damages.
Under the new Child Victims Act, people who were sexually abused as minors can file civil lawsuits up until the age of 55. Before the new law was enacted, victims had to file their complaints before turning 23.