Church Seeks to Bar Defrocked Priests Access to Chapel, by Seamus McGraw, Court TV, May 5, 2006

Church Seeks to Bar Defrocked Priests Access to Chapel

By Seamus McGraw seamusm@ptd.net
Court TV
May 5, 2006

http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0506/0501_chet_warren.html

Toledo, Ohio (Crime Libarary) — Prompted by complaints from parishioners concerned about the presence of Chet Warren, an accused child molester and defrocked priest, at a small chapel inside Blessed Sacrament Church, the Diocese of Toledo has asked a municipal court judge to bar Warren from access to the chapel.

According to documents filed in the Municipal Court of Toledo and provided to Crime Library by local representatives of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) and other church leaders, church officials allege that Warren had violated an agreement to visit the chapel only during specific hours.

SNAP Logo

In its complaint, filed in December, the Diocese laid out the allegations of past sexual abuse. "Chet Warren has a history of being publicly accused of engaging in illegal and harmful sexual contact with minors at a Toledo Catholic parish in the 1970s," the complaint states. "The Diocese of Toledo has concluded that credible reports and allegations of sexual abuse of minors were made against defendant Warren and has published that conclusion." The complaint also goes on to state that the Bishop of Toledo "has publicly apologized to those victims," and notes that Warren has "been expelled from his religious order. His priestly faculties have been suspended and he is prohibited from any form of religious ministry in the Diocese of Toledo."

Chet Warren

The Diocese, according to its complaint, did continue to allow Warren to attend Mass, and to visit what is known as a Eucharistic Chapel, "a quiet secluded spacewhere the Holy Eucharist is exposed for silent adoration, separated from the public open large church space."

There were conditions. "In his capacity as pastor, Rev. P. Martin Donnelly made an agreement with Chet Warren that (he) would only go to the Eucharistic Chapel at certain times and under certain circumstances."

"Defendant Warren has breached the agreement," the Diocese alleges.

According to SNAP activist Claudia Vercellotti, parishioners, among them parents, became alarmed after learning that Warren visited the chapel, allegedly at hours of his choosing and in at least some cases wearing his clerical garb. Particularly upsetting to the parents, Vercellotti said, was the fact that the chapel is close to areas of the church frequented by children.

Claudia Vercelloti

The parents took their complaints to the Diocese, and a few months later, Vercellotti said, the church filed suit in municipal court.

The suit alleges that he is in breach of his contract with the church and asks that Warren pay monetary damages and "be required to keep and abide by his agreement with the pastor, or be excluded from the Eucharistic Chapel at Blessed Sacrament Church and the remainder of its campus." Moreover, the suit charges Warren with trespass and for that, the Diocese contends, "Defendant Warren should be prohibited from entering the Eucharistic Chapel within Blessed Sacrament Church because of his past unprivileged access there."

The Diocese did not immediately respond to a request for an interview about the suit, and its attorney, Thomas G. Pletz, was not immediately available for comment.

Nor was Warren's attorney, Martin E. Mohler. But in a three-page response filed in March, Mohler challenged the Diocese's depiction of the former cleric as a reputed child molester and denied the allegations of trespass and breach of contract. Mohler did write, however, that Warren has subsequently reached an arrangement with the church. "Defendant states that there has been an accord and satisfaction of the claims stated," in the complaint.

Chet Warren, younger

A municipal judge is expected to consider the case May 19, court officials said.

The suit is not the first time in recent years that concerns have been raised about Warren's access to children. Last year, the local child protective services agency launched a probe after it learned that Warren maintained a close relationship with a former teacher and part time tutor and may have had access to children as a result. Prodded by local activists and concerned parents, the Diocese last year warned its principals to steer clear of the tutoring operation. But there was little additional action. The child protective service's probe was stymied when neither the teacher, nor the parents of children in her tutoring program would cooperate.