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	Letter Calls for Removal of Priest Admitted Child Molester Lives in Belleville By George Pawlaczyk Belleville News-Demcorat May 12, 2006 http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/local/crime_courts/14561195.htm Admitted child molester the Rev. Real "Ray" Bourque should be removed from the diocese or housed under strict supervision, according to a letter delivered Thursday for Belleville Bishop Edward Braxton. "Once again we find ourselves forced to beg a bishop to protect the innocent and vulnerable from a sexual predator," stated the letter from the St. Louis-based citizen's group, Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests. Four group members delivered the letter at the chancery. Braxton was not there. Bourque, 78, is a retired and defrocked priest of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a world-wide priestly order that operates the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville. Both Braxton and former Belleville bishop Wilton Gregory, now archbishop of Atlanta, have stated they were unaware of Bourque's background until reading about it in the News-Democrat. Gregory has said had he known, he would not have allowed Bourque's transfer, which occurred in 2002 when Gregory was president of the U.S. Conference of Bishops. "It's hard to imagine that a religious order would secretly transfer a known predator into (the) diocese at the height of the clergy sex scandal, without the knowledge of church officials," the letter said. Bourque lives at the Oblate retirement home in Belleville, located about two blocks from Althoff Catholic High School. He has a car and can come and go as he pleases but is not allowed to wear a priest's collar. The Oblates are directly controlled by a provincial, or national, religious leader in Washington, D.C. The provincial, the Rev. Louis Lougen, could not be reached despite several attempts over two weeks. Although two diocese staffers left messages on his cellular telephone, Braxton did not respond to requests for comment. In April, Braxton sent a letter to the newspaper stating he did not feel he had "direct supervision" over Bourque because he is a member of a separate priestly order. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Bourque told church officials in the Diocese of Boston that he had molested boys, according to court documents. He was treated in 1995 at a church-run center, and was allowed to return to working for a Catholic cable television network, where he had once been an on-air personality. He was restricted to working off camera but still had contact with young people, according to a church newsletter. In April, Bourque told a News-Democrat reporter he had molested boys and had been a sexual-abuse victim himself, but not by a priest. He has since declined comment. The retirement home's supervisor, the Rev. James Taylor, has said Bourque met with his fellow retired priests about six months after his arrival at the home and openly admitted he had molested children. Contact reporter George Pawlaczyk at gpawlaczyk@bnd.com or 239-2625.
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