Glenmary releases list of credible claims, hopes it helps bring ‘healing’

Catholic News Service
October 15, 2019

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2019/10/15/glenmary-releases-list-of-credible-claims-hopes-it-helps-bring-healing/

CINCINNATI, Ohio - Father Dan Dorsey, president of the Glenmary Home Missioners, said the religious community of priests and brothers “has become painfully aware that in the past we have failed to protect minors and vulnerable adults.”

“We have realized how often our response to victims has been inadequate. We deeply regret these failures,” he said Oct. 11. “We continue to seek your forgiveness for our mistakes. We are committed to healing and justice for all those involved.”

Dorsey made the comments in an open letter released with a list of men credibly abused of sexual abuse. The list is the result of a yearlong forensic review commissioned by Glenmary.

The list includes the names of seven priests and four brothers and includes year of birth, when each man joined Glenmary, their current status and a list of dioceses where each man was assigned. The full list can be found online here.

“The nature of Glenmary’s missionary work means most members have served in a variety of ministries across several dioceses,” Dorsey said in his letter.

Founded in 1939, Glenmary Home Missioners is based in Cincinnati. Its priests and brothers specialize in serving the spiritual needs of people throughout Appalachia, the South and the Southwest.

Glenmary said it defines a credible allegation as a preponderance of evidence that the allegation is more likely true than not after investigation. Credibility also can be established “by conviction in a court, or by the admission of the truth by the accused,” it added.

Father Dorsey said the list was released “in a spirit of accountability and transparency” and with the hope “that publishing these names will be a step in the healing process for the victims.”

“This release of names reflects what we know to be accurate as of this date; however, we will continue to adjust our list as investigations currently underway are completed and any accusation under investigation is determined to be credible,” the priest said. “Glenmary is committed to preventing future abuse and addressing any allegations swiftly and justly.”

Dorsey encouraged anyone who believes he or she has been abused by a member of Glenmary Home Missioners to contact him, as well as the appropriate civil authorities.

“Glenmary promises full cooperation with the civil authorities in the reporting and investigation of such allegations,” he said.

Only one of the four brothers named is still living, Al Behm, who left the society in 1993. Born in 1938, he joined Glenmary in 1960.

Only one of the men in the list of seven priests is still living, Tony Jablonski, who was suspended from ministry in 2003. In 2004, he pleaded no contest to a charge of molesting a 17-year-old boy 20 years earlier. He was laicized in 2006.

Born in 1937, he served as a priest “on loan” with Glenmary in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina. He was never a member of Glenmary.

Charges against Jablonski “were related to his assignment in the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming, after he had left (service with) Glenmary,” the news release said.

Originally ordained for the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, he went to the Wyoming diocese in 1980 and served as a pastor for about 10 years. He left there in 1991 because he wanted to start a new order, according to news reports.

He became a priest of the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, and started an order called the Carmelite Missionaries of Mary Immaculate. His name was on a list of clergy credibly accused of abuse released by the Steubenville Diocese in 2018.