The letters from Bishop D'Arcy and Margaret Gallant were among documents found by the Globe during a review of the public files of 84 civil lawsuits still pending against Geoghan. Lane is now retired. The priest offered to buy Patrick ice cream. image4off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/victims_off.gif";
The uncle ordered Geoghan to leave his house, and complained to the priest's superiors at St. Paul's. Sipe, a psychotherapist and expert in clergy sexual abuse, said he has long believed that the Catholic Church has been too slow to deal with priests who molest children. Then she met Geoghan, who oversaw altar boys and Boy Scouts at the parish. "In Geoghan's case, the church defied its own most basic values of protecting the young and fostering celibacy," said A.W. Almost immediately, Geoghan was working with First Communicants, befriending young children and their parents, even taking some boys to his family's summer home in Scituate, where - parents say they later discovered - he sexually abused the youths. /* E-commerce Variables */
Donna Morrissey, a spokeswoman for Law, said the cardinal and other church officials would not respond to questions about Geoghan. if(navigator.appVersion.indexOf('MSIE')>=0)document.write(unescape('%3C')+'\!-'+'-');
Nicholas Driscoll, who confirmed last week that he had been removed from St. Julias before Geoghans arrival - but for alcohol and depression problems, not sexual abuse. If Mueller had unwittingly facilitated Geoghan's access to the children in her home in Melrose, the same role was played by Maryetta Dussourd at the priest's next stop: St. Andrew's, in the Forest Hills section of Jamaica Plain, where he served from 1974 to 1980. Sipe, a psychotherapist and expert in clergy sexual abuse, said he has long believed that the Catholic Church has been too slow to deal with priests who molest children. And in his first two years, he was in charge of altar boys, religious education for public school youngsters and a youth group, according to the church's annual directories. Almost always, his victims were grammar school boys. There is no dispute that Geoghan abused children while he was at Blessed Sacrament in Saugus after his 1962 ordination. But Church records note that Rossiter was aware of Geoghans history. Geoghan protested, saying there was no one else to celebrate the 4 p.m. Mass. "I'll say the Mass myself," Daily insisted. After two more years and more allegations of sexual abuse, Geoghans tenure at St. Brendans came to an abrupt end in 1984, when Lane heard complaints that Geoghan had molested children in the parish. During his time in the priesthood, Geoghan sexually abused more than a hundred young boys in Greater Boston parishes. Geoghan, she recalled bitterly, was eager to help. DArcy urged Law to consider restricting Geoghan to weekend duty while receiving some kind of therapy. The Globe could find no evidence that Law accepted that advice. } else {
So DArcy expressed concern about further scandal in this parish. If something happens, parishioners will feel that the archdiocese simply sends them priests with problems.. So the archdiocese has moved aggressively to keep information about its supervision of Geoghan out of public view. Geoghan consultant ties eyed, September 4
The records note that the next month, Another letter from Mrs. Gallant. Thomas, echoing a tack common among clerics at the time, later pleaded with Dussourd not to follow through on her threat to go public, she said. image14off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/newnav/documents_off.gif";
"I was 12 years old and he was an old man.". image2off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/predator_off.gif";
Do you realize what youre taking from him? Thomas asked, according to Dussourd. [20], After Cardinal Law resigned as Boston's archbishop in December 2002, he relocated to Rome in 2004 where he served as archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome. ", A copy of the letter contains a redacted paragraph, an apparent reference to the Rev. St. Brendan, where he served three years in the early 1980s, was merely one of his myriad postings, as he was moved around by bishops more concerned with protecting the church's reputation than protecting the bodies and souls of the young people he raped. The St. Brendans teacher, who declined to be named, said that at first, Geoghans willingness to spend inordinate amounts of time with children was admired. [3] That same month, Mullins wrote that Geoghan had "fully recovered", and Brennan stated that there was no need for restrictions on his work as a priest. For decades, within the US Catholic Church, sexual misbehavior by priests was shrouded in secrecy - at every level. [22] Law died in Rome on December 20, 2017. document[imgName].src = eval(imgName + "off.src");
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Horrified, Dussourd complained to the Rev. In news reports after accusations against Geoghan surfaced publicly, Benzevich was also quoted as saying church officials threatened to reassign him as a missionary in South America for telling them about Geoghan. #ada-button-frame { According to McSorley, Geoghan, who knew the family from St. Andrews, learned of his fathers suicide and dropped by to offer condolences to his mother, who is schizophrenic. Geoghan, 65, of Scituate, worked in six Boston area churches over three decades and has been indicted on rape and sexual abuse charges in Suffolk and Middlesex counties. . But Miceli acknowledged receiving a call from a woman saying Geoghan was spending too much time with her children. In 1989, he was forced to go on sick leave after more complaints of sexual abuse, and spent months in two institutions that treat sexually abusive priests. When a Globe reporter went to see him recently, he slammed the door shut as soon as Geoghan's name was mentioned. 12/14/84 Dr. [John H.] Brennan: no psychiatric contraindications or restrictions to his work as a parish priest.. So when he found Geoghans address that night, he didnt immediately know where it was. And he said he could not recall notifying superiors about Geoghans behavior with children. Banks was concerned about the conclusions of the institute's discharge summary. In 1996, Mitchell Garabedian filed suit against Father Geoghan, a foreshadowing of the massive litigation to follow naming hundreds of Catholic priests and dioceses throughout the United States and ultimately the world. Geoghan's first trial on sexual molestation charges is scheduled for Jan. 14 in Middlesex Superior Court. //-->, If you have information on child abuse by priests, call. Morrissey said the church had no interest in knowing what the Globe's questions would be. No responsible clinician would have said it was safe to transfer him to another parish in light of what the church knew about his pattern of deviant behavior, MacLeish said. Asked if that meant the Archdiocese had no interest in knowing what the questions were, Morrissey replied: "That's correct.". Members of the Boston Globes Spotlight speak out about breaking the church abuse scandal story.
What would it take to turn more offices into housing? Whats more, specialists in child sexual abuse and attorneys who have represented victims said, it ought to have been apparent to the archdiocese by 1984 that someone with Geoghans record of habitual sexual abuse should not have been returned to a parish. After Geoghan's 1989 return to St. Julia's, it was another 38 months before Law took him out of the parish. Also, Mueller said, Geoghan was insisting they tell no one. After two more years and more allegations of sexual abuse, Geoghan's tenure at St. Brendan's came to an abrupt end in 1984, when Lane heard complaints that Geoghan had molested children in the parish. He just zeroed in on some kids.. The judge also allowed attorneys to add Father Paul E. Miceli as a defendant in 57 lawsuits. In 1981, after a years sick leave, Geoghan was dispatched to St. Brendans in Dorchester, with little chance he would be placed under scrutiny: His pastor for most of his 3 1/2 years there, the Rev. Wilson D. Rogers Jr., the cardinals attorney, defended the move last summer, saying the archdiocese had medical assurances that each Geoghan reassignment was appropriate and safe.. Reverend John J. Goeghanwho had retired in 1993 after 28 years as a priestentered the news quietly in 1996 when a woman in Waltham, Massachusetts filed suit alleging that he had sexually abused her three sons. Since 1997, the archdiocese has settled about 50 lawsuits against Geoghan, for more than $10 million - but with no confidential documents ever made public. During his assignment in Hingham, Geoghan found victims far afield, befriending Joanne Mueller, a single mother of four boys who lived in Melrose. In 1983, Father Geoghan and his sister bought the houses from their mother and uncle for less than $100 . Law and the five bishops have all denied the accusations in legal filings. Donna Morrissey, a spokeswoman for Law, said the cardinal and other church officials would not respond to questions about Geoghan. Benzevich told his story to Mitchell Garabedian, who represents nearly all of the plaintiffs in the civil suits against Geoghan and church officials, according to an affidavit Garabedian filed. In preparing this article, the Globe also sought interviews with many of the priests and bishops who had supervised Geoghan or worked with him. "I froze up," McSorley said. This coverage is a key plot element of Tom McCarthy's film Spotlight (2015). var myindex=form.dest.selectedIndex ;
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Im aware of some history, but the world has a history.
If "something happens," parishioners will feel that the archdiocese "simply sends them priests with problems.". While his exclamation is accurate, Carroll said the rest of the scene isnt totally true. image8on.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/church_response_on.gif";
Three weeks after Geoghan arrived in Weston, Bishop DArcy protested the assignment to Law, citing Geoghans problems and adding: I understand his recent abrupt departure from St. Brendans, Dorchester may be related to this problem., A copy of the letter contains a redacted paragraph, an apparent reference to the Rev. On Dec. 7, Bishop John M. D'Arcy wrote to Law, challenging the wisdom of the assignment in light of Geoghan's "history of homosexual involvement with young boys. Stay up to date with everything Boston. image2off = new Image();
Then came last Julys disclosure that Cardinal Bernard F. Law knew about Geoghans problems in 1984, Laws first year in Boston, yet approved his transfer to St. Julias parish in Weston. //-->