|
April 30, 2003
Church scandal has parish lobbying for pastor
Kathleen A. Shaw, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
MILLVILLE- Two women from St. Augustine parish
are enlisting support of their fellow parishioners to preserve
their community of faith and to keep the parish alive in the
absence of a permanent pastor.
Lois Salome and Margaret Carroll, retired
elementary school teachers, have worked to get more than 400
people in the parish and the town to send letters and postcards
and to make personal telephone calls to Bishop Daniel P. Reilly
and other chancery officials asking for a permanent pastor. The
mail is going to the chancery at 49 Elm St., Worcester, and to
the bishop's home, also in Worcester.
April 29, 2003
Hackers attack Web site for clergy-abuse
victims
Kathleen A. Shaw,TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER- The Web site of the Worcester Voice, an
advocacy organization for victims of clergy sexual abuse in the
Worcester Catholic Diocese, was hacked into over the weekend and files
were destroyed.
Voice note: We would like
to express our most sincere gratitude to all those who have shown us
support over the past few days. Your encouragement and prayers
have been very comforting.
April 28, 2003
Threw actions of a third party
intervention of which the Worcester Voice had no control of, the
Worcester Voice web site was temporarily disabled. We fully intend to
restore the web site to its original capacity along with new added
features. We expect to have the site up and fully operational in one
week’s time, until this completion certain components may be temporarily
missing.
April 24, 2003
Women plan rebirth of
Millville church
Chris Sinacola
It was raining on Hope Street in Millville last Friday. It was raining
heavily. But Margaret Carroll and Lois Salome were seated at Miss
Salome's kitchen table, planning the rebirth of their parish, St.
Augustine's.
St. Augustine's was founded in 1880 in the heart of the heavily
French-Canadian and Roman Catholic lower Blackstone Valley. Through good
times and bad, the parish has thrived, even rebuilding
following a catastrophic 1969 fire that destroyed the original church
building.
But since early October, when the Rev. Jean-Paul Gagnon took a personal
leave, the parish of 450 families has been adrift, without a day-to-day
spiritual guide. Weekend Masses have been handled
by a succession of priests, but no priest has been available to say
daily Mass, to hear confessions, advise confirmation classes, visit the
sick, or comfort the dying.
Voice Note: Ms Engdahl
from the Worcester Dioceses Office of Healing in response to concerns
about the lack of progress in St Augustine's informed Ms Jean that
Bishop Daniel P. Reilly will be visiting St. Augustine's soon to address
the issues presented by many parishioners.
April 23, 2003
Kathleen A. Shaw,
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Bishop refuses to
disclose names to VOTF
WORCESTER- Bishop Daniel P. Reilly told members of Worcester Diocese
Voice of the Faithful that he will not disclose information they
requested on the numbers of sexual abuse victims and abusers or the
total financial costs associated with the church scandal.
With his written response, the bishop enclosed a clipping from The
Catholic Free Press, which he publishes, that explained how he is
dealing with the church abuse scandal.
Mary Keville of Harvard, Voice of the Faithful coordinator, said the
response, which she got late last week, was a "non-answer" and
"disappointing," and the group's leadership will have to
decide what its response will be.
April 21, 2003
Letter
implored diocese to take accused priest
Richard Nangle,
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueger, who has been
accused of sexual abuse by a Shrewsbury man, asked the Fort Worth,
Texas, diocese in 1988 to take a priest from the Worcester diocese who
had been similarly accused.
Correspondence attached to a sexual abuse lawsuit against Rev. Thomas
Teczar shows that Bishop Rueger wrote to the bishop of Fort Worth,
"Our diocesan attorney has advised that Father Teczar be
incardinated immediately in the diocese of Fort Worth. Pursuant to this
advice, the bishop would be anxious for us to undertake this
process." The lawyer he referred to in the Sept. 13, 1988, letter
was the late James Reardon of Worcester.
VOICE NOTE: more information
about Rev Teczar is available under Published cases sidebar
The Worcester Chapter
of VOTF receives response from Bishop Daniel P. Reilly to their letter
in request for the public release of information concerning clergy
sexual abuse allegations in our diocese April
8, 2003
The Worcester VOTF Chapter will next meet
Wednesday April 23, 2003
In the Rehm Library of Smith Hall of Holy Cross College 7:00
pm
Topic: Clergy abuse victim support representation from Worcester area.
see VOTF web site for more details
April 18, 2003
Conte
donates to diocese
Campaign funds, abuse case probes
Kathleen A. Shaw and Richard Nangle,
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte, who has been investigating
allegations of sexual abuse by priests for 14 months, has given $750 to
the Diocese of Worcester through his campaign fund since last spring.
April 16, 2003
DISTRICT ATTORNEY JOHN J. CONTE SUPPORTS
WORCESTER DIOCESES CATHOLIC CHURCH WITH CAMPAIGN FUNDS.
During the 2002 Campaign for Worcester District Attorney, John J.
Conte used his political campaign fund to make contributions of $500.00
to the Bishops Fund as well as five separate donation to Our Lady of Mt
Carmel parish in excess of $1,000 dollars. The District Attorney's
campaign
fund also made a payment of $250.00 towards a Forward in Faith
payment which was designed by Bishop Daniel P. Reilly and goes
directly to the Worcester Dioceses Catholic Church.
This information clearly illustrates that at the height of the
Catholic Church Crisis last year and during Mr. Conte's re-election bid,
the District Attorney's Campaign made donations from re-election funds to support Catholic Church
agencies.
This information was released threw the state of Massachusetts
By
Chris Kanaracus
ckanaracus@worcestermag.com
Worcester Magazine
GOOD CAUSE NOTWITHSTANDING: District Attorney John Conte makes a lot
of charitable donations from his campaign war chest, according to
records on file with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
But probably the gift that leaps highest off the list is a $500 donation
Conte made to the Bishop’s Fund in April 2002. The fund is
administered by Bishop Daniel Reilly of the Worcester diocese. Not that
the fund is a bad thing, as it helps support a variety of ministries,
social service programs and Catholic schools, but you’ve got to wonder
why Conte, whose office is investigating an undisclosed number of
sex-abuse allegations against priests from the Worcester diocese, would
risk such a possible conflict of interest. Already, critics of the
manner in which he has dealt with such allegations — refusing to
detail even the number of accused Worcester priests — have accused him
of being in league with the diocese. Leominster-based activist Mary T.
Jean of Worcester Voice, a group that advocates for alleged victims of
priests, says, “The word ‘shocked’ comes to my mind.” Conte had
yet to respond to a request for comment by press time.
http://www.worcestermag.com
April 15, 2003
Pepperell
man sues diocese, priest's estate
Former headmaster accused of abuse Ex-headmaster
accused
Kathleen A. Shaw,
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER-
A civil suit was filed yesterday in Worcester Superior
Court by a Pepperell man alleging he was sexually abused by the late
Monsignor Richard J. Carelli during the mid-1960s.
April 14, 2003
Man sues
diocese for hiring Rev. Teczar
Kathleen A. Shaw,
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
A civil suit has been filed in Texas by a 27-year-old
man who said he was sexually abused in the early 1990s by the Rev.
Thomas H. Teczar, a priest of the Worcester Catholic Diocese who
relocated to Ranger, Texas.
April 12, 2003
Conte
says he'll seek re-election
Shaun Sutner,
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
BOSTON- Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte
said he plans to seek re-election in 2006.
Mr. Conte, a 73-year-old Democrat, has been in office for 27 years.
He was re-elected in November to his sixth term .....Mr. Conte said he
is not ready for retirement, even though he would be 80 at the end of
another term.
"I don't play golf,' he said.
April 11, 2003
Parish
in dark about missing money
Milton J. Valencia,
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
FITCHBURG- Left with only rumors and
speculation, some parishioners at the Immaculate Conception Church are
calling for the Diocese of Worcester to explain why there's a criminal
investigation into missing church money.
"We're pretty upset. We're a relatively small parish and a
close-knit family,' said David Bouvier, who is one of five parishioners
appointed to a finance committee to oversee church funds. The committee
was formed last month, less than two weeks after the Rev. Donald
Ouellette, pastor of the church, left on what was called a medical
absence.
Elizabeth Stammo, a spokeswoman for District Attorney John J. Conte,
confirmed this week that her office has begun a criminal investigation
into missing church money.
VOICE NOTE: We have no information on any
pending clergy abuse accusations against Rev. Donald Ouellette, pastor
of Immaculate Conception.
April 10, 2003
Aide Says
Extent of Church Abuse Unknown
....."We
still don't know how prevalent the cases are, or how prevalent they are
in other sectors of society," said Kathleen McChesney, executive
director of the U.S. bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection......The
meeting was believed to be the first large-scale gathering of the groups
to share information about the abuse crisis, which engulfed the church
last year. In 2002, at least 325 of the roughly 46,000 priests in the
United States either resigned or were removed from their duties because
of abuse allegations, many dating back decades.
April 9, 2003
Bishop Daniel P. Reilly testified
today under oath in the Mr. Sime M. Braio
lawsuit against Auxiliary Bishop George E.
Rueger. Bishop Reilly was open, friendly and answered completely
all questioned presented to him according to an interview given by
Attorney ..... . ....during the lunch break.
In Worcester Superior Court, Attorney .... will attempt to stop the
Worcester Dioceses attempt to have Mr. Braio's lawsuit dismissed.
Until this new ruling the deposition of Mr. Sime M.
Braio has been placed on hold.
April 08, 2003
Bishop Reilly
set to give deposition
WORCESTER- Bishop Daniel P. Reilly will answer
questions under oath tomorrow in connection with a lawsuit that a
Shrewsbury man has brought against the Catholic Diocese of Worcester and
Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueger.
Sime M. Braio, 52, alleges in his suit that he was sexually abused and
raped by Bishop Rueger at age 13. Bishop Rueger, who in July flatly
denied the accusations, testified in a deposition last week. Mr. Braio
is scheduled to testify at 9 a.m. Thursday.
April 8, 2003
Bishop Daniel P. Reilly of the Worcester Diocese
to be deposed in lawsuit of Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueguer.
Bishop Daniel P. Reilly is scheduled to
be deposed Wednesday, April 9, 2003 at the law office of James G. Reardon Jr., lawyer for
the Diocese Worcester, One Exchange Place, Worcester. The deposition
is being convened by Attorney ..... . .... in regards to the filling
of a civil lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Sime J. Brario of Shrewsbury.
The suit maintains that as a result of
molestation that occurred at Our Lady of Lourdes, Mr. Braio began what
he called “acting out” in the form of running away from home and
taking automobiles on “joy-rides.” His behavior landed him in the
former Lyman School for Boys in Westboro when he was 14.
Mr. Braio alleges that Bishop Rueger
received permission from school administrators to take him away for
weekend outings. He said there were three to five visits to the bishop's
family home in Scituate.
“There were increasing levels of sexual
contact,” according to the lawsuit. “On that last occasion, he was
given alcohol that may have been drugged and was anally sodomized.
Superior Court judge Mary Lou
Rup ruled March 31, 2003 against attempts
by the Diocese of Worcester to limit questioning of Bishop Daniel P.
Reilly during this deposition and to prevent the release of transcripts
to the media.
Mr. Reardon had hoped to prevent Mr. ....
from asking Bishop Reilly about the House of Affirmation, a Whitinsville
treatment center for priests with psychological problems, including
sexual problems. The House of Affirmation opened in 1970 and closed in
1989.
Judge Rup said she was skeptical that questions about the House of
Affirmation would be relevant. But she said if either bishop admitted to
any involvement with it, the questioning would be allowed. Bishop Reilly
once served on its board of directors.
The deposition is
scheduled to begin at 9 am.
April 5, 2003
Hearing
set on abuse limits bill
Advocates for victims back change
Kathleen A. Shaw,
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Representatives of groups advocating for sexual abuse
victims from across the state are expected at the Statehouse Thursday to
voice support for legislation to end the statute of limitations in child
sexual abuse crimes.
A hearing on House Bill 1895 is scheduled for 1 p.m. before the joint
Judiciary Committee.
The bill is being supported by Voice of the Faithful, a group of
Catholic lay people; the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests,
which advocates and supports victims of clergy sexual abuse; Survivors
First; Coalition of Catholics and Survivors; and Worcester Voice.
April 3, 2003
More talks sought
Catholic
group to meet bishop Meeting with bishop sought
Kathleen A. Shaw,
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER-
Mary Jean of Leominster, leader of Worcester Voice, said
yesterday she is setting up another meeting with Bishop Daniel P. Reilly
to ask that he open all records of accused priests in the diocese.
She has requested the meeting, she said, but diocesan officials have not
gotten back to her yet to set up a definite date. She made the same plea
to the bishop at a February meeting. His answer was that he had turned
over records on accused priests to District Attorney John J. Conte
April 2, 2003
Clergy
Abuse Attorney, ..... .. .... deposed Auxiliary
Bishop George E. Rueger beginning at
10am today. The deposition, was in conjunction with the Sime
J. Braio
civil
lawsuit currently pending in Worcester
Superior Court. James G. Reardon Jr., lawyer for the Diocese of Worcester was also present.
This will be the second
deposition conducted by Attorney .... in the Sime J. Braio civil lawsuit.
Mr. Glen Alexander, was deposed in August 2002. As of this date, James
G. Reardon Jr., lawyer for the Diocese of Worcester has failed to complete
his questioning in that deposition.
A deposition of Attorney
Gribouski, Mr Braio's first attorney was taken
by Worcester diocesan Attorney James Readon and completed on Friday October
25, 2002
In November 2002, the Worcester
Catholic Diocese opposed the Worcester Telegram & Gazette effort to
prevent reporter Kathleen A. Shaw from being deposed in a civil suit
charging Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueger with sexual assault. The
diocese subpoenaed Ms. Shaw in connection with her coverage of a lawsuit
filed by Sime J. Braio of Shrewsbury. No ruling has been issued by Worcester
Superior Court Judge C. Brian McDonald.
Worcester Bishop, Daniel P.
Reilly is scheduled to be deposed in Sime J. Braio civil lawsuit
next week.
Ruling goes
against diocese on questioning of Reilly
April 1, 2003
Richard Nangle,
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER- A Superior Court judge yesterday ruled against attempts
by the Diocese of Worcester to limit questioning of Bishop Daniel P.
Reilly in a coming deposition and to prevent the release of transcripts
to the media. The deposition is for a lawsuit that accuses Auxiliary
Bishop George E. Rueger of child rape.
Judge Mary Lou Rup's action echoed similar rulings by Suffolk Superior
Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney, who has ordered the unsealing of tens
of thousands of Boston Archdiocese documents and the deposition of
former Cardinal Bernard F. Law.
..... . .... of Houston, lawyer for plaintiff Sime J. Braio of
Shrewsbury, said thorough questioning of Bishop Reilly was necessary
because he has been closely involved with some cases of alleged priestly
sexual abusers.
Diocese lawyer James G. Reardon argued, however, that Bishop Reilly, who
became bishop of Worcester in December 1994, should not be questioned
about that case, which allegedly happened in the early 1960s.
|