-Caveat Lector-
From
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/034/nation/Two_priests_ousted_after_
abuse_cited+.shtml
}}}>Begin
THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING
Two priests ousted after abuse cited
DA to get data on Randolph, Quincy pastors
By Michael Rezendes and Walter V. Robinson, Globe Staff, 2/3/2002
The Boston Archdiocese yesterday abruptly removed two pastors from
parishes in Quincy and Randolph after discovering evidence that both
men had been accused of sexually abusing children in the past.
Their removal came only eight days after Cardinal Bernard F. Law
asserted that all priests known to have been accused of sexually
molesting minors had been removed from their assignments.
Even so, an archdiocesan official said a continuing review of records
might uncover similar charges against other priests who are still
serving.
The ousted pastors, the Very Rev. Daniel M. Graham, 57, of St. Joseph Church in
Quincy, and the Rev. Paul J. Finegan of St. Bernadette Church in Randolph, also 57,
were both ordained in 1970 and had served in several pari
shes in the Greater Boston area.
Until yesterday, Graham had oversight responsibility for 19 Catholic churches in
Braintree, Milton, Quincy, and Randolph - including St. Bernadette, where Finegan was
pastor, according to recent archdiocesan records.
Bishops were sent to each parish's 4 p.m. Mass yesterday to break the news to stunned
parishioners. At St. Joseph's, attendees gasped when Bishop Richard J. Malone
unexpectedly stepped to the pulpit after Holy Communion w
as served and told the congregation that Graham had been ousted. Malone said the
announcement was ''the most difficult thing I have ever done as a bishop,'' as some in
the church openly wept.
In Randolph, Bishop Walter J. Edyvean, Law's chief deputy, told parishioners that
Finegan had been relieved of his assignment.
In a prepared statement, archdiocesan spokeswoman Donna M. Morrissey said church
officials had reported the allegations against one of the pastors to Norfolk District
Attorney William Keating and were in the process of re
porting the second pastor.
The archdiocese said several allegations of sexual misconduct with minors had been
made against Finegan and that one such allegation had been made against Graham.
Morrissey said she did not know when the allegations were
made, nor could she provide details of the complaints.
In a message to parishioners printed in a bulletin for weekend Masses, Graham, who has
diabetes, said he was taking health leave to care for himself and his 97-year-old
father.
''I apologize for the abruptness of this change, but sometimes overwhelming needs must
be dealt with immediately,'' Graham said in the statement.
Morrissey said she did not know how the archdiocese discovered the information about
Graham and Finegan. But since Thursday, when the Globe reported that the archdiocese
had secretly settled sexual molestation cases invol
ving at least 70 priests, readers have contacted the newspaper with information about
both men.
The Rev. Charles Higgins, Law's secretary for ministerial personnel, said church
officials ''do not rule out finding additional cases in this ongoing review.''
Law, after a difficult month in which he has repeatedly apologized for his role in
reassigning priests who were known child molesters to parish work, left Boston for
Rome last night on a previously scheduled trip to the V
atican. He is scheduled to return on Friday.
An archdiocesan official said yesterday that church officials did not know the exact
whereabouts of either Finegan or Graham, saying only, ''They are not on any church
property.''
Attempts to reach the priests were unsuccessful last night.
In what appeared to be an effort to prepare Catholics for more disturbing news, the
official said that the continuing review might find evidence that there have been
molestation charges against still more priests who have
access to children.
Twice in the last month, Law has reassured the public that the archdiocese had removed
all priests known to have sexually molested minors from any assignments.
''There is no priest known to us to have been guilty of the sexual abuse of a minor
holding any position in this archdiocese,'' Law said on Jan. 25, while announcing the
formation of a blue-ribbon committee to study ways
of preventing child sex abuse by clergy.
Under questioning from reporters, Law repeated his assertion three times, finally
insisting: ''There is no priest, or former priest, working in this archdiocese in any
assignment whom we know to have been responsible for
sexual abuse. I hope you get that straight.''
Last night, an archdiocesan official said that at the time Law was so insistent, ''It
was his belief that there was no one.'' The official declined to be identified.
Law's initial announcement earlier last month that all priests known to have sexually
abused children had been removed from their assignments followed a Globe Spotlight
Team report that found Law and other top officials o
f the archdiocese had known that former priest John J. Geoghan had repeatedly molested
children before reassigning him to other parish work.
About 130 people - most of them men - have charged that Geoghan sexually abused them
as children while he worked at a half dozen Greater Boston parishes from the late
1960s to the late 1990s. Fifty accusers have already r
eceived settlements from the archdiocese totaling about $10 million.
Last month, Geoghan was convicted of indecent assault for improperly touching a
Waltham boy. And he faces two additional criminal trials in Suffolk County on child
molestation charges, as well as about 90 pending civil la
wsuits.
Law has repeatedly insisted that in 1993 the archdiocese reviewed all its personnel
records and removed priests who posed a danger to parishioners because of past
allegations of sexually abusing minors.
Last Wednesday, the archdiocese, embarking on a new policy, provided district
attorneys with the names of 38 priests accused of sexually abusing minors during the
last 40 years.
On Thursday, there was a possible sign that the church may have filed an incomplete
list. It had provided Norfolk County officials with the names of seven priests. But
Keating's office wrote back, asking for information o
n about 10 priests.
Both St. Joseph's and St. Bernadette's are in Norfolk County. Moreover, four district
attorneys who received names of accused priests from the archdiocese said church
officials had not provided enough information to push
ahead with criminal investigations.
Graham has been pastor at St. Joseph's since 1990. Since the 1980s, he has also served
at St. John the Baptist in Quincy and then at St. Brendan's in Dorchester - a parish
where Geoghan was assigned for almost three years
in the early 1980s until he was removed by Law.
Finegan was a parish priest at St. Michael's in North Andover in the
mid-1980s, then moved to St. Margaret's in Lowell and St. Mary's in
Chelmsford before he was named pastor in Randolph about three years
ago.
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 2/3/2002.
� Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
End<{{{
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not
believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do
not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not
believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men.
Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it
agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it."
The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller,
German Writer (1759-1805)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut."
--- Ernest Hemingway
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
