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CNN Live Today

Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse Commits Suicide

Aired April 08, 2002 - 10:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: First up this hour, it is a scandal that has sped across the country into the very core of the Catholic Church. And now, there are new allegations this morning involving more priests and more sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston.

Our Jason Carroll is there and joins us live now with the latest -- Jason, good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Daryn. What we are looking at here is a civil case involving allegations that Father Paul Shanley sexually Greg Ford when Ford was a child. Ford's attorney has successfully argued to get hundreds of documents that were previously sealed from the church about Shanley. Those documents will be released sometime later this afternoon.

Those documents should outline what Cardinal Bernard Law knew about Shanley and when he knew it. Ford's family says Cardinal Law knew about the allegations of sexual abuse, and still moved Shanley from parish to parish.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's horrible. It's horrendous. I am ashamed today to say that I am a Catholic.

PAULA FORD, ALLEGED VICTIM'S MOTHER: It was so painful. It was just awful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: That was Ford's parents speaking at a press conference yesterday. Neither Shanley nor the Boston Archdiocese was available for comment. The Fords also point out that they still have not received all of the documents that they were supposed to get from the church. They are still waiting to get Shanley's psychiatric record, and they say they will not be satisfied until they have that in their hands as well.

Again, they have received hundreds of documents. Those documents should be released to the press sometime later this afternoon -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And, Jason, what about the timing of these allegations? Is this a case that people think other people come forward and those accusations being greeted with credibility, and that's encouraging other people to come forward?

CARROLL: Well, in Ford's case, I think that was definitely what happened with Greg Ford. He noticed that other people were starting to come forward, and he says that he finally found the strength to come forward as well. And at least with this case involving Father Shanley, there may be more victims who are out there that may end up coming forward as well.

KAGAN: And you will be tracking it. Jason Carroll joining us from Boston -- Jason, thank you so much.

Also in the New York Diocese, six priests with past sexual misconduct allegations were told to leave their assignments. The Archdiocese said that not all allegations have been substantiated. The Archdiocese said that prosecutors were given a list of priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors.

And more now from Ohio, a story we first told you about last week, where a favorite priest is dead by his own hand, after allegations of sexual abuse. These allegations go back to 20 years -- more now from our national correspondent, Brian Cabell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A bright, chilly Sunday morning at St. Anthony of Padua Church, the first Sunday for parishioners since the suicide of their associate pastor, Father Donald Rooney, a suicide that grieves and baffles them. Was he a child sex abuser, or a loving and caring priest, or both?

Two young couples remember him for the good he did. Matt and Laura Gray will tell you that when they learned their unborn daughter would have a fatal birth defect, Father Rooney from outside their parish took it upon himself to counsel and console them, day after day, week after week.

MATT GRAY, PARISHONER: It was a time of great despair, and yet there was a sense of peace, and I think that was brought about by Father Don being there.

CABELL: When their daughter, Megan, was born, she lived only two days. Father Rooney was there to hold her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was compassionate. He felt our pain. He wanted to help us in any way he could, but that was just who he was.

CABELL: Eileen and Jim Albert tell a similar story of a daughter also named Megan. She is fine now, happy and healthy, but just months ago, she was gravely ill with liver disease. A risky liver transplant from Eileen was the only way to save her. Father Rooney drove 250 miles to join the mother and the daughter in the hospital.

EILEEN ALBERT, PARISHIONER: He just reassured me, and I just had so much strength from him.

CABELL: Now, Jim can't reconcile the good man they knew with the horrible allegations.

JIM ALBERT, PARISHIONER: I don't -- I can't -- I mean, he was -- what we knew of him was a truly compassionate and dedicated priest.

CABELL: That's a common view in Parma, a heavily Catholic and middle class town 10 miles south of Cleveland.

(on camera): And the Archdiocese will tell you there was nothing in Father Rooney's files to indicate a problem with child sex abuse, until a woman called the church last week to say that she had been abused by him back in 1980, when she was a child. Father Rooney was called in for a meeting with the bishop. He never showed up. On Thursday, he shot himself to death.

ROBERT TAYEK, CLEVELAND CATHOLIC DIOCESE: Since Father Rooney's death was reported, we have had other allegations reported to us, and those have been turned over to the proper authorities for investigations.

CABELL (voice-over): Those are heartbreaking words for those who knew him. How do you make sense of a contradiction?

EILEEN ALBERT: I just have to think about the wonderful things that he has done for us, and nobody can take that away from us. It just -- that's how I am going to remember him.

CABELL: Brian Cabell, CNN, Parma, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And we are told that even though Father Rooney committed suicide, he will be honored with a full Catholic funeral, and that's to take place tomorrow.

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