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American Morning
New York Priests Accused of Sexual Misconduct
Aired April 08, 2002 - 08:02 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, in the ongoing crisis in the Catholic Church, six priests from the Archdiocese of New York have been asked to cease performing priestly duties due to allegations of sexual misconduct. And in Boston, new church documents are about to be made public.
We have reports on both of these developments from Michael Okwu in New York and Jason Carroll in Boston.
Let's start off with Michael Okwu in New York -- good morning, Michael.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
In a statement, a spokesperson with the archdiocese here in New York said that information regarding those six priests was handed over to prosecutors within the past week when the archdiocese gave a list of cases, of such cases, to the Manhattan district attorney's office.
What's interesting, Paula, is when they handed over that list it did not include the names of priests who might work within the confines of the archdiocese or within the New York area, but who do not report directly to the archdiocese. When that information became public last week, lots of criticism was leveled against the Catholic Church here.
Now, the archdiocese has not named or released the names or the identities of the six priests involved in this particular case, they say because those allegations have not yet been substantiated. But in its statement the archdiocese said the priests in question have been informed that they are not to present themselves as priests or to exercise the priestly ministry publicly until the matter is further clarified or resolved.
Now, the archdiocese in New York always gets a lot of attention. There are some 2.4 million members here and they're particularly getting attention now given all the bad news that is circling around the Catholic Church.
And Cardinal Edward Eagan was criticized for hiding such cases when he was a bishop in Bridgeport, Connecticut years ago.
But in this latest case, Paula, it is becoming clear that he may be trying and trying to get very proactive about that, trying to level these problems now and certainly about cooperating with prosecutors -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right, Michael Okwu, thanks for that update.
We're going to turn our attention now to Boston, where the scandal had been focused for weeks. Another priest stands accused and the church has lost a battle to keep documents under wraps.
Let's get that story now from Jason -- good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Paula.
Hundreds of pages of those documents should be released some time later this afternoon. Those documents should outline what Cardinal Law knew about Father Shanley and when he knew it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law is once again drawing criticism for the way the church handled a priest accused of sexual abuse. The alleged victim is Greg Ford. The priest is Father Paul Shanley.
Ford, his attorney and his parents made their claim in front of an abandoned brick building in nearby Newton. It used to be a rectory where Ford says from the age of six to 11 Father Shanley sexually abused him.
GREG FORD: They tore down every building behind us except for the rectory. That's Satan's house.
CARROLL: That's what it feels like to you?
FORD: That's what it feels like to me.
CARROLL: Ford is suing Father Shanley. As a result, a judge ordered the church to release hundreds of previously sealed documents about Shanley's past. The Fords say the papers show Cardinal Law and other church officials knew Shanley had been accused of sexual abuse years before he was moved to this parish in Newton, where he met their son. And the Fords say the documents show Cardinal Law still kept moving Shanley from parish to parish.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's horrible. It's horrendous. I'm ashamed today to say I'm a Catholic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was so painful. It was just awful.
CARROLL: In 1989, Shanley was eventually moved out of Boston. He ended up here at St. Anne Church in San Bernardino, California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a good priest. He was very much respected here in his parish and he was very much liked.
CARROLL: A spokesman for St. Anne's says they were told Shanley was a priest in good standing and they would not have allowed him to come if the Boston archdiocese had told them about his past. Shanley is now retired and most recently worked as a volunteer at the San Diego Police Department. The department fired him after learning about the allegations.
Shanley could not be reached for comment. The Boston archdiocese did not return our calls, either.
The Fords say they will keep talking, not just for themselves, but for other victims who might be out there and can't speak for themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And, Paula, the Fords point out that some of the documents that they should have received are missing, notably the Shanley psychiatric record. They are still waiting to receive that. As well, they say they will not be satisfied until they have that in their hands -- Paula.
ZAHN: Jason, there was a lot of speculation weeks ago about what kind of property the archdiocese of Boston might ultimately have to unload to cover some of the expenses related to this, the sexual abuse charges. And I know a Harvard professor out there was opening, openly lobbying for people not to give any money for the church unless they were assured it wasn't going to pay for what she called pedophile priests.
What is the status of that? Is giving off?
CARROLL: Well, I can tell you, Paula, that much of that is in reference to the civil settlement reached in the case of John Geoghan. Somewhere, anywhere between $15 million and $30 million the Boston archdiocese is going to have to pay out.
Some time ago I did speak with a representative from the Boston archdiocese and she told me that the Boston archdiocese is looking at a number of options, including possibly having to sell property.
In terms of the parishioners here, there are a number of parishioners that are continuing to support the Catholic Church, continuing to make donations to the Catholic Church. And again on the other side, there are some that are saying that they will not support the Catholic Church if they're going to be paying out these types of settlements.
So you have parishioners really on both sides who are really just going to have to wait and see at this point to find out how it's really going to affect the Boston archdiocese -- Paula.
ZAHN: Jason Carroll, thanks so much for that report. We appreciate it.
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