Church in
Crisis
Records further damage Boston church’s credibility
By GILL DONOVAN
Boston archdiocesan leaders during the past two decades overlooked
criminal behavior committed by priests, including assault and battery of a
58-year-old woman, sexual abuse by a priest of teenage female postulants and
novices, and the exchange of sex for illegal drugs, according to press reports
on archdiocesan records recently released to the public.
The 2,200 pages of records were released Dec. 3 by lawyers for
victims of Fr. Paul Shanley, which the lawyers say help prove a pattern of
negligent behavior by the archdiocese of transferring abusive priests.
The archdiocese currently faces about 450 civil suits in which
sexual abuse by priests is alleged. On Dec. 4, the archdiocese took a step
toward declaring bankruptcy when its finance panel gave Boston Cardinal Bernard
Law permission to do so if he chose.
The 2,200 pages of documents detail abuse accusations against
eight priests and are part of some 11,000 pages documenting allegations against
a total of 65 priests. The archdiocese attempted in a last-minute effort to
seal all the records from the public by court order Nov. 22. That attempt
failed, and one of the lawyers for victims of abuse by Shanley, Robert Sherman,
told the Los Angeles Times that the remaining 8,800 pages about the
other 58 accused priests would be released in the future.
The latest documents were released nearly a year after the
archdiocese was first forced under court order to turn over personnel records
of serial child abuser priest John Geoghan. The public viewing of those records
accelerated the clergy sex abuse scandal that has since broken across the
country (NCR, Feb. 1).
Some who have followed the ongoing church scandal closely say the
release of the 2,200 pages is especially damaging to the credibility of Law and
some of his former archdiocesan officials who have since been promoted to head
dioceses of their own: Archbishops Alfred C. Hughes of New Orleans; and Thomas
Daily of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Bishops Robert Banks of Green Bay, Wis.; John
McCormack of Manchester, N.H.; and William Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y.
Said David Clohessy, national chair of Survivors Network of those
Abused by Priests: “If anyone had the notion that this was just about
Cardinal Law, that notion is dispelled. Clearly, Banks, Daily and McCormack and
others were deeply and recently involved.”
Recommendations ignored
The records indicate that one of Law’s former officials,
Bishop John D’Arcy, who since 1985 has headed the South Bend, Ind.,
diocese, consistently opposed the transfer of abusive priests. The records show
that his recommendations, however, were regularly ignored by Law and his other
auxiliaries.
The documents reveal that three women accused Fr. Robert Meffan of
sexually abusing them when they were teenagers. In each case, Meffan had
convinced the teens to enter formation programs for the sisterhood. Abuse
allegedly occurred for years when the priest would visit, ostensibly to offer
spiritual guidance. Meffan, according to the records, would tell the girls he
was Christ and that they were “brides of Christ” and initiate sexual
activity.
Though records indicate that during his ministry Meffan denied
ever abusing anyone, the priest, now 73, admitted the abuse in a Boston
Globe telephone interview: “What I was trying to show them is that
Christ is human and you should love him as a human being.” he told the
newspaper. “Don’t think he’s up there and he’s spiritual
and he’s not human and physical. He’s human, he’s physical.
That’s what I was trying to point out to them.”
According to the records, the first complaint against Meffan was
in 1980. No evidence has been found that the archdiocese followed up on the
complaint.
In 1984 a diocesan official wrote to Law, who had taken over as
Boston archbishop months earlier, that Meffan had refused an assignment because
he said he had a secret mission from God that needed his attention.
D’Arcy also wrote to Law saying that Meffan was not
“balanced” and could harm the archdiocese. Law, however, reassigned
Meffan in December 1985 to a parish in Pembroke, St. Thecla. Meffan held that
position until further accusations of abuse led Law to suspend him in July
1993. In July 1996, Meffan complained to Law about the restrictions on his
priestly duties, in an essay, saying that he was “a prisoner of love in a
cell of allegations.”
In reply, Law characterized the essay as “a beautiful
testament to the depth of your faith and the courage of your heart. ... You
have touched me deeply, Bob.” It was one of several letters in the records
that showed Law as lavishly understanding toward accused abusers.
The archdiocese’s records also outline the history of abuse
and involvement in illegal drugs of Fr. Richard Buntel.
Bishop Thomas Daily was notified in 1981 that Buntel was involved
in distributing drugs to minors.
Buntel left Malden in 1983 after he denied a charge that he had
traded a 15-year-old boy cocaine for oral sex. Buntel was transferred to St.
Catherine in Westford. That move was made against the recommendation of
D’Arcy, who, in a letter to Daily, said that the archdiocese had been told
that Buntel was abusing illegal drugs, was alcoholic, was engaging in
homosexual activity, and was providing drugs to minors.
Drugs for sex
Buntel remained in Westford until 1994, when, under questioning
about the 1983 allegation of trading drugs for sex, Buntel admitted to the drug
use. He maintained, however, that the sexual relationship with the boy began
only after he turned 18. Buntel was placed on leave in March 1994.
Records of Fr. Thomas Forry contradict Law’s assertion in
January that no priest then serving in the archdiocese had been credibly
accused of child abuse. Forry continued to minister in the archdiocese until
February, even though multiple allegations of abuse had been made against
him.
Forry ultimately admitted to attacking his 58-year-old housekeeper
in 1979. A doctor describing the woman’s injuries from the attack said she
had bruises, cuts, and that a portion of her hair had been pulled out of her
scalp.
A warning by D’Arcy about Forry’s violent behavior did
not lead to the priest’s permanent removal from ministry. Law instead
transferred Forry to a parish in the southern part of the archdiocese.
In 1984, a woman with whom Forry was alleged to have had a sexual
relationship complained to the archdiocese that Forry had abused her son, the
same year in which Forry refused long-term pyschiatric care, despite the
recommendation of psychiatrists who said he was in “grave need.”
Forry opted instead for two months of outpatient treatment.
In 1988, Law approved a transfer for Forry to full-time Army
chaplain.
When serving in the Department of Corrections in 1999, according
to the Boston Globe, Forry was accused of “screaming and shouting
and exhibiting emotional and behavioral problems.” Correspondence from an
archdiocesan official called Forry “a deeply troubled person,” and
said he should be “held accountable for his behavior.” Law, however,
next made Forry a member of the archdiocesan emergency response team, where he
would fill in at parishes during any assigned priest’s absence. The next
complaint against Forry was made in October 2001 by a woman who said Forry had
molested her and her brother years ago when they were still children. Forry was
finally removed from ministry this past February.
Records released about other priests accused of abuse who worked
in the archdiocese -- Robert Morrissette, Robert Burns, James Nyghan, Peter
Frost and Robert Towner -- tell similar stories of accusations of sexual abuse
against minors usually leading to transfers by archdiocesan officials.
Fr. Walter Cuenin, pastor of a large, thriving parish in Newton,
Mass., Our Lady Help of Christians, said learning of the contents of the
documents has been difficult. “Some of these men are our classmates,”
he told NCR. “We know them.”
“For priests in the Boston archdiocese it’s a very sad
day,” he said. “Many of us feel sad and ashamed by the terrible
things that were happening.”
Tom White, the development director of Voice of the Faithful, a
lay organization advocating church reform, reacted by wondering: “How much
more can we be revulsed?”
Gill Donovan is a writer for NCR. His e-mail address is
gdonovan@natcath.org. Free-lance writer Chuck Colbert contributed
to this report.
National Catholic Reporter, December 13,
2002
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