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REPORT OF THE GRAND JURY INTO SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS BY CLERGY IN THE PHILADELPHIA ARCHDIOCESE |
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Father Connor stays in Pittsburgh only so long as Bishop Bevilacqua is there; Archbishop Bevilacqua then finds a parish for him in Conshohocken. Father Connor began work in Pittsburgh in October 1985 after his release from Southdown. He remained there three years, first in a hospital chaplaincy, then in a parish. From the start he was anxious to return to Camden, but, as reflected in a May 12, 1986, memo from one of Bishop Guilfoyle's aides, Msgr. Buchler, to his bishop, Bishop Guilfoy1e repeatedly put him off. Efforts to find other dioceses willing to take Fr. Connor were unproductive. As noted in the same memo: "Ordinaries of dioceses are beginning to become somewhat 'gun shy' about accepting priests from other dioceses. The potential for legal ramifications are becoming more and more prohibitive." September 1986 memos from Bishop Guilfoyle's aides, Frs. Frey and Bottino, to their bishop recorded that some dioceses, such as Baltimore, were so wary' of taking on Fr. Connor that they said they would require the extraordinary protection of an "indemnity agreement" whereby the Camden diocese would agree to "exonerat[e] them from any incident and damages caused by any acts of Pedophilia on the part of Father Connor " After Bishop Bevilacqua left Pittsburgh, Fr. Oattilo revoked Fr. Connor's assignment. A 1988 letter from Fr. Connor to Bishop Guilfoyle recorded that Fr. Dattilo cited "legal complications" and suggested Fr. Connor apply to Philadelphia since Archbishop Bevilacqua had been willing to accept the priest before. Once again, Archbishop Bevilacqua accommodated Fr. Connor, and gave him an unrestricted ministry. He invited the priest, who he had acknowledged could present a "serious risk," to minister to the faithful of Saint Matthew parish in Conshohocken. On September 7, 1988, Archbishop Bevilacqua appointed Fr. Connor assistant pastor at Saint Matthew, a parish with a grade school. The Archbishop's assignment letter, among other duties, encouraged Fr. Connor to "educate youth." Cardinal Bevilacqua told the Grand Jury that, from what he could recall of the appointment process, Fr. Connor called the Archbishop directly to request an assignment. Archbishop Bevilacqua then asked the Chancellor, Msgr. Samuel Shoemaker, to handle the appointment. Cardinal Bevilacqua testified that he did not recall telling the Chancellor about Fr. Connor's history. Archbishop Bevilacqua and the Philadelphia Archdiocese accepted this dangerous priest readily but did nothing to ensure the propriety of his future conduct. Father James W. Donlon, the pastor of Saint Matthew Church since March 1989, testified to the Grand Jury that Cardinal Bevilacqua never told him about Fr. Connor's arrest or that he had been treated at Southdown for abusing alcohol and a 14-year-old boy. The Archbishop met with Fr. Donlon for a half hour in February 1989 to familiarize Fr. Donlon with his new parish. Rather than share information that might have aided the pastor in protecting the children of Saint Matthew, Archbishop Bevilacqua chose to say only that Fr. Connor was brought from Pittsburgh to be closer to his family. Moreover, Fr. Donlon was given no guidance as to what activities Fr. Connor should or should not participate in, even though the Southdown report that Cardinal Bevilacqua had received explicitly recommended that Fr. Connor not be put in a position of responsibility for adolescents. Since Fr. Donlon received no warning from the Archbishop, he allowed Fr. Connor full access to the youth of the parish. The pastor did not know to be concerned about an especially close relationship that was developing between Fr. Connor and a young boy from the parish grade school, named "Timothy." The Grand Jury further heard that Archbishop Bevilacqua also neglected to tell the pastor that Fr. Connor had a history of alcohol abuse and that Southdown had warned that excessive use of alcohol could increase the risk that the priest would act out sexually with adolescents. Thus, when Fr. Connor continued to drink, Fr. Donlon did not know to be especially concerned. The Grand Jury heard from Detective Joseph Walsh of the District Attorney's Office that he had located Timothy, the boy Fr. Donlon had noticed Fr. Connor befriending during his tenure at Saint Matthew. Timothy, now 24 years old, was living with his mother outside the parish. Detective Walsh obtained signed statements from Timothy and his mother. Timothy did not say that Fr. Connor abused him sexually, but he told the detective that for several years -from third grade until the beginning of high school -Fr. Connor took him, once a week, to movies, dinner, bowling, and golfing. The priest bought him golf clubs and a bike. Timothy also admitted to the detective that as a boy he suffered from proctitis, an inflammation of the anus often associated with anal intercourse. The Grand Jury saw medical records that documented that Timothy had been treated for this condition. Timothy' mother told the detective she was convinced her son was sexually abused by Fr. Connor. Father Donlon also told the Grand Jury that it was not until a newspaper reporter called him in 2002 that he became aware of Fr. Connor's arrest for sexually abusing a minor. Father Donlon then complained to Msgr. Edward Cullen, the Vicar for Administration, that he should have been told of Fr. Connor's background. Father Donlon explained to the Grand Jury that he "would have been more careful about everything," meaning Fr. Connor's activities and his association with the school. The pastor did not, however, complain to Cardinal Bevilacqua, because he assumed that the Cardinal did not know about Fr. Connor's background. When asked before the Grand Jury why he made this assumption, Fr. Donlon answered: "Wouldn't he have said something to me if he had known?" The pastor did not know what Cardinal Bevilacqua' s friend Bishop Guilfoyle had noted in a September 12, 1988, memo announcing Father Connor's appointment in Conshohocken: "Certainly no one knows more than Archbishop Bevilacqua about Father Connor's background over these last several years." (Appendix D-17) Cardinal Bevilacqua defends his actions by falsely denying knowledge of Father Connor's offense. Cardinal Bevilacqua attempted to conceal his knowledge of Fr. Connor's "background" from the public and the Grand Jury .He told a reporter, according to a story printed July 28, 2002, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, that he did not know that Fr. Connor's 1984 arrest involved a minor until he read it in a newspaper in Apri1 2002. He told the Grand Jurors: "my memory is I thought (the incident] involved an act of homosexuality or possibly heterosexuality with an adult woman." The Cardinal testified that he first learned that Fr. Connor had been at Southdown Institute -- a facility that treated sexual offenders -- again from a newspaper account in 2002. He insisted that, when Bishop Guilfoyle asked him to take a priest who had been arrested -causing too much scandal for the Camden diocese to keep him -he would not have asked why that priest had been arrested. Documents from the files of both Camden and Pittsburgh demonstrate, however, that Cardinal Bevilacqua did know, from September 1985 on, that Fr. Connor's arrest involved a minor and that the priest had been at Southdown. Bishop Guilfoyle's initial letter of September 5, 1985, to his fellow bishop, specifically stated that Bishop Guilfoyle would follow up with a phone call to provide Bishop Bevilacqua with the details of Fr. Connor's case. The letter also stated that: Early in the year [Fr. Connor] was arrested and with government approval went for treatment at Southdown, Ontario, Canada (416-727-4214) ... He has been at Southdown for a good many months and will be released the end of this September." Furthermore, a subsequent September 12, 1985, letter from Bishop Guilfoyle to Bishop Bevilacqua reflects that the report from Southdown, dated September 3, 1985, was forwarded to Bishop Bevilacqua and explicitly recommended "points" to be passed on to the Pittsburgh Bishop to inform his decision about accepting Fr. Connor. The report itself states that: The staff at Southdown does not believe that Jack is a primary pedophile but rather someone who, under the circumstances of extreme loneliness and excessive use of alcohol, acts out sexually with some preference for late adolescent males ... However, because of the incident for which he was apprehended, we would not recommend any ministry that would directly put him in a position of responsibility for adolescents such as a teaching situation. Memos in Pittsburgh between Fr. Dattilo and Bishop Bevilacqua refer to the Southdown report. Indeed, Cardinal Bevilacqua himself professed reliance on the Southdown report to justify to the Grand Jury his decision to allow Fr. Connor to return to ministry in Pittsburgh in 1985. He told the Grand Jury that the "report from Southdown seemed to say it was a minor -- that he could be restored to some kind of ministry. That's what I gathered from the report." yet he testified, also, that he did not know until 2002 that Fr. Connor was ever at Southdown. The Grand Jury finds the Cardinal' s testimony in this regard untruthful. We further find it inexplicable that, knowing of Fr. Connor's abuse of a minor, Archbishop Bevilacqua chose to accept Fr. Connor into the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, to assign him to a parish with a grade school, and not to inform the pastor or parishioners at Saint Matthew of Fr. Connor's criminal background, even though Archbishop Bevilacqua acknowledged that Fr. Connor could present "a serious risk." The Grand Jury specifically finds that Cardinal Bevilacqua chose to subject the parish' s boys to that risk in order to help his friend Bishop Guilfoyle avoid scandal. Why he compounded this risk by choosing to keep Fr. Donlon in the dark is not clear, unless it was simply so that the Cardinal could later claim he knew nothing. When Father Connor's New Jersey victim sues the Camden Diocese in 1993, Cardinal Bevilacqua promptly transfers the priest back to New Jersey. In September 1993, Fr. Connor was suddenly transferred back to Camden. He did not request the transfer, and no reason for it was given to Fr. Donlon. The impetus for his transfer is well documented, however, in Archdiocese files. Those records also confirm that Cardinal Bevilacqua was well aware in 1993 that Fr. Connor's victim in 1984 had been a minor, and indeed that Bishop Bevilacqua had known that in 1985. Detailed notes by Msgr. James E. Molloy, Assistant to the Vicar for Administration, record that on July 21, 1993, Cardinal Bevilacqua consulted Msgr. Cullen concerning Fr. Connor. The Archbishop told the Vicar for Administration that he had received a phone call from Bishop McHugh of Camden, warning that Fr. Connor'svictim from 1984 had hired an attorney and was preparing to sue the Diocesc of Camden and Bishop Eustace High School. Monsignor Cullen told his assistant the next morning that Fr. Connor had gone to Pittsburgh under Bishop Bevilacqua and then to Philadelphia based on this incident in Camden. As church officials moved urgently to manage the crisis, Msgr. Molloy was instructed to gather whatever records the Archdiocese had. Monsignor Molloy kept minute-by-minute notes of his actions on July 22, 1993 -- all of which were devoted to Fr. Connor's situation. Monsignor Molloy spoke to the Bishop of Camden who updated him on the incident itself and what had happened with Fr . Connor since. The Bishop instructed his Chancellor, Joseph Pokusa, to read to Msgr. Molloy the September 3, 1985, report from Southdown that Bishop Guilfoyle had had sent to Bishop Bevilacqua in Pittsburgh. Monsignor Molloy noted that, according to the letter, the Southdown staff did ;'not believe [Fr. Connor] was a primary pedophile but rather that he acted out under stress." The letter recommended "against ministry which would involve him with adolescents." Msgr. Molloy recorded that, at 10:05 p.m. that night, he called Msgr. Cullen to update him and to inforn1 him that he would try to contact the Archdiocese attorney John O'Dea in the morning. At 3:20 P.M. the next day, July 23, 1993, Msgr. Molloy wrote that he briefed Cardinal Bevilacqua and Msgr. Cullen at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. Monsignor Molloy's only notation about the briefing was that he reminded them of Southdown's recommendation, sent to Bishop Bevilacqua in 1985, that Connor not be in ministry involving adolescents. On July 27, 1993, Msgr. Molloy met with Cardinal Bevilacqua, Msgr. Cullen, and Bishop McHugh. At this meeting Msgr. Molloy was instructed to "contact Pittsburgh to get any letter sent to AJB [Anthony J. Bevilacqua] from Camden while AJB was in Pittsburgh." The reason that these incriminating letters had to be obtained from Pittsburgh, rather than Camden, was not stated. Camden officials had already gone through their files and read the most relevant letter to Msgr. Molloy. The bishops decided that Fr. Connor should be transferred back to Camden. The Diocese of Camden reportedly settled out of court with Fr. Connor's victim in 1993. Since then, according to documents from Camden, Fr. Connor has twice been sent to Saint John Vianney -the Philadelphia Archdiocese's hospital where priest sexual offenders are treated. The Camden Diocese offered him early retirement in February 2002. Monsignor Lynn is warned in 1994 that Father Connor continues a relationship with an eighth-grade boy in Conshohocken. On November 15, 1994, Fr. John Kelly, a parochial vicar at Saint Matthew, Conshohocken, called Secretary for Clergy Lynn. The priest reported that Fr. Connor, a year after he had been transferred back to Camden, was still visiting 8th-grader Timothy -- the same boy who, Pastor Donlon testified, Fr. Connor had befriended while assigned to Saint Matthew. Father Kelly told Msgr. Lynn that Fr. Connor visited Timothy weekly, took the boy on trips, and gave him gifts. A few days later, Sister Margaret Gradl, I.H.M., who taught 8th grade at the parish school, also called Msgr. Lynn about Fr. Connor's relationship with Timothy. Monsignor Lynn, obviously concerned, called the Camden Chancellor, Msgr. Pokusa, and the Archdiocese attorney, John O'Dea, to notify them of Fr. Connor's "imprudent" behavior. Archdiocese files indicate no attempt to notify Timothy's mother. On April 10, 1995, Fr. Kelly again reported that Fr. Connor was back in the parish and still in Timothy's life. Monsignor Lynn responded: "I told Father Kelly that all I could do was inform the Camden Diocese, as I did before, that Fr. Connor was back in the picture with this young boy here in Conshohocken." Monsignor Lynn did not explain why he could not warn the boy's mother that allowing her son's relationship with Fr. Connor might not be prudent. Father Connor was subpoenaed to appear before the Grand Jury in order to afford him an opportunity to answer the allegations against him. By letter of his attorney? Fr . Connor declined to appear or testify. The case of Fr. Gerard W. Chambers illustrates the fact, clearly established by evidence before the Grand Jury, that the Philadelphia Archdiocese had a longstanding policy of transferring sexually abusive priests from parish to parish in order to avoid disclosure and scandal -- never mind all the children thereby endangered and abused. Without investigating any accusations against Fr. Chambers, but based solely on a list of his assignments, Secretary for Clergy William J. Lynn was able to advise Cardinal Bevilacqua that an abuse allegation against the priest was probably valid. And what was it about the assignment list that made Msgr. Lynn's inference reasonable? The list showed that the Archdiocese had frequently, constantly moved Fr. Chambers around. Ordained in 1934, Fr. Chambers was accused of molesting numerous altar boys, and anally and orally raping at least one, during 40 years as a priest in the Archdiocese. Nearly half of those years were spent on "health leaves" and in treatment facilities. Each time the priest returned to ministry, he was assigned to a parish with full access to children. Once, after three successive sick leaves totaling more than SIX years, he was assigned as chaplain to an orphanage for boys. When Fr. Chambers was not on sick leave, he was moved from parish to parish. The Archdiocese assigned him to 17 parishes in his 21 years of active ministry. Church officials in 1994 said they destroyed all of Fr. Chambers' personnel records covering his career in ministry. Beginning in that year, four of his victims came forward to the Archdiocese to talk about their abuse. The victims were from his fourteenth and fifteenth assignments -- Saint Gregory, in West Philadelphia, and Seven Dolors, in Wyndmoor. One rape victim tried to commit suicide and has been institutionalized at a state mental hospital. He suffers delusions because he cannot reconcile his faith in the Church with what happened to him. Two of his brothers were also victims of Fr. Chambers and are still haunted by their abuse more than 40 years later. They named several other boys from Saint Gregory whom the priest had abused. One of the brothers testified that he believed Fr. Chambers sexually abused every altar boy and quite frequently those who weren't altar boys. The brothers of the institutionalized victim expressed anger before the Grand Jury because they know the Archdiocese could have prevented the abuse that ruined their brother's life. They, too, could tell from the list of Fr, Chambers' transfers that Church officials had to have known of the priest's crimes from the time of his earliest assignments. Father Chambers was constantly transferred, at odd times of the year, sometimes after only months in assignments, and his career was interrupted repeatedly for "health leave." The priest was placed on permanent health leave in 1963, at the age of 56. He died in 1974. In 1994 the Archdiocese learns of victim "Benjamin." Benjamin was 46 years old in March 1994 when he told Msgr. Lynn and his assistant, Fr. James D. Beisel, that Fr. Gerard Chambers had abused him as an altar boy at Seven Dolors parish in Wyndmoor in 1959 or 1960. Father Beisel recorded that the abuse included "hugging, kissing, masturbating" the victim and "mutual fondling of the genitals." It happened in the church sacristy, at Fr. Chambers' sister's house, and in the priest's car. According to Fr. Beisel's memo, Benjamin recalled that "Father Chambers plied him with alcohol and cigarettes." Monsignor Lynn told Benjamin he would investigate the matter and get back to the victim. He offered that if the allegation were substantiated, the Archdiocese might help the victim with counseling costs he had incurred over the years. By memo of March 28, 1994, Msgr. Lynn forwarded the allegation to Cardinal Bevilacqua and included a copy of the priest's "profile," listing his assignments within the Archdiocese. Monsignor Lynn informed Cardinal Bevilacqua that Fr. Chambers had died in 1974. He said that Benjamin had reported that Fr. Chambers was at Seven Dolors only a short time and had "disappeared suddenly, gone overnight." Monsignor Lynn also stated: "From the attached profile it could be determined that the probability of the alleged abuse is highly possible." He recommended that the Archdiocese offer the victim assistance with counseling costs. Notes from an issues meeting on March 29, 1994, record: "Cardinal Bevilacqua did not act on the recommendations as submitted. Rather, the Cardinal directed that Msgr. Lynn notify Benjamin that his request is being reviewed and that further communication will be forthcoming." In the meantime, Cardinal Bevilacqua directed that his staff "investigate prescriptions of the Code of Canon Law concerning the retention and/or destruction of records of clerical personnel who are deceased." Before agreeing to assist Fr. Chambers' victim, Cardinal Bevilacqua also wanted Msgr. Lynn to research victim compensation policies of other dioceses, as well as payments made previously to victims of other priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. The Cardinal wanted to know from legal counsel: "What will happen if we decide not to pay anything to [Benjamin]?" Eventually, Cardinal Bevilacqua agreed to reimburse Benjamin $6,890 for counseling if the victim would sign an agreement acknowledging that the Archdiocese was not admitting guilt and promising that he would seek no further assistance. Monsignor Lynn told Benjamin that without "proof," the Archdiocese could not acknowledge the victim's abuse. He said the Archdiocese was only required to retain records for ten years after the death of a priest, and that it had disposed of Fr. Chambers' personnel files. In 2002 the Archdiocese learns of more victims.
In June 2002, Msgr. Lynn learned of three more of Fr. Chambers' victims, these from the priest's 14th assignment. George called Msgr. Lynn and told him that Fr. Chambers had molested him and his two brothers at Saint Gregory parish in the 1950s. George and his brother, "Francis," testified before the Grand Jury that Fr. Chambers fondled their genitals in the sacristy, at a house on the New Jersey Shore, and in the priest's car. At age 59, George said he was embarrassed that he could not tell the Grand Jury about his abuse without many times breaking out in tears. He said he still harbored "more than a fair amount of self-hatred and self-recrimination." George said that Fr. Chambers' abuse of him and his brothers ruined the life of his family when he was growing up. The brothers all had these awful secrets, and although they knew at some level of each other's abuse, no one talked about it, and no one dared tell their Irish immigrant parents who had brought the boys up to be in "awe" of priests. So the boys "stuffed it down," he said, and suffered alone. George started drinking at age 13 or 14 years. He said he has been in Alcoholics Anonymous since 1975, but has suffered from depression since then. He said that his second wife has tried to be supportive, but it was hard for her to understand the "repetitive stuff that I go through," and why he could not get over it.
Francis testified that, like George, as an altar boy he had endured Fr. Chambers' fondling his genitals and rubbing the priest's genitals against him in the sacristy. He also recalled a particular instance of abuse when he had accompanied Fr. Chambers on an overnight trip to the New Jersey Shore. He told the Grand Jury that he awoke to find Fr. Chambers in his bed with one hand on the boy's genitals and the other on his "rear." Francis spent the rest of the night locked in a bathroom to escape the priest. Although his abuse occurred when he was a young teenager, Francis told the Grand Jury: "It's something that I carried my whole -- my whole life." He said he thought about it all the time and still has trouble concentrating. George echoed Francis's self-assessment. George testified that Fr. Chambers' abuse of Francis "clouded" his brother's whole thought process.
For all of the abuse that Francis and George suffered at the hand of Fr. Chambers, it was Owen's suffering that finally led his brothers to the Archdiocese for help in 2002. Owen was the youngest brother and had been most brutally abused by Fr. Chambers. Although Owen refused to acknowledge or talk about his abuse, his brothers knew of it. In November 2002, a cousin of theirs, Fr. "Edward," was able to get Owen to talk about what Fr. Chambers had done to him. Father Edward, who was an Irish priest, wrote to the Philadelphia Archdiocese in August 2003 and related how Owen had finally acknowledged his abuse. The cousin wrote that Owen did not use the word "abused" and he would not refer to Fr. Chambers as a priest. Rather, Owen insisted that Fr. Chambers "was not a priest," but "an agent trying to destroy the Catholic Church." He described to his cousin "screaming in the sacristy" because of what Fr. Chambers did to him. He told the name of a sexton who had ignored his cries. He shared delusions with his cousin about "agents making poisonous wafers" and accused the Queen of England and evil men of trying to destroy the Catholic Church. The cousin described Owen as "very pious." He wrote that Owen "often attended three Masses daily" and "loved to recite rosaries." He told Archdiocese managers: I feel that [Owen] has suppressed in his subconscious much of what happened to him when he was an altar boy. In the past and even now, he seems incapable of accepting that abuse, such as happened to him, could happen within the Catholic Church and be done by a priest. Other churches, yes, but not ours. His vision of a priest is still that of his childhood ... of a saintly man incapable of doing evil. Hence his reference to agents ... trying to destroy the Catholic Church may be his way of trying to reconcile for himself what happened to him. Father Edward said that he was writing to Msgr. Lynn and Martin Frick, the Archdiocese's victim assistance coordinator, "in the hope that you may appreciate better the pain and confusion that Owen has experienced as a result of what happened to him when he was young." Francis testified that Owen' s condition deteriorated significantly when he began to read in early 2002 that abuse of minors by Catholic priests was, in fact, widespread. When Owen testified before the Grand Jury on July 9,2004, he had been at Norristown State Hospital for about a year and was on medication. He was able to recall and finally describe his abuse. He still insisted, though, that he considered Fr. Chambers "a demon" and "a devil" and "not representative of a Catholic priest." Owen told the Grand Jury that his abuse started when he was 9 or 10 years old, but he probably was 12, given when Fr. Chambers came to his parish. He testified that Fr. Chambers "trapped" him in a closet where cassocks were hung. He said Fr. Chambers put his hands around the boy's neck and tried to force him to perform oral sex on the priest. Owen thought Fr. Chambers choked him partly to make him do what the priest wanted, and then in frustration when Owen refused. Owen told how Fr. Chambers fondled his genitals. He estimated this happened 12 to 15 times. Owen told the Grand Jury that he tried to tell his mother that Fr. Chambers was a "bad priest," but he described what happened to him in childish ways, for example, saying "he touched me between my legs," and his mother did not seem to understand. Once, when Owen was trying to avoid going to the shore with Fr. Chambers, he told his mother that the priest "touched me here, and he wants to blow me." His mother hit him, which he said did not cause "physical pain, but psychologically was a crusher, because she was sending me down to the shore with an ogre." It was on that trip to the shore that Fr. Chambers orally and anally raped the 12-year-old. Owen testified that he spent two nights with Fr. Chambers at his New Jersey Shore house. He could not remember precisely what happened on which night, but he recalled Fr. Chambers entering the room where Owen was sleeping on a couch. He said the priest was naked and he climbed on top of Owen and put his hands around the boy's throat. He told the boy: "You know I could strangle you right now if I wanted to." Owen said he was "deathly afraid" and tried to "fight him off." The boy, who had been pinned on his stomach, was able to turn onto his back. At that point, he said, the priest sat on his chest and "pressed his penis against my mouth." When the boy refused to perform oral sex, he said, Fr. Chambers smacked him and left the room. Owen could not remember whether it was the next night or later on the same night that Fr. Chambers returned. The victim described how Fr. Chambers pulled down his pants and performed oral sex on him for about 45 minutes. Owen said he never had an orgasm, but that his penis began to bleed. Owen further told the Grand Jury that about an hour after this ordeal ended, Fr. Chambers returned, climbed on top of the boy's back, and tried to force his erect penis into the boy's rectum. Owen said that Fr. Chambers succeeded in entering him anally "for about half a minute." After the boy struggled and got "him out of my rear end ... he tried for about fifteen, twenty minutes to get back in." Owen said he "wouldn't let him." He then told the priest, "Why don't you kill me now? I got to live with this shame for the rest of my life." Owen told the Grand Jury: "I still feel shame about it today." Owen did not talk about what happened to him for more than 40 years. As his brother George testified: "[Owen] just stuffed it." George said that, in 1981, Francis tried to get Owen to talk about what happened, warning him: "[Owen] if you don't deal with this molestation, it's going to take you down." Owen testified that it ruined his marriage. His wife, he said, had "heard a little bit of the story," and did not want their children raised Catholic. Owen, still believing that Fr. Chambers was "a devil" and an aberration "not representative of a Catholic priest," remained devoted to his church. Owen and his wife divorced in the early 1980s. After his divorce, Owen moved back to his parents' home in Philadelphia. There, in 1983, he attempted suicide, slitting his throat and wrists with a razor. Since then, Owen has been in and out of psychiatric facilities. Between 1934 and 1974, Father Chambers is given 17 assignments and placed on "health leave" for a total of 19 years. In 1994, when Benjamin began speaking to the Archdiocese about his abuse, the priest had been dead 20 years. Church officials told the victim that Fr. Chambers' personnel records no longer existed. However, the one document the Archdiocese had retained -- a list of Fr. Chambers' assignments -- reveals a great deal. It reveals that the priest was on "health leave" almost as much as he was in active ministry , and that he spent his 21 years of active ministry in 17 different parishes. Having heard the stories of so many sexually abusive priests, the Grand Jury was easily able to recognize this pattern of constant transfer as an indicator that the Archdiocese knew that Fr. Chambers was a chronic sexual offender and moved him from parish to parish to avoid scandal, without regard to how these transfers endangered the children of the parishes. Interestingly, Secretary for Clergy Lynn also recognized this pattern, and ascribed to it the same significance that the Grand Jury did. Msgr. Lynn found Benjamin's allegations "highly possible," based only on a review of this list of assignments. Monsignor Lynn told one of the three brother victims that priests normally spent five years in each assignment. Fr. Chambers often spent less than nine months. His longest parish assignment lasted two-and-a-half years. He was frequently transferred in the middle of the year, rather than in June as was customary -and he was moved to all corners of the Archdiocese. For Msgr. Lynn, as for the Grand Jury, this pattern of transfer was characteristic of how the Archdiocese treated the problems presented by sexually abusive priests. The Grand Jury cannot know whether Fr. Chambers abused others at any of the many other parishes to which he was assigned, but common sense dictates that it is highly likely that he did so. The three brothers, George, Francis, and Owen, gave to the Grand Jury the names of six other boys who had told them that they also had suffered Fr. Chambers' abuse -"Daniel," "Bill" (who in February 2004 had himself reported to the Archdiocese that Fr. Chambers had abused him), "Sam," "Don," "Bobby," and "Hank" (whose sister in February 2004 reported to the Archdiocese that Fr. Chambers had abused her brother). Hank died at age 38 after suffering from serious drug and alcohol abuse. Francis and George testified to having been abused in Fr. Chambers' car ~hen he took them to visit an orphanage in the Poconos, where the priest had been chaplain. Both assumed there were more victims there. Owen told the Grand Jury that he believed Fr. Chambers had "sexually abused every altar boy [ at Saint Gregory ] and quite frequently those who weren't altar boys." The Archdiocese responds to the three brothers. George, Francis and Owen began seeking help from the Archdiocese in 1995, one year after Benjamin came forward. Their first attempt to report their abuse and its consequences came in a letter to Bishop John Graham, who had been an auxiliary bishop, and was a cousin of the three brothers. Francis wrote the letter Easter week of 1995. In it he detailed Fr. Chambers' abuse of the three brothers. He told of Owen' s attempted suicide. He received no response from Bishop Graham or anyone else in the Archdiocese. Seven years later, in June 2002, George contacted Msgr. Lynn to report Fr. Chambers' abuse of all three brothers. George was primarily concerned for Owen, who had attempted suicide and was in desperate need of help. Msgr. Lynn told George that he was willing to meet with the victims, but that they were also "welcome to go to the civil authorities." This case, where Msgr. Lynn knew the priest had been dead almost three decades, is one of the few in which he ever noted suggesting a report to law enforcement. When Francis called Msgr. Lynn in August 2002, the Secretary for Clergy wrote to the Archdiocese's victim coordinator, Martin Frick. Msgr. Lynn explained the situation and asked Frick to assist Owen with counseling and housing. In March of the next year, George wrote to complain that no assistance had been provided. It appears that, despite Msgr. Lynn's instructions in August 2002 to go ahead and assist Owen, Frick was insistent on taking some sort of statement from the victim, even though the victim was not emotionally able to give one. Owen' s delusions, heard by a priest friend and reported to Frick, that "men were coming in and out of his apartment and putting semen in his mouth," should have been sufficient evidence that he needed help. On March 31, 2003, Msgr. Lynn again instructed Frick to he1p Owen, without a statement from the victim, based on the information they had from George, Francis, and the cousin, Fr, Edward. By August 2003, while still waiting for the assistance he needed, Owen had assaulted his landlord and was committed to Norristown State Hospital. On November 20, 2003, the day before he testified before the Grand Jury, George met with Msgr. Lynn and Frick and, again, asked the Archdiocese to pay for counseling and housing for Owen. The Church officials told him that it would be discussed the next week and George would be notified. On June 18, 2004, Francis testified that George had recently been notified that the Archdiocese would pay for six months of counseling if and when Owen was released from Norristown State Hospital. After the six months, the brothers were told, Archdiocese managers would review the situation. According to Francis, no housing assistance was offered. Owen told the Grand Jury: "I hope they don't release me until I get over [my] suicidal tendencies."
Cardinal Bevilacqlia named Fr. Michael J. McCarthy pastor of Epiphany of Our Lord Church in Norristown in September 1992 -- nine months after learning that the priest was accused of molesting several students from Cardinal O 'Hara High School when he was a teacher there in the 1970s. The Cardinal had been informed that Fr. McCarthy had taken boys to his New Jersey beach house, plied them with liquor, slept nude in the same bed with them, and masturbated the boys and himself. Cardinal Bevilacqua responded by having his assistant, Msgr. James E, Molloy, assure the priest, ordained in 1965 and then parochial administrator at Saint Kevin parish in Springfield, that the Cardinal did not "doubt ... Father McCarthy 's ability to be pastor." The only concern expressed by the Cardinal before promoting Fr. McCarthy to a pastorate was that his parish should "be distant from St. Kevin Parish so that the profile can be as low as possible and not attract attention from the complainant." In the priest's Secret Archives file at the time of his assignment to Epiphany was another accusation, made in 1986, by the mother of a recent O'Hara student. In May 1993, Cardinal Bevilacqua removed Fr. McCarthy from his pastorate at Epiphany, but not because of his abuse of children. The Cardinal said he removed the priest for keeping homosexual pornography in his closet -- but he had launched an investigation of Fr. McCarthy only after a large financial contributor complained to the Archdiocese. The contributor, a travel agent, had protested that Fr. McCarthy was acting as an agent himself and had taken away business she usually received from Epiphany's travel club. The Saint Luke Institute, in Suitland, Maryland, diagnosed Fr. McCarthy as a homosexual ephebophile -- someone sexually attracted to adolescents. Secretary for Clergy William Lynn questioned the diagnosis, but Saint Luke refused to alter its finding. Church records suggest that the Archdiocese, which had used Saint Luke extensively to evaluate and treat priests, thereafter curtailed its relationship with the Institute. The Archdiocese ignores a 1986 complaint of sexual abuse. In September 1986, "Bruce's" mother reported to Fr. Philip J. Cribben, the principal at Cardinal O'Hara High School, that her son's biology teacher, Fr. Michael McCarthy, had touched Bruce in an improper way. Father Cribben originally ignored the complaint even though he had told Bruce's mother that he had heard rumors but had felt powerless to act without an actual complainant. She wrote Fr. Cribben, volunteering that she or her son would be willing to talk to anyone and asking that the principal relay her allegation to Archdiocese managers. She asked also that her son be transferred out of Fr. McCarthy's class immediately. As reported third- or fourth-hand to Chancellor Samuel E. Shoemaker on December 5, 1986, by Msgr. David Walls in the Archdiocese education office, Fr. McCarthy touched Bruce's neck while the boy was seated in class, then "moved with his hands down the boy's back, finally touching his buttocks." Monsignor Walls reported further that "when confronted with this, Fr. McCarthy denied it but then proceeded to contact a lawyer." In fact, Fr. McCarthy had admitted to the principal "pinching" some students as he examined their work. The action decided on, to remove Bruce from Fr. McCarthy's Track One Biology class, was one the principal initially refused to make. Monsignor Walls reported to Msgr. Shoemaker, though: "It was felt necessary to change two classes rather than just Fr. McCarthy's class so that it could be said that the change was for academic reasons." Thus, Bruce was, in effect, punished for having been a victim of Fr. McCarthy's sexual abuse. As for Fr. McCarthy, not only was the complaint ignored, in 1989 he was made the administrator (which is like an acting pastor) at Saint Kevin Church in Springfield, Delaware County. Cardinal Bevilacqua made the appointment despite this complaint, which remained in McCarthy's Secret Archives file. The Archdiocese ignores a 1991 complaint of sexual abuse. On November 27, 1991, "David," a married father of two daughters, called the Archdiocese to report that when he was a student at Cardinal O'Hara High School in Springfield, a priest had befriended and then sexually abused him in the years 1974-1976. On December 23, 1991, he met with Monsignor James E. Molloy, the Assistant Vicar for Administration, and his aide Msgr. William J. Lynn, and named Fr. McCarthy as his abuser. David related that Fr, McCarthy had been his Advanced Placement Biology teacher his sophomore year at O'Hara (1974-1975). David said he had done poorly on a test and Fr. McCarthy bet him a dinner that he would get a 90 or better on the next test. David said he got a 63 on the next test, but when he subsequently received a 94 on another test, Fr. McCarthy took him to dinner. The two began to talk frequently at school. The teacher took the boy to his shore house in Margate, New Jersey. There they went to the beach and out to dinner. The priest's house had a well-stocked bar and David said Fr. McCarthy provided boys with liquor. At night, the priest slept in the same bed with the student even though there were two bedrooms in the house and one had two beds. The priest always slept naked. David reported to the Archdiocese managers that, as time went on, Fr. McCarthy told the student not to take his clothes into the bathroom when he showered so that the boy had to walk naked in front of the priest. The boy initially slept in underwear, but after the priest wrestled them off of him one night, he also took to sleeping in the nude. The priest began to put his arm around the boy in bed, then to touch his nipples. Eventually, he fondled the boy's genitals. David described one night when the priest took him to Atlantic City for dinner. According to David, Fr. McCarthy was "pumping drinks" into the boy and insisted he drink some of the priest's Chivas Regal. Back at the beach house, in one bed, nude, Fr. McCarthy began to touch and stroke his student's penis. After the boy reached orgasm, he said, the priest tried to kiss him with his tongue. David told the Archdiocese managers that he then asked whether the priest did this same thing with other boys he brought to the beach. Father McCarthy answered that he did. He then masturbated himself. Monsignor Molloy asked David whether he found convincing the priest's claim that he masturbated the other boys he brought to the beach. David said he did. He provided the Archdiocese managers with the names of several boys he knew accompanied Fr. McCarthy to his beach house. Monsignor Lynn, in his notes, listed: "the ["Jones"} boys from Notre Dame, ["Harold"] from St. Charles Parish in Drexel Hill and another boy that [D] said MM was friendly with before he became friendly with [D] whom MM was upset about." There is no indication the Archdiocese ever attempted to locate these people either to question them or to determine whether they needed assistance. The Archdiocese managers typed the notes from their interview and had the victim sign them on January 23, 1992. In the margin of the memo is a handwritten notation instructing Msgr. Molloy: "Never admit to victim that there have been other cases." As the administrator at Saint Kevin Church, Fr. McCarthy, faced with this second allegation, provided a signed declaration, dated February 17, 1992. It denied the accusation and stated: "To the best of my recollection the incident alleged by [David] never took place." A handwritten note in the margin described the priest's denial as "very guarded" and "suspicious." Monsignor Molloy forwarded David's allegation, along with Fr. McCarthy's suspect denial, to Cardinal Bevilacqua on March 16, 1992. The Cardinal allowed Fr. McCarthy to continue as administrator at Saint Kevin. Concerned with scandal, Cardinal Bevilacqua ignores complaints against Father McCarthy and appoints him pastor of Epiphany of Our Lord Church in Norristown. When Msgr. Molloy forwarded David's signed allegation to Cardinal Bevilacqua on March 16, 1992, he also informed the Cardinal that the victim was aware Fr. McCarthy was administrator, and a possible successor to the retiring pastor, at Saint Kevin parish in Springfield. Monsignor Molloy wrote to Cardinal Bevilacqua that "the complainant has indicated that he cannot see how the Archdiocese could appoint Fr. McCarthy as pastor in light of his behavior as alleged." Cardinal Bevilacqua apparently saw this problem as one of publicity, not fitness, because within months he did appoint Fr. McCarthy as pastor, but for a different parish -- Epiphany of Our Lord Church in Norristown. Monsignor Lynn recorded that, at a meeting on June 18, 1992, Msgr. Molloy "related to Fr. McCarthy his understanding of the Cardinal' s directions as related verbally to him by Monsignor Cullen." Monsignor Molloy told Fr. McCarthy that Cardinal Bevilacqua "has decided it is in Father McCarthy's best interest not to be appointed pastor of St. Kevin Parish." The reason given was not because of the danger Fr. McCarthy posed, but, rather, scandal: "[Fr. McCarthy] could be the subject of great publicity and tarnished reputation should the complainant go forward with his story" (emphasis supplied). That fear of scandal was the sole motivation of the Archdiocese's decision became even clearer when Msgr. Molloy assured Fr. McCarthy "that the Archbishop was not implying doubt about Fr. McCarthy's ability to be pastor," and that, despite the allegations against him, he could be "appointed pastor at another parish after an interval of time has passed" (emphasis supplied). That parish, Msgr. Molloy relayed from Cardinal Bevilacqua, "would be distant from St. Kevin Parish so that the profile can be as low as possible and not attract the attention of the complainant" (emphasis supplied). (Appendix D-18) Father McCarthy, in response, demonstrated that he understood well that Cardinal Bevilacqua did not consider serious allegations of child abuse a disqualification for being a pastor. He immediately set out his demands for a future parish. Monsignor Molloy recorded that the priest did "not want to be stationed in Philadelphia," that he preferred "to stay in Delaware County ," and that he "would like to be stationed in a parish where he has help" and which could "support itself financially." Moreover, Fr. McCarthy told Msgr. Molloy that he "did not agree with the evaluation he received from Dr. Miraglia." This was a reference to a psychological report read only by Cardinal Bevilacqua. Monsignor Lynn 's June 18 memo explained that this report had been delivered to the Cardinal sealed and had been resealed with tape by Cardinal Bevilacqua before Msgr. Cullen returned it to the file. It was not turned over to the Grand Jury. A month and a half later, on September 3, 1992, Cardinal Bevilacqua appointed Fr. McCarthy pastor at Epiphany of Our Lord Church in Norristown -- a church with a school. No limitations were placed on his ministry. Rather, as pastor, he had unfettered discretion and authority. The Archdiocese ignores complaints made shortly after Father McCarthy's appointment as pastor at Epiphany of Our Lord. Within days of his appointment as pastor at Epiphany of Our Lord, the Office for Clergy started receiving complaints about the pastor. The complaints appear to be consistent with the previous ones, and, like the previous ones, were ignored. On September 14, 1992, Fr. Michael O'Malley, an associate pastor at Epiphany, brought a fellow priest's reports about Fr. McCarthy to Msgr. Lynn's attention. Father O'Malley told Msgr. Lynn that Fr. Michael Saban had complained about Fr. McCarthy's behavior, his open discussions about frequenting gay bars, and his constant sexual innuendos and jokes. Fatl1er O'Malley also related that Fr. Saban had, months earlier, registered complaints about Fr. McCarthy with Msgr. Lynn's assistant, Fr. Karl Zeuner. Monsignor Lynn 's notes from his meeting with Fr. O'Malley do not recount the substance of the allegations made to Fr. Zeuner. The Secretary for Clergy wrote, though, that Fr. O'Malley recommended that Fr. Saban "go and sign his interview with Father Zeuner." Monsignor Lynn recorded that "Father Saban told Father O'Malley that a lawyer had recommended that he not do that, because if any problems ever went to court Father Saban would be called in to testify." Concerning the allegations, the Secretary for Clergy opined: "Everything was innuendo." He wrote, "there was much that Father Saban told Father O'Malley for which there was no proof." There is no indication that Msgr. Lynn ever endeavored to find "proof." Monsignor Lynn's September 14, 1992, memo of his conversation with Fr. O'Malley did not state an intention to take any action, but recorded that "Father O'Malley stated that he does not intend to speak with Fr. Saban any more about the issues involving his new pastor, Reverend Michael McCarthy." A few months later, however, Fr. O'Malley asked for a transfer from his assignment. On March 23, 1993, he met with Msgr. Lynn to explain his reasons. Father O'Malley told Msgr. Lynn that Fr. McCarthy did not do his share of the work and that he was negative in his dealings with parishioners and the rectory staff. He again mentioned the sexual innuendos. He told Msgr. Lynn that Fr. McCarthy received underwear catalogues in the mail and had, hanging in his bedroom, a framed poster entitled "Survival of the Fittest", which portrayed a naked man with rope around his genitals. Father O'Malley reported that his mother was very upset when Fr. McCarthy showed her his room and she saw the poster. The associate pastor told Msgr. Lynn that Fr. McCarthy kept a bag of pornographic videos in his closet. Monsignor Lynn filed his handwritten notes of this meeting with Fr. O'Malley, but, again, showed no intent to act upon the information. That changed when Cardinal Bevilacqua received a letter, dated April 13, 1993, from Lily Giuffrida. The Archdiocese responds to the complaint of a large contributor that Father McCarthy was stealing business from her. Lily Giuffrida' s complaint about Fr. McCarthy began: Dear Cardinal Bevilacqua, I do not know if you remember me. We had dinner at your home. My husband, Dominic ... did give you his personal donation for $25,000, for Catholic Life Renewal. Giuffrida's complaint was that Fr. McCarthy was operating as a travel agent, which was also her business. Giuffrida explained that Epiphany of Our Lord's travel club had done business through her travel agency, Lillimar Travel, Inc., until Fr. McCarthy became pastor. She said that she had learned that Fr. McCarthy was himself a travel agent and was "running his trips through Kitty Ward Travel." She told the Cardinal she was not concerned that he had chosen another agency, but was upset that "we donate to Churches who now become our competitors." At the next issues meeting on April 20, 1993, Cardinal Bevilacqua, according to the minutes, "requested that a high priority be placed on procuring all the facts related to" Lily Giuffrida' s letter. Monsignor Lynn, at the Cardinal' s direction, began investigating Giuffrida's complaint on April 22, 1993. At Cardinal Bevilacqua's instruction, Msgr. Lynn met first with Msgr. Robert Maginnis, Vicar for Montgomery County, and uncharacteristically shared Fr. McCarthy's history with him. Monsignor Lynn invited concerns and recorded that Msgr. Maginnis had received five or six complaints about Fr. McCarthy's harsh treatment of altar boys and children in the confessional. Monsignor Lynn met five days later, April 27, 1993, with Fr. Christopher Jungers, a resident in Epiphany's rectory. Father Jungers told Msgr. Lynn that Fr. McCarthy was self-centered and uninterested in ministry. The resident said the pastor cursed at high school kids working in the rectory .He said the pastor was immodest, and described how Fr. McCarthy invited priests into his bedroom for drinks, dressed in a tank top and silk running shorts. He confirmed what Fr. O'Malley had told Msgr. Lynn before Giuffrida sent her letter -- about the underwear catalogues and homosexual videos in the closet. Monsignor Lynn's handwritten notes reveal that he, again uncharacteristically, probed¬ asking Fr. Jungers about the complaints Msgr. Maginnis had passed on about altar boys and children in the confessional. Monsignor Lynn ' s notes record Fr. Jungers answering that they were "all afraid." Monsignor Lynn also interviewed Lily Giuffrida. She repeated her complaint that Fr. McCarthy was a "bona-fide travel agent." Finally, on May 11, 1993, while Fr. McCarthy was on vacation, Msgr. Lynn "inspected" his closet. There he found 13 videos whose titles, he wrote, "seemed to indicate that the content of each was homosexual," a magazine entitled " A Guide to the Gay Northeast," and travel brochures focusing on gay vacation spots. On May 12, 1993, Msgr. Lynn sent Cardinal Bevilacqua a memo outlining all the information he had gathered since the April 20 issues meeting. He also wrote up Fr. O'Malley's complaints, which Msgr. Lynn had listened to in March and then filed away. Cardinal Bevilacqua asks Father McCarthy to resign because he is believed to be a homosexual, not because of his sexual abuse of young boys. On May 24, 1993, Msgr. Lynn and Msgr. Maginnis communicated to Fr. McCarthy the Cardinal' s request that he resign his pastorate. Cardinal Bevilacqua met with the priest that evening at the Cardinal' s residence. In a memo recording that meeting, Cardinal Bevilacqua wrote that he asked Fr. McCarthy to resign ''as a result of the discovery of improper material in the possession of Fr. McCarthy." The Cardinal concluded: "It had to be very obvious from my interview and the interview with Msgr. Lynn that implications of the material found were that Fr. McCarthy was homosexual." Thus, it was complaints about Fr. McCarthy's business practice that sparked a serious investigation into him, and his mere status as a presumed homosexual, rather than his actions as a sexual abuser of young boys, that the Cardinal used to justify requesting his resignation. The Cardinal wrote that he disbelieved Fr. McCarthy's story that he had taken the videos from a young Irish man three years earlier and was merely holding them. Although Fr. McCarthy did deny that the videos were his, Cardinal Bevilacqua claimed to find the priest' s denials and protests of innocence insufficiently strong. On May 26, 1993, a month and a half after Lily Giuffrida wrote her letter to Cardinal Bevilacqua, Fr. McCarthy resigned his pastorate and Cardinal Bevilacqua granted him a "period of health leave." No new allegations of abusing minors had become known to the Archdiocese since Cardinal Bevilacqua had named him pastor in September 1992.
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