NewsMax.com Wires
Tuesday, April 9, 2002

Attorney Roderick MacLeish, who represents a number of alleged victims, said the documents reluctantly turned over by the archdiocese showed that the sexual misdeeds of the Rev. Paul Shanley were known as far back as 1967 but that Cardinal Bernard Law and his predecessor, Cardinal Humberto Medeiros, did nothing to stop him.

"Archdiocese officials at the highest level knew full well of Shanley's misconduct," MacLeish said at a news conference where he released more than 80 of the 800-plus documents his office received Friday from the archdiocese.

'I Hope He Rots in Hell'

"I hope he rots in hell," said Gregory Ford, 24, of Newton, who with his parents are suing the archdiocese for alleged sexual abuse they say Shanley committed against him when he was a boy.

Ford's father, Rodney Ford, called on Law to resign. He said the cardinal and Shanley should both be prosecuted and jailed.

"It is a total disgrace that these people should not be prosecuted like any other common criminal out there," said Ford's mother, Paula.

Another alleged victim who spoke near the end of the more than two-hour news conference, Arthur Austin, called Shanley a "walking plague," and said Law "abetted the ongoing rape and sexual defilement of children and young men and women by known sexual predators."

Referring to the letters and other papers displayed one by one on a large screen, Austin said that Law was condemned by his own documents.

"Bernard Law, today I am the one who is calling down by all means the wrath of God upon you, to bear witness against the blasphemy you commit every time you dare to lay hands on the sacraments, and to bear witness to the lives you knowingly, calculatingly, and with a lie in your mouth at every turn, casually allowed to be destroyed," Austin said.

'Zealous Care'

MacLeish said that even though the files proved Law knew of Shanley's activities at least since 1985, the cardinal praised the priest in a 1996 letter for his "years of generous and zealous care" and said "you are truly appreciated."

There was no immediate response from the archdiocese, which last week had attempted but failed to get a court order to keep the documents secret.

MacLeish said among the most shocking discoveries in the documents were church files that spelled out Shanley's belief that pedophilia was not psychologically harmful to children, and that the harm came when police questioned children about such abuse.

NAMBLA

The documents were also said to indicate Shanley advocated sex between men and boys at a 1974 meeting at which it is believed North American Man-Boy Love Association, known as NAMBLA, was founded. MacLeish said the documents also showed Shanley claimed to believe that all sexual acts, including bestiality and incest, were not harmful to people.

The records were said to clearly outline Shanley's long history of molestation and that the archdiocese failed to pass on that information to officials when Shanley was transferred to the San Bernardino diocese in California and to the Leo House in New York City, a youth outreach center run by a group of nuns. At both locations Shanley had access to children.

MacLeish said there have been 26 complaints filed against Shanley, including at least 10 detailed in the church documents.

Shanley, 71, has been living in southern California since the early 1990s. According to MacLeish, "he's on the run" and cannot be found.

'Sick Leave'

Shanley had been placed on "sick leave" in 1990 by the Boston archdiocese after being accused of sexual misconduct with boys.

Ordained in 1960, Shanley served in several parishes in Massachusetts before being reassigned to St. Anne's Parish in San Bernardino, where he spent three years as a priest.

In a 1990 letter written by Law's top deputy, Bishop Robert J. Banks, the Boston archdiocese assured the San Bernardino diocese that Shanley was a priest in good standing and had no problems in his past.

A spokesman for the San Bernardino diocese, the Rev. Howard Lincoln, told the Boston Globe Monday that Banks, in his letter, "assured us that Father Shanley had no problem that would be of concern to our diocese," that Shanley had been granted a medical leave by Law, and that Law would appreciate if the San Bernardino diocese would give Shanley ministerial work.

'No Record'

In addition, Shanley signed an affidavit in which he said he had "no record of any prior accusations or convictions for sex, violent or felonious drug crimes," Lincoln said.

Shanley was relieved of his priestly duties in the San Bernardino diocese in late 1993 after the Boston Archdiocese sent another letter, written by Law assistant the Rev. John B. McCormack, now the bishop of the Manchester, N.H., diocese, that information had been received that Shanley allegedly had been involved in sexual misconduct 20 years earlier.

Shanley's most recent job was with the San Diego Police Department's Retired Senior Volunteer Parole, an unpaid position, in which he fingerprinted children for anti-kidnapping programs. He was fired from that position last week after Ford filed the criminal complaint against him.

This was the second time since January that the Boston archdiocese has disclosed records about a priest known to be a serial child molester. Another former priest, John J. Geoghan, is now serving a 10-year prison term for molesting a 10-year-old boy.

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

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