More than 20 years after the clergy sex abuse scandal erupted in the United States, a newly filed lawsuit reveals more allegations of a cover-up.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is accused in the suit of moving a priest with an alleged troubling track record.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia faces renewed allegations Wednesday that church leaders quietly transferred a suspected sexually abusive priest from assignment to assignment between 2003 and 2020.
The church and the priest are named in a five-count lawsuit filed in the Court of Common Pleas on claims of negligence and recklessness based on the alleged failure to properly supervise priests, investigate allegations against them and protect its parishioners from them, often by simply moving the priests to other dioceses.
In the complaint Jane Doe, whose identity we are concealing, alleges she was sexually abused by 48-year-old Father Kevin McGoldrick after the Archdiocese, under the leadership of then-Archbishop Charles Chaput, transferred him to her college in Nashville, Tennessee.
Archbishop Charles Chaput during service.
“I would say that my entire senior year was stolen from me,” Jane Doe said. “I spent that year crippled with anxiety. I was in constant fear of someone finding out, someone finding out and blaming me.”
Jane Doe has already settled a lawsuit with the Diocese of Nashville — but says late last year — she was shocked to learn McGoldrick was previously accused of abusing a woman in Philadelphia — years before he allegedly assaulted her, according to the lawsuit.
Attorney Stu Ryan, of the law firm Laffey, Bucci and Kent, represents Jane Doe.
“Ultimately it was only through public reporting that our client learned that in fact not only were there other victims, but that the Archdiocese knew about these other victims before this priest was ever sent to Nashville and she should have never been exposed to him in the first place,” Ryan said.
McGoldrick still lives in Nashville, according to the suit.
Over the past 24 hours, CBS Philadelphia reached out to several email addresses believed to be his, but he has not responded.
The lawsuit accuses him of civil assault and battery.
He hasn’t been charged in connection to those allegations, which have not yet been proven in court.
The Archdiocese hasn’t responded to questions on what his official status is as a member of the clergy.
Joe Holden: “What should have happened to this priest in 2013 or 2007, or 8 or 9?”
Ryan: “Well, certainly action should have been taken long before he was sent to Nashville. He never should have been sent to Nashville. He should have never had a letter that is standard practice when someone is sent to a different diocese or archdiocese vouching for him as a safe person to be around.”
Attorney Stu Ryan, of the law firm Laffey, Bucci and Kent, represents Jane Doe.
Jane Doe says she was doing better until learning from news reports about other women the lawsuit claims came forward to report inappropriate conduct.
“The news that what happened to me could have so easily been avoided has put me back into a really difficult place,” Jane Doe said.
Father McGoldrick had numerous assignments in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, according to the lawsuit, including South Philadelphia, Fishtown and at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul when he was a minister at Roman Catholic High School.
As far as the suit, the Archdiocese says it does not comment on pending litigation.
Father Bob is being remembered for his charity work and social justice campaigning, helping the poor, homeless and marginalised and minority communities in Melbourne, including LGBTQIA+ people.
The “maverick” priest was a high-profile media personality, known for speaking his mind and frequently called out church leaders.
After a Catholic Archbishop cited society’s ban on incestuous marriages to argue why same-sex couples couldn’t wed, he urged fellow clergy to “shut their mouths” during the campaign.
Speaking to The New Daily, Father Bob declared “clergy are the worst politicians” and urged the church to show compassion.
“When it comes to these issues I think we should shut our mouths,” he said.
“A big number of people [would] want to hear a strong line. But it would be better if the church and other religions were involved in pastoral care with their communities rather than in politics.”
He added that he had no problem with same-sex marriage becoming secular law and said the issue was one for the “secular world”.
Years earlier, Father Bob Maguire made headlines in 2011, telling the Herald Sun he was open to blessing same-sex civil union ceremonies, albeit outside the church.
He said he didn’t have a personal view. But he said he considered it his duty to help anyone in need, including gay couples.
“Not only do I have an administrative responsibility but I have also pastoral responsibility,” he explained.
“And pastoral care would be taking care of the two people involved and their friends and their associates.”
Father Bob lashed out at Cardinal George Pell
But at that time, Father Bob Maguire accused Catholic Cardinal George Pell of punishing him for being “open to all”.
He described his ejection from South Melbourne’s parish as a “dishonourable discharge”.
“George Pell has declared those of us Vatican II-ists to be Cafeteria Catholics. Whereas he and his lot are authentic Catholics,” Fr Maguire told AAP.
“We live in the real world, we’re open to all, we’re not exclusive, not easily offended, we’re sacrificial.
“We put ourselves at the service of all kinds of people whether they’re church-going or not.”
Father Bob ‘stood up for LGBTIQA+ equality when few others would’
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led tributes to Father Bob Maguire, describing him as a “great Australian”.
“An irrepressibly cheerful champion for all those battling disadvantage, he dedicated his life to brightening the lives of those most in need,” the PM said.
Rodney Croome, from Just.Equal Australia and ex-Australian Marriage Equality campaign director, said Father Bob was a staunch supporter of LGBTQIA+ Australians.
“Fr Bob Maguire was a brave and tireless advocate for LGBTIQA+ equality. He will be greatly missed,” Croome said.
“He stood up for the recognition of same-sex relationships and against anti-gay and anti-trans prejudice when few other public leaders were willing to do the same.”
Rodney added, “At a personal level I found my conversations with Fr Bob a source of great inspiration that kept me going during tough times.”
“Fr Bob was always true to his Christian values of love and inclusion, regardless of the fears and prejudices of others.”
— Theodore E. McCarrick, expelled by Pope Francis in 2019, was already facing prosecution in Massachusetts. Now, Wisconsin is charging him with assault.
Theodore E. McCarrick, center, at his arraignment in Massachusetts in 2021 on charges that he sexually assaulted a teenage boy during a wedding reception at Wellesley College in 1974.
Theodore E. McCarrick, the former Roman Catholic cardinal expelled by Pope Francis in 2019, was charged on Monday with fourth-degree sexual assault in Wisconsin. It was the second criminal complaint against a man who was once one of the most high-profile clerics in the American Catholic Church.
Mr. McCarrick, now 92, is the first and only cardinal to be criminally charged in the sprawling sex abuse scandal that has consumed the church. Thousands of victims and abusers have been identified in parishes across the nation, with accusations from decades ago still being revealed in ongoing investigations.
Resulting lawsuits have pushed some dioceses to file for bankruptcy. Yet relatively few criminal charges have resulted, largely because the statute of limitations has expired, though some states are changing laws to allow for civil cases to proceed.
The new charge against Mr. McCarrick stems from an accusation dating back to 1977. According to the criminal complaint, Mr. McCarrick assaulted a 19-year-old that year at a home on Geneva Lake in southern Wisconsin, where they were both guests. Prosecutors say the victim was swimming off a dock when Mr. McCarrick and another adult man entered the water and fondled his genitals without his consent.
The complaint states that the victim, who is unnamed, also said Mr. McCarrick sexually assaulted him on numerous other occasions and in other states, first exposing himself to the victim when he was 11. The victim, now in his 60s, claims that Mr. McCarrick would take him “to a special event or lavish party and then sexually assault” him, including one event where multiple adult men had sex with him.
Mr. McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C., also faces charges in Massachusetts over an accusation that he sexually assaulted a teenage boy at a wedding reception at Wellesley College in 1974.
Mr. McCarrick pleaded not guilty in 2021 in that case to three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person age 14 and older. In February, his lawyers asked a judge to dismiss the case against him, saying he was not mentally competent to face trial because he had dementia.
A lawyer for Mr. McCarrick, Barry Coburn, said he had no comment on the new charge or on the ongoing prosecution in Massachusetts.
Mr. McCarrick was last known to be living in Missouri. The new complaint lists his address as a seminary in Maryland.
Two decades since the Catholic Church abuse scandal exploded into public view after an investigation published by The Boston Globe, the many subpoenas and investigations from attorneys general offices have produced only a handful of criminal charges. The Massachusetts case was able to proceed because Mr. McCarrick was not a resident of Massachusetts at the time of the alleged abuse there. The clock on the statute of limitations stopped once he left the state, meaning it did not expire as it would have if he were a resident.
The Wisconsin case follows the same playbook. The criminal complaint notes that Mr. McCarrick was not a resident of the state at the time of the alleged assault.
Mr. McCarrick was once one of the most prominent clerics in the U.S. Catholic Church. Born and ordained in New York, he rose steadily through the ranks, becoming an auxiliary bishop of New York in 1977, the same year as the Wisconsin case. He was named archbishop of Washington in 2001 and was a prolific fund-raiser for the Vatican, rubbing elbows with presidents and celebrities.
Cardinals hold the second-highest position in the church after the pope.
Mr. McCarrick was removed from ministry in 2018 after a church investigation found that he had been credibly accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old altar boy at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan in 1971. After a Vatican trial, Mr. McCarrick was removed from the priesthood in 2019.
But some church officials had been warned about his predatory behavior for decades. A New York Times investigation in 2018 revealed settlements paid to men who had complained about Mr. McCarrick when he was a bishop in New Jersey in the 1980s. Leaders were warned repeatedly about accusations of sexual harassment including the inappropriate touching of adult seminarians.
The new charge in Wisconsin stems from a report made to the Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse initiative, which the state’s Justice Department started two years ago.
“Thank you to the brave survivors who have made reports,” Josh Kaul, the attorney general of Wisconsin, said in a statement encouraging other victims to come forward with their stories.
In recent years the official position on clerical immunity has changed, but do we show it in action?
“If anyone causes one of these little ones — those who believe in me — to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18,6)
We are all aware of the child abuse scandal in the Church. Under instructions from Rome, priests who had been involved in child abuse were not referred to secular criminal authorities.
I myself came across such a case. After I had spoken to a group of Catholic women campaigning for the ordination of women, one person, whom I shall call Dawn, approached me. We became good friends. We stayed in touch. On one occasion she told me her experience as a child.
“I’m an orphan”, she said. “My father divorced my mother and went abroad. My mother died when I was twelve years old. I landed up in an orphanage managed by religious sisters. The sisters treated me well. I’m greatly indebted to them. But our spiritual director inflicted permanent damage.”
“What did he do?,” I asked.
“Well, he came to the orphanage once a week to hear our confessions. Remember this was the 1970’s. If we needed to discuss any special problem, we could meet him in a small parlor nearby. Well, on one occasion he told me at the end of confession to meet him in in the parlor afterward.”
“I don’t know if I should go into details”, she told me. “But I suppose it is a relief for me to share my story. On that day I waited till all confessions were over. Then I joined him in the parlor. He locked the door from the inside keeping the key in the door, sat down and asked me to come closer. ‘I want to see if you are healthy and OK’, he said. Then he lifted my skirt, pulled down my panties and interfered with me . . . I froze. I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do. But he said everything was alright. I didn’t need to worry … This happened a couple of times. On the last occasion, he tried to rape me. I cried, managed to open the door and ran out of the room.”
“Didn’t you tell anyone?”, I asked.
“Yes, I finally did. When Mother Superior found me sobbing in the dormitory, she took me to her office. I told her what had happened. She was upset. She embraced me and said: ‘I’ll sort this out’. She did, in quite a dramatic way. I was sent to another orphanage far away from the priest.”
“And what happened to him?”
“Nothing as far as I know. Years later when I had grown up and got my first job, I visited the original orphanage. I was told the priest was still the spiritual director. I don’t know if he molested other girls …”
Dawn also confided to me that, on account of that early experience and her resulting dread of men, she had never been able to marry.
Accountability
The horror of child abuse committed by some bishops and priests is now well recognized. The Catholic Church handled the crisis badly, especially under Pope John Paul II. The reasons were a serious underestimation of the emotional damage done to the victims; the failure to understand that child abuse springs from deep psychological disorders that lead to re-offending; and the belief that avoiding scandal to the Church’s reputation should outweigh other considerations.
But another, more destructive, reason lay in the old concept that clerics were exempt from secular law. It was laid down in the earliest medieval form of it in these words: “The drawing of a cleric before a civil judge is prohibited by the sacred canons and the external (secular) laws, both in civil and in criminal cases” (12th century. Decree of Gratian, ch. 32, no 24). It remained enshrined in Church Law until 1983.
And the principle of clerical exemption is closely linked to another erroneous concept: that ordained persons are somehow only accountable to their ecclesiastical superiors and to God.
Christ and exemption from secular law
It is clear that Jesus would be very upset by child abuse. He clearly stated: “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18,6).
Notice the phrase: “If any of you”. There is no room here for clerical immunity. It includes ‘apostles’ or whoever would claim a rank among his disciples.
But what about exemption from secular law?
Well, Jesus taught that the Jews of his time should pay taxes to their secular rulers, the Romans. Remember the incident. When the Pharisees and Herodians ask him about this, he said: “Show me the coin used for the tax.” And when they brought him a denarius, he asked: “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.”
Then Jesus declared: “Well, then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22,19-21). This is all the more telling because the Romans were foreign intruders.
Another telling feature is that, when Jesus cured lepers, he always instructed them to subject themselves to the priests in Jerusalem who were in charge of checking whether someone was infected by leprosy or not.
Keeping lepers isolated was crucially important in Jewish society at the time to prevent further infections. Those specialized priests were the officially appointed authority.
To a leper in the Galilean hill country Jesus gives this order: “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them” (Matthew 8,4).
To the ten lepers on the border between Samaria and Galilee Jesus says: “Go and show yourself to the priests!” (Luke 17,14). Jesus did not consider them immune from the established law.
When Jesus stands trial before Pilate, he does not claim immunity from secular law.
Pilate asks him: “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus replies: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is from another place [is a different kind of kingdom]” (John 18,33-36).
Even though Jesus knew he was unjustly condemned to death, he did not deny Pilate’s secular authority over himself.
Questions
In recent years the official position on clerical immunity has changed, but do we show it in action? If bishops or priests harm another person, are we on the side of the cleric or of the victim?
Do we cooperate fully with secular authorities investigating misbehavior or crimes committed by ordained persons?
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General recently released a 456-page grand jury report that detailed decades of sexual abuse and cover-ups within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The document, though, also described the actions — and inaction — of law enforcement.
When the Rev. Marion Helowicz pleaded guilty in 1988 to sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy with a development disorder and learning disability, Baltimore County Circuit Judge Dana M. Levitz questioned what would happen to the priest now that he had a criminal conviction.
Could he go to another archdiocese? Might he be able to do some other activity? Would the church provide for him? Levitz asked.
“It seems to be a tragedy for everyone involved,” said Levitz, who died in 2018. “It certainly is a tragedy for Father Helowicz.”
He said he did not believe that the priest was a danger to other people based on what he’d read and added that “he hasn’t taken anybody unwillingly and committed an act.”
Levitz sentenced Helowicz to probation and ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service.
But Helowicz had admitted months earlier that he’d sexually abused another boy — a fact that the archdiocese did not report to law enforcement until about 14 years later.
“While this investigation has focused on the Archdiocese,” the report states, “it is also evident in the response by police and prosecutors that in many instances, they were deferential to the church and uninterested in probing what church leaders knew and when.”
The survivor disclosed that Helowicz sexually abused him between 1981-1984, often at St. Stephen Church in Kingsville, according to the report.
When he reported the crime to the Baltimore County Police Department in 1988, the report states, people from the archdiocese contacted him multiple times and tried to obtain his silence with promises that the priest was in treatment.
Helowicz met with an individual from the archdiocese and its attorneys to “assess this matter” and stated that “this was the only person for whom he had engaged in such activity,” according to the report.
Lawyers determined that he could continue to serve as a priest. Several days later, though, the report states, Helowicz admitted that he’d abused another boy. But the archdiocese did not report those allegations to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office until 2002 — even though the survivor went to the church in 1990.
Another survivor contacted the archdiocese in 1993 and reported that Helowicz sexually abused him when he was in eighth grade at St. John the Evangelist Church in Severna Park. The church did not report that allegation to the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office until 2002, according to the report.
The archdiocese, the report states, sent Helowicz toan inpatient treatment program at House of Affirmation Therapeutic Center for Clergy and Religious in Webster Groves, Missouri.
He pleaded guilty to perverted sexual practice in 1988 in Baltimore County Circuit Court.
The statement of facts in support of the guilty plea indicated that the teen sought support and guidance from Helowicz because he’d been struggling with emotional difficulties.
“What started innocuously as an attempt at counseling, accelerated slowly into a series of meetings where the defendant on occasions would fellate the victim.”
The assistant state’s attorney said force was not used and stated “at no time did the victim not consent to the fellatio,” according to the report.
The prosecutor said the state was not seeking incarceration, the report reads, and would remain silent at sentencing.
In a request for laicization dated April 7, 2017, Baltimore Archbishop William Lori wrote that “it is apparent that Father Helowicz’s sexual abuse was committed by force,” adding that the teen “did not possess the mental faculty to consent freely.”
The petition states that Helowicz was arrested in 1984 on allegations that he solicited a male police officer. Prosecutors apparently agreed to dismiss the case because he was undergoing treatment “for the problem leading to the subject offense,” according to the report.
Helowicz, 77, did not respond to a note left at his home in Fells Point.
The Maryland Attorney Listing shows one attorney in the state with that name, who is now a judge on Baltimore Circuit Court. His biography on the Maryland State Archives’ website states that he worked in the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office from 1984-1991.
Jackson did not respond to an email about the case.
In an email, Terri Charles, a spokesperson for the Maryland Judiciary, said the rules of judicial conduct prevent judges from commenting on any pending case or litigation — though the matter was disposed of almost 35 years ago.
Former Baltimore County State’s Attorney Sandra O’Connor, who was in office from 1975-2006, could not be reached for comment.
The Baltimore Banner contacted the Maryland State Archives, Baltimore County Circuit Court and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office, which all indicated that they did not have the records.
Jaros said there has been a greater understanding of how to talk about consent in the last 35-40 years. He expressed caution about judging the language of people in the criminal justice system back then based on today’s best practices and standards.
But the report overall, he said, paints a clear picture of how law enforcement handled these cases.
“The report as a whole screams unequal treatment both of victims and the defendants and seriously undermines the idea that the criminal justice system treats everybody equally,” Jaros said.
‘Exceptional clearance’ in Baltimore
Take the case of the Rev. Robert Newman.
Newman, the report states, sexually abused 12 boys ages 9 to 15 between 1971 and 1986.
The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office granted him “exceptional clearance” to receive treatment instead of prosecution, according to a police report. That document only mentions that he sexually abused one boy, the report states.
Newman later worked as a pastor in the Archdiocese of Hartford from 1990-2002, the report states.
Kurt Schmoke, who was Baltimore state’s attorney from 1982-1987, said the head of the Sex Offense Unit, Olga Bruning, would have made the decision about whether to move forward with prosecution.
Bruning, now 93, does not recall the case, her daughter said. An archdiocesan memo dated Feb. 24, 1987, reported that she saw “the value of trying to keep a man like this in ministry.”
Schmoke said assistant state’s attorneys would only bring these cases to his attention if they decided to bring charges. He said he has no recollection of anyone in leadership from the Archdiocese of Baltimore calling him during his tenure about a prosecutorial decision.
“I don’t recall this particular matter,” said Schmoke, who served as mayor from 1987-1999andis now president of the University of Baltimore. “They just didn’t bubble up to us.”
In a statement, Ivan Bates, who took office as Baltimore state’s attorney in January, said the policy of his administration is to investigate any claim of abuse in partnership with law enforcement regardless of the subject of the accusation.
“The atrocities documented in the Attorney General’s report are sickening and horrific in nature,” Bates said. “My office will support the Attorney General’s office and the victims in any way we can to ensure some measure of justice is achieved.”
Newman, 75, could not be reached for comment.
Immunity from prosecution ‘no matter how serious’
Meanwhile, an assistant state’s attorney in Anne Arundel County in 1985 wrote a letter to a law firm representing the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Gallagher Evelius & Jones LLP, andgranted the Rev. William Simms immunity for “any instances of child abuse” that he discussed with investigators “no matter how serious, and whether we already know about them or not.”
“I am doing this to encourage Father Simms to cooperate so any child affected can be contacted and helped if necessary,” the letter stated. “I expect the church to take appropriate action with Father Simms.”
Attorneys for the archdiocese would remind prosecutors of the immunity conveyed in the letter, the report states, when new allegations against him came up.
Simms was charged in 1997 in Baltimore County with perverted sexual practice. But the case was later put on the inactive docket, according to the report. He died in 2005.
Warren Duckett Jr., who served as Anne Arundel County state’s attorney from 1973-1988, died in 2004.
Trial ‘conducted in a private way’ in Baltimore County
In 1958, Baltimore Archbishop Francis Keough wrote to Baltimore County Chief Judge John B. Gontrum about an agreement to spare the Rev. Gerald Tragesser jail time for charges that he’d sexually abused a 13-year-old girl during his time at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Towson, according to the report.
Records indicate that the trial was “conducted in a private way” in chambers. Tragesser was sent to Via Coeli, a treatment center for “the correction and rehabilitation of priests who have gravely deviated from the prescriptions of Canon Law,” according to the report.
Gontrum in a letter thanked Keough, writing that “the young man is suffering from some form of mental disturbance and from his demeanor at the time of the hearing, has little or no appreciation of the seriousness of his misconduct and its unfortunate effect on public judgment of all clergymen.”
“I believe that the interests of society and of justice will be best served by entrusting his correction and rehabilitation to the institution which you have recommended,” Gontrum said.
Gontrum died in 1963.
As for Tragesser, he was not released from the priesthood until 1976. He died in 2013.
