Updated August 19, 2019

The following article has been updated with the unredacted letters and additional commentary. Please view the new post HERE.

Original Publication:

Below is a PDF file containing two letters from eye witnesses of troubling behavior committed with young boys and others by a priest in active ministry in our diocese:

READ: Eyewitness Accounts of an Unsafe Environment (PDF)

Members of the SSPD brought this to the attention of the Bishop at our recent meeting. Our original post included some comments of the Bishop in response to our questions regarding this matter. The Bishop has since asked us to remove his comments, as he understood those comments to be off the record. Instead, we are including our questions, which we strongly encourage the faithful to ask as well.

If the behavior detailed in the letter is in fact in explicit violation to professional conduct and safe environment policies, how was it corrected?

How is a father supposed to trust his children around a man who engaged in the kinds of behavior detailed in the letter?

Isn’t it possible that the kinds of behavior detailed in the letters could be indicative of a dangerous disposition in the priest, which could render him unfit to serve in a capacity that gives him access to young people?

Isn’t it reasonable to describe the behavior of the priest in question as “grooming behavior?”

Let any faithful Catholic of our Diocese who finds this kind of behavior abhorrent let the Bishop know.