BishopAccountability.org
	Cincy Archbishop Criticized for Silence on Priest By Tom Beyerlein, Staff Writer Dayton Daily News April 3, 2010 http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/cincy-archbishop-criticized-for-silence-on-priest-635235.html OHIO/WEST VIRGINIA -- Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, who has been untainted by the clergy child sexual abuse scandal, is getting heat from area victim advocates critical of Schnurr's inaction in the case of a Butler County priest who was indicted on charges he abused a 10-year-old boy in West Virginia nearly 20 years ago. Leaders of victim-advocate groups say Schurr should at least warn people in the 19-county Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati about the Rev. Robert F. Poandl, 68, of Fairfield. Archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco said Schnurr is considering the request. "We believe their suggestions have some merit and we're working on it," Andriacco said. News broke in early February that a Roane County, W.Va., grand jury handed up indictments against Poandl on charges of first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree sexual assault and sexual abuse by a custodian. A 28-year-old Cincinnati man told police last summer that Poandl abused him at a church rectory in Spencer, W.Va., in 1991. Poandl has pleaded not guilty, and a trial is set for June 15. Poandl serves a religious order called Glenmary Home Missioners, based in Fairfield. Even though he is based in the Cincinnati archdiocese, he is not directly under Schnurr's supervision. Dan Frondorf, who heads the Cincinnati chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said Schnurr declined to take action when the Poandl story broke Feb. 2. After two letters from SNAP, Schnurr phoned Frondorf on March 15. "The long and short of the conversation was, they were examining their policy and may be writing a new policy" on how to report suspected abuse by non-diocesan priests, Frondorf said. "This was his first real test to see how he was going to handle (clergy abuse) cases. I told him quite frankly at this point we were disappointed." SNAP asked bishops in 11 dioceses where Poandl has worked to publish news about Poandl's indictment on Web sites and church newsletters to notify other possible victims. At least one of them, Tyler, Texas, Bishop Alvaro Corrada, has complied.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.