Documents: Diocese Knew of Priests' Sex Abuse History

By Baihly Warfield
WDIO
November 16, 2015

http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/s3965190.shtml

Attorney Michael Finnegan from Twin Cities law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates explains one of the newly released documents.

DULUTH, Minn. - Newly released documents indicate the Diocese of Duluth had knowledge of priests' history of sexual abuse before bringing them to work in the Northland. Twin Cities law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates, which is active in clergy abuse lawsuits, released those documents Monday. 

The four priests accused of child sex abuse mentioned in the documents were the Revs. Gregory Manning, Charles Gormly, Bernard Bissonnette and Alfred Longley. They were all accused of abuse while working in the Diocese of Duluth, according to the law firm. The documents show three of the four, all except Longley, spent time at a vocational and psychological assistance facility called Servants of the Paraclete in Jemez Springs, New Mexico for problems with child sex abuse.

The head of Servants of the Paraclete, the Rev. Gerald Fitzgerald, wrote to then-Duluth bishop Thomas Welch in 1958, "We are fully convinced from our wide experience that this type of aberration is not curable." That statement was in regard to Manning's "unfortunate ailment" that he was sent to Servants of the Paraclete for. 

In a 1966 letter addressed to "any Catholic bishop who may be interested in accepting the service of the Rev. Bernard Bissonnette" from then-bishop Francis Shenk, he writes, "I have given guest priests ... a chance to rehabilitate themselves in the Diocese of Duluth. Unfortunately, all of these former ventures turned out quite miserably." 

The documents were introduced as evidence in the recent Bill Weis v. Diocese of Duluth case that ended with a Ramsey County jury ordering the diocese and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate to pay $8.1 million in damages. Michael Finnegan, an attorney with Jeff Anderson & Associates, said the plaintiff filed a motion to compel the diocese to release the documents for evidence, and a judge ordered it. 

"These documents alarm us and make us very, very concerned that there are a number of survivors in this community here and in the communities of the Diocese of Duluth that were hurt by these perpetrators," Finnegan said. 

Finnegan expressed concern about what he believes to be thousands more pages of information on others on the diocese's public list of 31 credibly accused priests. Bissonnette and Longley are not currently on that list on the Diocese of Duluth website. 

"Reality is that there is a whole lot of work that we still have to do at this point to get the rest of the files out," Finnegan said. "The lawsuits that we have brought are all seeking that from the bishop and from the diocese right now."

Jeff Anderson & Associates said there are at least five lawsuits pending against the Diocese of Duluth right now. 

Finnegan is hoping this new information will put pressure on the diocese to release more files before a judge orders it to. 

"The bishop has a choice today. He could release those documents today to the public, and we believe that's the No. 1 thing that he can do to protect kids in the community," Finnegan said. 

Verne Wagner of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said making these documents public helps survivors realize they are not alone. 

"When this information comes out and they realize, I wasn't the only one," Wagner said. "Because a victim blames themselves so many times that they must have done something to get that priest to molest them."

Finnegan emphasized that the law firm's goal is not to bankrupt the Diocese of Duluth or shut any parishes down, but rather to protect children and help survivors. 

WDIO reached out to the diocese after the documents were released this afternoon, but has not yet received a statement.