In Shadow of Investigation, Scranton Diocese to Celebrate Priest’s 65th Year

By Mark Guydish
Times Leader
September 19, 2016

http://timesleader.com/news/588634/in-shadow-of-investigation-scranton-diocese-to-celebrate-priests-65th-year


Retired Diocese of Scranton Bishop James Timlin remains an active, upbeat member of the church he has served for six decades, and the public has been invited to attend a “Mass of Thanksgiving” Wednesday marking the 89-year-old’s 65th year as a priest and 40th anniversary of being ordained an auxiliary bishop.

But the celebration comes on the heels of renewed scrutiny of diocesan practices regarding child sexual abuse. Spokesman Bill Genello confirmed the 11-county diocese has received a subpoena in relation to a grand jury probe in Pittsburgh.

The Morning Call of Allentown reported last week that Scranton is among six diocese in the state to get subpoenas related to an abuse probe.

Reached by phone Monday, Timlin exhibited his usual self-effacing attitude regarding the special Mass. “I’m not anxious to be celebrating all these anniversaries, but I go along,” he said. “It’s not my style to be celebrating things like this.”

Asked about the subpoena and the grand jury investigation — which The Morning Call reported has included the dioceses of Erie, Greensburg, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Harrisburg and Allentown — Timlin demurred.

“I’m not the bishop, it’s not my place to comment,” he said.

In a written statement, Genello reiterated what he said is the diocesan commitment to protecting children and supporting victims. “The Diocese of Scranton cooperates fully with all civil authorities in their investigation of such matters.”

Born in Scranton 1927, Timlin never really left except for his college and seminary years. He attended St. John The Evangelist Elementary and Holy Rosary High School before going to St. Charles College in Maryland and St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.

He finished his priestly education in the North American College in Rome, and was ordained in Rome in 1951. In 1952, Timlin returned to the diocese to become pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Pittston. The next year, he was back in Scranton serving as assistant pastor at St. Peter’s Cathedral.

Timlin became assistant chancellor of the diocese and secretary to Bishop J. Carroll McCormick in 1966, and auxiliary bishop in 1976. In March 1984, when Bishop John J. O’Connor was transferred from the Scranton Diocese to become Cardinal O’Connor in the Archdiocese of New York, Timlin was named Scranton Diocese administrator. He was appointed bishop a month later.

Timlin retired in 2003 but has remained active, first as administrator for several months at St. Joseph Parish in Wilkes-Barre, then as rector of Villa St. Joseph in Dunmore — the diocesan home for retire priests — until 2011. He continues to celebrate Mass and perform the Sacrament of Confirmation from time to time.

Noting he lived through the Great Depression and World War II as a child, Timlin said Monday that “I’ve seen a lot of things in the church, it’s been a long life and I’m certainly grateful to God for all the gifts he has given to me.”

Timlin did come under fire from critics when the national priest sex scandal erupted following an extensive expose of abuse and cover-ups in the Boston Globe, recently portrayed in the Oscar-winning movie Spotlight.

As that scandal spread nationally, the diocese itself acknowledge the problem locally. In 2002, a national “zero tolerance” policy was put in place by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Timlin removed five priests from active ministry that year as a result of abuse allegations.

In 2004, under the directive of the USCCB, the diocese reported that 25 of its priests were accused of misconduct involving 46 minors between 1950 and 2002.

Timlin always maintained that he followed “best practices” as spelled out by the experts the diocese consulted. If investigations determined accusations were founded, he sent priests for treatment, but returned some to duty after having been told it would be OK.

A 2011 report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York and financed largely by the USCCB seemed to bolster his argument. It concluded a big part of the problem over the decades was failure to properly train seminarians amid the cultural upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s.

For the last decade the diocese has emphasized efforts to repair the problem and rebuild public trust, reporting accusations to law enforcement, publicly naming priests removed from duty, and providing training to volunteers and staff on child sexual abuse and how to prevent it.

In the statement regarding the grand jury subpoena, Genello noted: “The Diocese encourages anyone who has been sexually abused by a member of the clergy or anyone else, to immediately notify local law enforcement authorities; and to contact Mary Beth Pacuska, Victim’s Assistance Coordinator, at 570-862-7551; or Monsignor Thomas M. Muldowney, Vicar General of the Diocese of Scranton at 570-207-2269.”

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish