Clergy Abuse Case Would Reopen Old Wounds

By Dianne Williamson
Telegram & Gazette Staff
May 18, 2017

http://www.telegram.com/news/20170518/dianne-williamson-clergy-abuse-case-would-reopen-old-wounds

Until this week, Susan Manter hadn’t set foot in a courtroom in five years, not since her shocking testimony about a beloved priest roiled a parish and sent the clergyman to jail.

In May of 2012, the Rev. Charles Michael Abdelahad of Shrewsbury was convicted of physically abusing the vulnerable mother of three during bizarre counseling sessions in which he slapped her, swore at her, kicked her in the shins, struck her with a miniature bat, knocked her head against a radiator, ripped her clothes off and bit her breasts. When she complained, the priest known affectionately as Father Mike explained that the two were engaged in “spiritual warfare” and that her body was “a battleground.”

Today, Manter said she wants people held accountable “for what they did.” More accurately, perhaps, she also wants them to pay for what they didn’t do, as these horrific counseling sessions dragged on for three years.

On Tuesday, the 49-year-old Holden woman sat in the front row of a Worcester Superior Court courtroom while her lawyer recounted the stunning actions of the priest and shameful inaction of those who knew what was happening at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, but did little to confront the priest or protect his victim. Manter has filed a civil suit against Father Mike and three others. One of the defendants is the late primate of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America, Philip Saliba, who did nothing to intervene even when notified about the sessions. Archbishop Saliba died in 2014.

“I’m really looking forward to having my story told,” Manter said Tuesday. Asked if she was nervous about seeing the man who abused her, she said, “I’m angry. Nauseated. Nervous? Of course I’m nervous. It’s human nature.”