Fatima Shrine Priest Removed in Harassment Case

By Ron Plants
WGRZ
February 7, 2018

http://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/fatima-shrine-priest-removed-in-harassment-case/71-515799221

The Buffalo Catholic Diocese says a priest who is a member of the Barnabite Order at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Lewiston was removed from active ministry as part of a harassment investigation.

A priest who served at a shrine in Niagara County is now accused of sexual harassment. It's a difficult situation for a religious order at the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine.

It was a quiet winter afternoon at the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Lewiston, but for the staff and members of the Barnabite Fathers, religious order has been a trying time as they found out that one of their fathers was accused of sexual harassment.

A source confirmed to 2 On Your Side a report that a woman filed the complaint against Rev. John Paul Bahati. The 48-year old priest was featured in a spring 2015 article of the Barnabite Messenger newsletter as a new arrival at the shrine and he is said to be from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa. He studied in Rome and became involved with a religious radio program and as a spiritual leader in his home country.

The Buffalo Catholic Diocese only released a statement that they became aware of a complaint of harassment made against a Barnabite priest serving at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine:

Pursuant to established procedures, the diocese immediately began an investigation. Based on that investigation, Bishop Malone removed the priest from active ministry in this diocese. Because this matter involved a Barnabite priest, representatives of that religious order assumed responsibility for further handling of the matter."

Attorney Francis Letro has handled similar cases and notes, "While the legal profession and the courts can be very powerful in righting a wrong, none the less the victim has to account for what happened and again relive the trauma of it. Having an authority figure, one responsible for this, it is always more damaging in my experience."

Letro says most cases like this end in an insurance settlement with questions about how the alleged harassment actually occurred, when superiors knew about it, and how they finally acted.

There was no response from Reverend Bahati to our e-mail sent to his listed Yahoo account. Leaders of the local Barnabite order also had no further comment except to say it's an ongoing investigation.

We also checked with Lewiston Police and the Niagara County District Attorney and they are not involved in this case involving Father Bahati in any way so there is no criminal investigation.

The Buffalo News reports that the woman involved has hired an attorney but we were unable to confirm that.

We also asked if Father Bahati was still in the area. The Barnabite Fathers order would not say where he is. They do say that those involved are being ministered to and they ask for prayers from the community.