Pittsburgh priest confronted about allegations in grand jury report

By Paul Van Osdol
WTAE
August 17, 2018

https://www.wtae.com/article/priest-confronted-about-allegations-in-grand-jury-report/22761773

A Pittsburgh priest named in the state grand jury report on child sex abuse in six Catholic dioceses refused to answer questions about the allegations Friday.

WTAE reached the Rev. Richard Terdine at his condominium in Shadyside. Asked to respond to the grand jury report, Terdine said, "I'm going out of town for a week" and he would "rather not" do an interview.

The grand jury report says in 1988, Terdine was accused of abusing a 16-year-old boy in the rectory of St. Peter in McKeesport. The report says Terdine admitted to improperly touching the boy and also buying him pornography and condoms.

In 1990, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh removed Terdine from the parish and assigned him to work as a chaplain at UPMC hospitals.

The grand jury says that in 2003, the diocesan Ministerial Assessment Board recommended that Terdine not be assigned to any parish. The board's report said that "given the possibility of the truth of averments made by the (victim), the moral integrity of the diocese cannot be jeopardized by any assignment of Father Terdine."

Yet records show the diocese allowed Terdine to continue celebrating Mass at area churches, including St. James in Sewickley and Good Shepherd Church in Braddock.

Two months ago, after Pittsburgh diocese officials were made aware of the grand jury findings, Terdine was banned from publicly celebrating Mass, according to the Rev. Ron Lengwin, a diocese spokesman.

"When the allegations first came in, it was not considered to be sexual abuse, but today we would certainly say that it is," Lengwin said.