Archbishop seeks forgiveness at Guilford church where five pedophile priests once served, by Dave Altimari, Hartford Courant (February 16, 2019)

Archbishop seeks forgiveness at Guilford church where five pedophile priests once served

As he stood before the packed pews of the St. George Catholic Church Saturday, adorned in his purple robes, Hartford Archbishop Leonard Blair recalled it was the first parish where he performed a Sunday Mass when he took over five years ago.

“Little did I know at that time or appreciate the depth of the wound that this parish has suffered together with all our other parishes and all of the Catholic people as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by priests,” Blair said.

It was an acknowledgement by Blair that while churches throughout the Archdiocese have been impacted by the priest sex abuse scandal, none has suffered more than St. George’s where five priests “credibly accused” of sexual abuse were assigned between 1972-1990.

Last month, the Archdiocese released the names of 48 priests credibly accused of sexual abuse and said it had paid more than $50 million to victims. The priest with the most lawsuits by far was Father Daniel McSheffery, who served as pastor at St. George’s for 11 years.

Besides McSheffery the other accused priests who worked at St. George’s were Stephen Crowley (1972), George Raffeata (1973-74), Raymond Paul (1986) and Stephen Bzydyra (1990).

But it was McSheffery that many parishioner’s remember, since he was pastor from 1975-1986, current Pastor Stephen Sledesky said in an interview.

“He baptized many of their children, married them off, and in some cases helped bury family members,” Sledesky said. “There are those people who believe what has been said about him and those people here who still don’t believe it.”

The Mass Saturday is the second of three “Masses of Reparation” that Blair is conducting. In his 10-minute homily, several times he reiterated a message that the church must apologize for the sins of its priests and ask forgiveness.

“As the Archdiocese of Hartford, I ask for the forgiveness of God, the wider community, our own Catholic people and I ask for it especially from all the victims of sexual abuse and their families,” Blair said. “I ask it for all [that] church leadership has done and has failed to do when it comes to the protection of its children.”

At the end of the regular Mass, Blair led a quiet 25-minute prayer session — an adoration and benediction — that most of the more than 300 people in the pews stayed for, their heads bowed. When it was over and Blair had left, some church-goers stayed for sandwiches. Many didn’t want to give their names but said they were glad that the archbishop came to Guilford and acknowledged the church’s history.

“I thought the archbishop addressing what had happened here right at the beginning was good for our church that he realizes people here are still hurting,” said Richard, who wouldn’t give his last name but said he is a longtime parishioner at St. George’s.

“I think when the list came out, a lot of people were shocked at the large number that were here and at the depth of Father McSheffery’s involvement,” he said.

The early morning Mass was open to all Catholics along the shoreline. In fact, St. George’s was chosen because of its size and good parking situation, Sledesky said.

Sledesky said his parishioners are well aware that five of the priests on the list released by the diocese worked at the Guilford church, although none simultaneously, and he has talked about it during Sunday services.

“It’s a hard thing for any parish to handle,” Sledesky said. “Knowing the history here at this church, I felt it was appropriate to have the Mass here.”