Five more Catholic priests with ties to Springfield diocese accused by SNAP

By Steven Spearie
Journal Register
April 7, 2019

https://bit.ly/2VsUt6B

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) on Sunday disclosed the names of five more publicly accused abusive priests who spent time in the Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese but are not on the official diocesan “accused” list.

Members of SNAP protested outside of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception urging Bishop Thomas Paprocki to add the names.

The Rev. Noel Shaughnessy, the Rev. Thomas Gardner and the Rev. Thomas McShane all ministered in the diocese, which covers 28 counties in central Illinois.

Another priest, the Rev. Scott Kallal, is a Jerseyville native and a member of the Rome-based Apostles of the Interior Life order.

Kallal didn’t officially serve in the Springfield diocese. Kallal was sent to go to trial this month on two felony counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, but it has been delayed.

The Rev. Francis Benham, who served in the Columbus, Ohio, diocese, lived in Lincoln, which is in the Peoria diocese.

In 2015, the Springfield diocese’s communications office issued an advisory warning that Benham was seen in the Springfield area posing as a priest.

Shaughnessy and Gardner were among 17 clergy accused of sexual abuse or misconduct with a minor by the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

In November, the diocese published a list of 19 priests with credible allegations at www.promise.dio.org.

A report by the Minnesota-based law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates (www.andersonadvocates.com) last month named 27 priests publicly accused of sexual misconduct with minors, including four members of the Franciscan order.

Also last month, the Jackson (Mississippi) Catholic Diocese accused a priest who served in the Springfield diocese in the 1920s and ’30s — the Rev. Daniel Joseph O’Hanlon — of “credible allegations of sexual abuse of minor.”

Three of the names released Sunday — Shaughnessy, Kallal and Benham — have appeared previously on www.BishopAccountability.org, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based non-profit that maintains a website of publicly accused priests in the United States.

John Freml of Springfield said that while SNAP doesn’t know of any allegations against the five priests that occurred in the Springfield diocese, the names should still be made public on the Springfield diocese site.

“There still could be survivors who are sitting with that in silence, who could have been abused, and our purpose in being here is to get these names out there and let survivors know they’re not alone and possibly even to give them the courage to come forward,” said Freml, a SNAP supporter holding a “Bishop come clean” sign.

“In the interest of full transparency, it doesn’t matter if the accusations occurred in Springfield or not. These priests were still present here and could have done something here.”

According to records, none of the five served at parishes in The State Journal-Register area.

Benham was cited by Illinois authorities for practicing clinical psychology without a license in 2012.

In 2005, Benham pleaded guilty to molesting a 15-year-old boy and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl in the late 1970s. That same year, he was defrocked as a priest.

Benham was sentenced to two concurrent 10-year sentences. All but 18 months were suspended.

Benham is a registered sex offender.

Paprocki and another priest from the Springfield diocese, the Rev. Father D. Patrick Gibbons, participated in Kallal’s ordination in Overland Park, Kansas, in 2011.

Kallal was at an Overland Park parish when he was suspended in 2017 after two people complained of inappropriate conduct by him, one an 11-year-old girl. Kallal denied “moral misconduct or malicious intent” but was arrested at a church treatment center in Maryland and awaits trial.

In a statement released Sunday, Andrew Hansen, a Springfield diocese spokesman, pointed out the diocese “did not receive any complaints or allegations while these men briefly served in this diocese.”

David Clohessy of SNAP said it is imperative that Paprocki and the diocese come clean on the listing of names.

“If the goal is to split hairs and parse words and evade responsibility and not be helpful, then, fine, admit that,” Clohessy said. “If the goal is to protect wounded victims and protect vulnerable kids, then expose every child-molesting cleric who was here.”

“A registered sex offender,” Freml added, “has to make their whereabouts known to the police and to the community wherever they move, even if they haven’t abused anyone in that particular community, so this is the same concept.”

Clohessy also said Sunday that SNAP supported Paprocki’s plan to set up a new, independent lay panel to investigate bishops who are accused of abuse. That runs counter to a plan by Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Chicago archdiocese who wants “metropolitan” prelates, those from larger dioceses, to investigate “sufferagan” bishops, those from smaller dioceses.

“All of these (cases),” Clohessy said, “belong in the justice system, either criminally, civilly or both. That’s the ideal solution.”

The diocese, the statement added, “has deep respect and compassion for those harmed by past abuse and we express our sorrow over the historical lack of transparency with which this problem was handled, and we are grateful for the hard work and courage of many people who helped shine a light on this troubled period decades ago.

“Thanks to their hard work, courage, and the contribution of awareness advocated for by victims and survivors of abuse, this problem is historical, at this point. In the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, there has been one case in nearly 20 years. That credibly accused priest was immediately removed from ministry. There are no credibly accused priests in active ministry in this diocese.

“It is fair to criticize the Church for its historical problems, including how badly some of these issues were handled decades ago and the hurt some of our priests and bishops caused to victims,” the diocese’s statement continued. “We express our sorrow to the victims and survivors. The evils perpetrated by some of our priests during a dark history of our Church is a disgrace. We must continue our prayers for the healing of these victims and survivors.

“It is also clear, however, that there is a ‘before and after’ difference thanks to victims’ advocacy and reforms that leaders like Bishop Thomas John Paprocki helped to put in place many years ago.”