How Will Church Handle Legacies of Legendary Staten Island Priests on Sex-abuse Settlement List?

By Maura Grunlund
Staten Island Advance
May 3, 2019

https://www.silive.com/news/2019/05/how-will-church-handle-legacies-of-legendary-staten-island-priests-on-sex-abuse-settlement-list.html

Now that the reputations of more than 30 Staten Island priests have been tarnished in the Roman Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal, should their legacies be trashed as well?

Should the accused in effect be erased?

The names of more than 30 Island clergy were released by the Archdiocese of New York last week on a list of 120 bishops, monsignors, priests and deacons whose alleged actions resulted in payouts to victims. Included on the roster are many of the spiritual founders, builders and reformers who, over the past century, shaped the Roman Catholic Church into what it is today on Staten Island.

The names of some of these priests grace churches, schools and other religious facilities throughout the borough. Ground-breaking programs, scholarships and awards are their legacies.

Should their names, images and historical mentions be relegated -- literally or figuratively -- to the dumpster and effectively erased as the Archdiocese attempts to dismantle the scandal of priestly sex-abuse and rebuild its church on the Island?

Complicating the issue is the fact that the list has its own shades of gray in terms of culpability.

Although payouts were made to alleged victims, at least 58 of the accused clergy throughout the Archdiocese appear on a portion of the list devoted to priests who did not have the opportunity to defend themselves because they had died or left the ministry before being accused.

They are listed apart from others, against whom allegations were deemed “credible.”

MONSIGNORS GAFFNEY AND ANSALDI

Monsignors Thomas Gaffney and Joseph Ansaldi, both pillars of the Island church, were among those on the portion of the list who were unable to address the allegations.

Monsignor Gaffney, a longtime pastor at St. Charles R.C. Church in Oakwood, was widely credited for keeping St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School in Huguenot open after he became principal in 1973 during a financial crisis that could have shuttered the school. He headed the school until 1982.

His successor at Sea was Monsignor Ansaldi, who served as principal for 27 years, until 2009. An endowment fund at Sea was named in his honor the following year. While principal, Monsignor Ansaldi also held the highest priestly post on the Island as vicar from 1991 to 1998.

Monsignor Gaffney died in 2004 amid allegations, but Monsignor Ansaldi was revered even after his death in 2015. A chapel at St. Peter’s Boys High School was named for Monsignor Ansaldi in 2016.

“Besides being a close friend, mentor and confidant to me for over 40 years, Monsignor had served as St. Peter’s Boys High School chaplain since retiring from St. Joseph by-the-Sea,” said then-Principal John Fodera when the chapel was dedicated.

Fodera said Monsignor Ansaldi would say Mass and hear confession every Monday in the chapel.

“Monsignor somehow had as one of his dreams to modernize and refurbish our chapel in the months before he passed away,'' Fodera said. "He personally paid for this entire project and was thrilled to see the progress, which sadly was just short of completion before he died. The work is now complete and we feel honored to dedicate the chapel to his memory.”

What will be the impact of their legacies at St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School? Will the chapel at St. Peter’s Boys High School take a new name?

Administrators at both Sea and St. Peter’s did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

REV. EUGENE HICKS

Another priest on the list who wasn’t alive to provide a defense was the Rev. Eugene Hicks, after whom a center is named at St. Clare’s R.C. Church in Great Kills.

“This fiery preacher was the first black Catholic priest ordained in New York, for which he was personally congratulated by Jackie Robinson after his similar trailblazing in baseball a few years earlier,” according to information about Father Hicks posted on St. Clare’s website. “Among other innovations, Father Hicks introduced Great Kills’ Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service for Christian unity, which has been a wonderful annual event with our Protestant neighbors ever since. He would eventually become St. Clare’s longest-serving priest [29 years, 1957-1986], making him a crucial carrier of parish traditions bridging three pastors."

Cathy Feeks, a parishioner at St. Clare’s since 1968 and currently the sacristan, spoke highly of Father Hicks and questioned why his name was included in the list.

“I am not familiar with the criteria used to make the decision to place his name or any of the others that could not defend themselves on this list,” Feeks said. “Personally, I do not agree with listing names of individuals on any list unless they are proven guilty.”

Feeks said that she “worked hand in hand” with Father Hicks when she taught religious education at St. Clare’s.

“He was 100 percent supportive of my involvement in the program,” Feeks said. “During that time, I never witnessed him behaving inappropriately with any child or adult.”

She described Father Hicks as a tremendous human being. “He would do anything for anyone,” she said.

She is adamantly opposed to the suggestion that his name be deleted from the parish center.

“I did read the comment on SILive by the individual stating his name should be removed from our building," Feeks said. "I felt that individual was rather flippant making such a statement against a man that was a legend in his time. In a court of law, an allegation until proven would not hold water.”

MONSIGNOR VINCENT CLYNE

Also unable to address the allegations against him was Monsignor Vincent Clyne.

Ordained in 1945, he was appointed pastor of St. Ann’s R.C. Church, Dongan Hills, in 1977 and served there until his retirement in 1990. He died in 2013.

Rev. Edmund P. Connors gave a touching homily at his funeral, recounted in an article in Catholic New York: "With a smile in his voice, he recalled fondly that Msgr. Clyne lived out the words of Jesus, especially with his ministry to children, when he said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these’ (Mk 10:14).”

“He was wonderful with the little children,” Father Connors recalled in the homily. “He loved to see them. He would always go over to the school, walking his dog, and the children loved to see him.”

An annex is named in his honor at St. Ann’s School.

QUESTIONS TO BE LOOKED AT

How does the Archdiocese plan to deal with these types of legacy issues for the priests on the list?

“Those questions have not yet been discussed, and will have to be looked at,” said an email from Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the Archdiocese of New York.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) gave an unqualified “yes” to erasing all traces of accused priests.

“I believe that when we learn new information about the people whose names adorn buildings, scholarships, or other awards, that we should act on that information and remove honors as necessary," said Zach Hiner of SNAP.

"Leaving the names of alleged abusers in places of honor sends the message that we institutional officials care more about the name than they do the pain caused by the person bearing it.

“And when removing these names, church officials can go the extra mile by explaining (whether in church bulletins, on their websites, social media, etc.) why they are making the decision to do so and to also encourage others who may have seen, suspected, or suffered misdeeds to come forward and make a report to law enforcement. Such an action would demonstrate a desire to both help survivors heal and to inform communities better about the nature of child abuse.”