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  'In Retrospect, I Would Have Acted Otherwise'
Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb Concerning His Actions with Regard to Father Alexander Sherlock Accused Priests Brother Victor Bendillo

Mobile Register [Alabama]
April 6, 2003

'In retrospect, I would have acted otherwise.' Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb concerning his actions with regard to Father Alexander Sherlock. Accused priests Brother Victor Bendillo Brothers of the Sacred Heart * Taught and served as academic

'In retrospect, I would have acted otherwise.' Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb concerning his actions with regard to Father Alexander Sherlock. Accused priests Brother Victor Bendillo Brothers of the Sacred Heart * Taught and served as academic adviser at McGill-Toolen High School from 1959-1998. By lord Archbishop Liscomb said he received a verbal complaint of abuse against Bendillo on July 20, 1998. Lipscomb said that 'in concert with his religious superior, he was immediately removed from ministry.' A Web site for the Brothers of the Sacred Heart Foundation in Baton Rouge, La., however, stated that Bendillo was assigned to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge. It is not clear when that site was last updated and it does not describe the nature of his duties.

After Bendillo's dismissal, Lipscomb said, he received three additional complaints against him; Lipscomb said all complainants have requested and received anonymity.Adrian Cook Lipscomb said he also provided Tyson with information about Honey Weiss, a 47-year-old Mobile woman who Tuesday publicly accused the Rev. Adrian Cook, pastor of St. Maurice Catholic Church in Brewton, of sexually abusing her in the early 1970s. At the time, Weiss said, she was 19 and Cook was in his late 20s. Cook acknowledged that he had sex with Weiss, but said it was consensual. He also said he had fathered a child by another woman. Patrick Nicholson Archibald has alleged that a former Mobile priest, the Rev. Patrick L. Nicholson, seduced her into an exploitative sexual relationship years ago. She is pressing forward with a lawsuit against the Air Force to compel the release of documents concerning Nicholson, then a Catholic chaplain at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.Lang Ryan Tyson said Wednesday the archdiocese had provided his office with information about Bendillo, as well as two other area priests, the Rev. Eugene Smith and the Rev. Barry Ryan. Smith, who was ordained in 1982, was listed as 'Absent' on the archdiocesan Web site Wednesday and was removed from the site Thursday; Ryan was not listed on that site either day, and could not be located.Schrenger Lipscomb said the archdiocese received information Tuesday 'prompting an immediate investigation' into Schrenger. When asked, Schrenger 'confirmed two instances of misconduct with minors prior to 1985,' Lipscomb said. Schrenger has worked with the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese since 2001, and has been removed from that position, Lipscomb said. A tribunal is the church court for a local Roman Catholic diocese. It adjudicates internal church legal affairs, including petitions for declarations of nullity of marriage. Schrenger, who in 1998 was the pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Montgomery, was dismissed from 'all priestly and public ministerial duties effective April 1, 2003,' according to Lipscomb's statement. Schrenger could not be reached for comment. SherlockIn March, Mobile District Attorney John Tyson Jr. opened a criminal investigation into sex abuse allegations against J. Alexander Sherlock following the announcement by Lipscomb that Sherlock had been removed from the priesthood following "credible allegations of abuse." The longtime Mobile priest resigned from the priesthood effective Feb. 28. Lipscomb said Sherlock has admitted to sexually abusing three 'older teenagers' in the 70s and 80s, and that he had received a fourth complaint of abuse in March. SmithTyson said Wednesday the archdiocese had provided his office with information about Bendillo, as well as two other area priests, the Rev. Eugene Smith and the Rev. Barry Ryan. Smith, who was ordained in 1982, was listed as 'Absent' on the archdiocesan Web site Wednesday and was removed from the site Thursday.

 
 

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