NEW MEXICO/ARIZONA
The New Mexican
By Tom Sharpe
The New Mexican
Twelve lawsuits filed recently in Arizona charge that the Roman Catholic bishop of Gallup protected alleged pedophile priests by assigning them to pastoral duties in small parishes for more than two decades.
Robert E. Pastor of the Phoenix law firm of Manly Steward Finaldi said the lawsuits were filed in Coconimo County on behalf of 10 men and two women, who were minors when they were allegedly molested in Arizona by priests from the Diocese of Gallup. About two years ago, he said he filed a similar lawsuit, on behalf of a man, which is set to go to trial in February.
“That first case came to me and, like a lot of people, you think, ‘Well, that’s just one bad priest. There can’t possibly be any more’ — even though we know about Boston, we know about L.A., we know about Milwaukee, and, lo and behold, what do we find out?” Pastor said. “That there were many priests in the diocese of Gallup and we know why — because the bishop of Gallup was picking his priests from the sex-offender treatment center there at Jemez Springs, New Mexico, and that’s got to be one of the poorest decisions anyone’s ever made.”
The Rev. James Wall, Gallup’s bishop for the last four years, did not respond to a message seeking comment, but issued a pre-prepared written statement though the diocese’s media liaison, the Rev. Tim Farrell of Farmington. The statement says that while the diocese can’t comment on pending litigation, Wall prays for the victims of abuse and urges anyone who has experienced misconduct by any official of the church to contact law enforcement.
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