WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
bkush@telegram.com
WORCESTER — Elizabeth Darcy said her churchgoing parents, Alan and Irma Blizard, were “filled with joy and pride” when her brother, David, was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1974 by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul.
“It was a glorious day for them,” said Mrs. Darcy, a Sturbridge resident. “The church was important to them and they were thrilled that one of their sons had become a priest. But a lot has happened since that day and, I think that, if they were still living today, they’d be embarrassed by him.”
Mr. Blizard, who served as a parish curate in Oxford, Worcester, Athol and Upton and taught religion at St. Bernard’s Central Catholic High School in Fitchburg and at Holy Name High School, was removed from the ministry in 1988 by Bishop Timothy J. Harrington. Chancery officials determined there was enough evidence to link the clergyman to “a child sex ring” run by diocesan priests that operated out of the former House of Affirmation in Northbridge.
The Vatican last March formally defrocked Mr. Blizard, who is now living in Florida.
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