SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Thursday, July 24, 2014
Statement by Tim Lennon of San Francisco, SNAP Leader, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (415-312-5820, sflennon@gmail.com)
The Los Angeles Archdiocese evidently believes that Fr. John Wadeson is a credibly accused child molester. A decade ago, they listed him as an “accused” priest. We see no evidence that they’ve changed their minds or are even reconsidering.
And the Guam archdiocese suspended Fr. Wadeson this week. The Archdiocese of Agana announced Tuesday that Apuron has removed Wadeson from “active and public ministry” in response to “concerns in the community.” “The Archdiocese of Agana has a policy regarding sexual misconduct and sexual harassment and takes these matters seriously,” the local archdiocese stated.
But Provincial Fr. Tom Ascheman says that “the allegation was never substantiated, no formal accusation was ever made, and no settlement was offered, or made.”
So we fear that Fr. Wadeson may soon be back on the job here in San Francisco among unsuspecting colleagues, neighbors and families.
The archdioceses of Los Angeles and Guam are acting responsibly. The Archdiocese of San Francisco is acting irresponsibly. Fr. Wadeson should not be allowed to work as a priest here. If he’s already doing so, we urge Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone to suspend him.
Reluctantly and belatedly, under tremendous pressure, Los Angles Catholic officials have publicly released the names of hundreds of proven, admitted and credibly accused predator priests. As best we can tell, they’ve never gone backwards and said “We were wrong about this guy. We should have never listed him as ‘accused.’”
In fact, we don’t know of a single Catholic official on the planet who has disclosed child sex abuse allegations against a priest who has later said “Oops, I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have done that.”
At least four church officials must step up here, tell the truth and warn others about Fr. Wadeson.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.