NEW YORK
Observer-Dispatch
By GREG MASON / gmason@uticaod.com
Three years ago, when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse found credibility to allegations that a Utica priest committed acts of child sexual abuse, it was not Bishop Robert Cunningham’s policy to make public those matters, said Danielle Cummings, the diocese’s chancellor and director of communications.
The diocese quietly removed the Rev. Felix Colosimo from priestly ministry in 2014 in response to claims from California man Matthew Strzepak that the priest molested him as a child. Colosimo served at several Utica-area churches, including St. Leo’s Church in Holland Patent, St. Peter’s Church in North Utica and — most recently — Our Lady of the Rosary in New Hartford.
Strzepak filed a lawsuit earlier this month against Colosimo and the diocese in federal court in Connecticut. Declining to speak in further detail, Cummings said Strzepak going public is why the diocese chose to address the allegations publicly, though she reiterated that the past claims were markedly different than those in the June 2 lawsuit.
In past years, Cunningham has rejected requests to release the names of 11 diocese priests connected to credible sexual abuse allegations. That stance has not changed, said Cummings, who noted a challenge in balancing disclosure and respecting the wishes of victims.
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