DETROIT (MI)
Opus Bono Sacerdoti
October 2018
The accounts presented here are based on real events. Names have been changed and identifying details have been modified to protect the privacy of the people involved.
Because of your faithful prayers and continued generous support for our priests in need of caring assistance, when Father Jerry sent me the email below, you helped us immediately respond to him and assist him through some very troubling and difficult transitions.
“Dear Joe, I was informed that a man whom I do not recall ever meeting reported that sometime between 1983 to 1985, while giving him a blessing in his home, I had touched [him inappropriately]. The investigator who interviewed me informed me that the man has emotional problems and that his own father did not believe him. From my investigations, with the help of a private investigator, I have reasonably established that during the period in which this allegation is reported to have occurred, his family was not living in our state nor in our parish.
“Later in August, [my] bishop announced this accusation in all the parishes in which I had served. He informed the people that it had most likely occurred He removed me from ministry.
“[My] bishop has taken care of my material needs, food, insurance, a place to live. My health is somewhat poor, with a weak heart, and I walk with a cane and a walker . . .
“This evening, our Vicar for Priests gave me a surprise visit. He said that some parents from a public school, about a block from our residence, were protesting my living near their school. (I never go on the school property and have no contact with any of the children in any way.) He said they are demanding that the bishop evict me from my residence. He said they are planning to stage a protest march at a neighboring Catholic Church this Sunday. He said that [my] Bishop will evict me from here to some other location.
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