SPRINGFIELD (MO)
The Republican
December 3, 2018
By Shannon Young
David Baillargeon, a deacon at Holy Family Parish Roman Catholic church in Russell, claims he was reprimanded for saying a prayer during Mass on Sunday for a deacon in Buffalo, New York, who has called for the resignation of that diocese’s bishop.
Baillargeon spoke out Monday against the church’s handling of clergy sexual abuse, arguing that more needs to be done to investigate such cases, including in Western Massachusetts.
Baillargeon, who has worked with activist Olan Horne to advocate for survivors of clergy abuse, said local church officials have largely barred him from preaching after he was critical of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in a homily two years ago.
The deacon said he faced further pushback Sunday after offering prayers for Buffalo, New York, Deacon Paul Snyder, who has called for Catholic Bishop Richard Malone’s resignation.
“After the prayers of petition for the church, I said that I wanted to say a prayer for Deacon Paul Snyder — told the parishioners where he was and that he was the deacon at St. Mary’s Church there — and that I heard, from my smartphone really, that he had been suppressed from preaching because he spoke out against Bishop Malone and the clergy abuse that’s going on there in the Buffalo diocese,” Baillargeon said in an interview. “I said, ‘We need to pray for him,’ and then I raised my hand up and said, ‘He’s been suppressed for two months.’ And, I said, ‘Here, your own deacon has been suppressed for two years.'”
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