SANTA BARBARA (CA)
Santa Barbara Independent
June 5, 2019
By Tyler Hayden
For the first time publicly, the Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. Barbara have identified 50 priests accused of sexually abusing children in its ministries since 1950. More than half — 26 — were assigned to St. Anthony’s Seminary or Old Mission Santa Barbara at some point in their careers, often after they’d been accused of molestation in another ministry, then reassigned to the Santa Barbara area.
While many of those 26 priests were previously known to attorneys, law enforcement, and victim advocates, nine names had never before been reported, according to attorney Tim Hale, who won a landmark case against the Franciscans in 2006 and has closely followed subsequent cases, as well as recent disclosures by the Catholic Church. All nine priests have died. Their names and the locations and dates of their Santa Barbara postings are as follows:
Note: These dates don’t necessarily reflect when the alleged abuse occurred, only when the accused priests were assigned here.
Camillus Cavagnaro — Old Mission Santa Barbara, 2005-2006
Philip Colloty — Old Mission Santa Barbara, 1973-1975
Adrian Furman — Old Mission Santa Barbara, 1989-2001
Martin Gates — St. Anthony’s Seminary, 1965-1966
Gus Hootka — Old Mission Santa Barbara, 1993-2006
Mark Liening — Old Mission Santa Barbara, 1941-1942, 1985
Finbar Kenneally — Old Mission Santa Barbara, 1939-1940; St. Anthony’s Seminary, 1977-1991
Felix “Raymond” Calonge — St. Anthony’s Seminary, 1965
Felipe Baldonado — Multiple CA missions (Oakland, Stockton, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Francisco), 1953-1964
Father David Gaa, the Province of St. Barbara’s leader, issued a statement alongside the full list, which was quietly posted on the order’s website late last Friday. “The list is being published as part of our continuous commitment to transparency and accountability,” he wrote. “We are determined to demonstrate, through this action, that we are committed to helping survivors and their families heal.”
Hale, among others, contends the release is actually a self-serving strategy by the Franciscans to preemptively shield the order from potential criminal liability after a Pennsylvania Grand Jury published a searing report against the Catholic Church last August. It was the most expansive investigation yet by a U.S. government agency of abuse within the organization. “Every Roman Catholic diocese around the country fears that Grand Jury report and what it might mean for them,” said Hale.
Last December, in a similar fashion to the Franciscans, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Catholic Church’s western Jesuit province self-published a list of 200 clergymen accused of child molestation, 12 of whom held lengthy postings in Santa Barbara dating back to the 1950s.
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