NEW YORK (NY)
Al Jazeera
Oct. 23, 2019
In a series of exclusive interviews with Fault Lines, several men across New York City come forward with painful memories of abuse by a Catholic priest.
They say that Father John Paddack – who was ordained in 1984 and had been ministering in New York until he was suspended in July – molested them during confession and counselling sessions in different Catholic schools across the city.
They are allowing these predator priests to frolic around aimlessly on the streets of New York, with open access, under the shield of a collar.
The men allege years of abuse by Paddack, sparking the latest revelations in a decades-old scandal that has shaken the Catholic Church to its foundation.
And they say that, in the intervening decades, Paddack remained in ministry – working in close proximity to children.
The church should “stop hiding”, says Joseph Caramanno, one of the men who says he was abused by Paddack while in high school, and one of the first to open a public case against the priest.
“They are allowing these predator priests to frolic around aimlessly on the streets of New York, with open access, under the shield of a collar,” he says.
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