PROVIDENCE (RI)
GoLocalProv [Providence RI]
August 5, 2022
On Monday, GoLocal unveiled that priest Eric Silva has been assigned to a Narragansett church.
Previously, Silva had been removed from two other churches earlier in the year for asking children “inappropriate questions” about sex.
For much of the week, the head of the Diocese of Providence defended the assignment of Silva.
But, on Friday, Bishop Thomas Tobin reversed course and announced that Silva would be removed.
“Upon receiving written requests from Father Eric Silva, and from Father Marcel Taillon, Pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in Narragansett, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has rescinded Father Silva’s appointment as Assistant Pastor of the parish, which had been scheduled to begin on August 15,” said Tobin.
“In his written request to Bishop Tobin, Father Silva said, ‘It is with a heavy heart that I realize my presence there will only hurt the parish and cause division amongst the good people of God.’ While Father Silva retains the priestly faculties of the Diocese of Providence, he will not be receiving a new assignment at the present time,” added Tobin.
Also, on Friday, the top attorney in the U.S. on sexual abuse, Mitchell Garabedian, told GoLocal, “I have represented clergy sexual abuse victims worldwide for decades. To obtain the truth, Bishop Tobin has a moral responsibility to refer the actions of Fr. Eric Silva to the police for an investigation even though Bishop Tobin has rescinded the assignment of Fr. Eric Silva.