PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
October 26, 2017
By Maria Panaritis
[Note: See also Panaritis’ major article Stolen Childhoods.]
John Delaney, 47, was altar boy of the year at St. Cecilia’s in Northeast Philadelphia in the 1980s – years in which he was being raped by the Rev. James Brzyski, later identified as one of the most brutal abusers ever to serve in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Delaney has been one of his most vocal victims. In excerpts from recent interviews, he talks about the damage.
He recalls an innocent childhood before Brzyski came to his parish.
“I was an athlete. I remember seeing kids up at the Fox Chase Recreation Center smoking weed, thinking, ‘Those guys are losers.’ My goal was to be like my dad. He was a cop.”
Brzyski arrived. The little boy changed.
“I was being abused, I was running away from home, I was cutting school, I was getting drunk and high. I was 13 years old, whacked out on coke, serving Mass. I passed out on the altar one day.”
Later, he would spend time in and out of prison. He married, had two kids, got divorced. He kept returning to drugs.
“It’s a very common thing with victims. It kills the pain and it takes your mind away from it. But the sad reality is that when it’s over, it’s still there — only 10 times worse.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.