| Rev. Mark A. Honhart Summary of Case: Honhart was removed from active ministry by the Scranton diocese in Feb. 2011 after a man accused Honhart of having sexually abused him as a boy in the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese, where Honhart spent most of his career. Two more men surfaced with similar accusations by late 2011. The accusers said they were between 8 and 12 years old when abused. Honhart was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and he was ordained for the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. Honhart also spent some time as a priest in the Sante Fe diocese. Ordained: 1980 |
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| Start | Stop | Parish/Assignment | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1980 Kansas City-St. Joseph bishop wa John Joseph Sullivan (1977-1993) |
1981 | Nativity of the Blessed Virgin | Independence • In Nov. 2011 a man filed suit, accusing Honhart of sexually abusing him when he was a 9-12 year old Nativity grade school student, from 1980-1984. The man also accused Rev. Thomas M. Reardon and Msgr. Thomas J. O'Brien. He said the abuse took place at Nativity parish and at a Lake Viking cabin. Honhart is said to have performed oral sex on the boy in his car and in the Nativity rectory basement. The man said he attempted suicide repeatedly as a child. |
MO | 2/2 | Nativity had a school with 305-286 students. Per the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese, Honhart was born in Pennsylvania and ordained in 1980 for the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT). He requested and was granted parish ministry in Kansas City-St. Joseph. (He first appears in the 1980 Directory, which is an indication he may have been ordained in 1979.) Reardon and O'Brien have been accused by dozens of men of having sexually abused them as boys. They are said to have taken boys on overnight trips to Lake Viking, where they would ply to boys with alcohol and marijuana and expose them pornography. |
| 1981 | 1986 | Holy Cross | Kansas City • Honhart was accused in a March 2011 lawsuit of sexually abusing an 8 to 9 year-old boy at Holy Cross in the 1980s. The boy was cleaning windows and bathrooms at the school to work off a $15.00 fine he'd received for chewing gum at school. Honhart is said to have forced the boy to receive and perform oral sex. The suit said Holy Cross priest, Rev. Hugh Monohan, also sexually abused him. The accuser claimed he was abused over a four year period. • A man filed suit in Aug. 2011, accusing Honhart of sexually abusing him when he was 11 or 12 years old, while Honhart was a priest at Holy Cross. |
MO | 2/2 | Holy Cross had a school with 332-321 students.
As of Aug. 2011, Monohan was the subject of seven lawsuits with accusations that he had sexually abused children. |
| 1986 | 1990 | St. Patrick's | St. Joseph | MO | 1/1 | St. Patrick's had a school with 128-185 students. |
| 1990 | 1991 | Honhart is not indexed in the 1991 Directory, nor is he listed in the diocesan pages at his previous or next assignments. | ||||
1991 Sullivan was succeeded by Raymond James Boland (1993-2005) |
2000 | Immaculate Conception | Richmond | MO | 1/1 | Immaculate Conception had a religious education program with 96-70 students. |
| 1991 | 2000 | Sacred Heart | Norbone | MO | This was a mission of Immaculate Conception in Richmond. | |
| 2000 | 2002 | St. Rose of Lima | Savannah | MO | 1/1 | St. Rose's had a religious education program with 112-102 students. |
| 2000 | 2002 | St. Patrick's | Forest City | MO | This was a mission of St. Rose of Lima in Savannah. | |
2002 Santa Fe archbishop was Michael Jarboe Sheehan (1993-) |
2003 | Prince of Peace Catholic Community Church | Albuquerque | NM | 2/2 | Prince of Peace had a religious education program with 343 students. Honhart moved to Albuquerque to care for his elderly mother. |
| 2003 | 2004 | Our Lady of Belen | Belen | NM | 2/2 In residence. |
Our Lady of Belen had a school with 207 students, and a religious education program with 700 students. |
| 2003 | 2004 | Los Chavez, Jarales, Pueblitos, Bosque | NM | These were missions of Our Lady's in Belen. | ||
July 2004 Scranton bishop was Joseph Francis Martino (2003-2009) |
2005 | On Duty Outside the Diocese/ St. Rose of Lima |
Carbondale | PA | assistant pastor | Honhart is listed in the 2005 Directory only as as "On Duty Outside the Diocese (SFE)". He is not listed in the diocesan pages at his previous or next assignments. Assignment is per Scranton diocese statement, which also stated that Honhart requested a move to Scranton in 2003 to be closer to his mother (who moved there from New Mexico) and his sister. |
2005
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2007 | St. Anthony's/St. Bridgets/St. John the Baptist | Throop | PA | 1/1 Administrator | These three parishes were merged. They had a religious education program with 103 students. |
2007 Joseph Charles Bambera followed Martino as Scranton bishop (2010-) |
2010 | Our Lady Help of Christians | Dorrance (Wapwallopen) | PA | 1/1 | Our Lady's had a religious education program with 104 students. |
| Sacred Heart and St. Joseph (became Ascension) | Forest City | PA | assistant pastor | Assignment is per Scranton diocese statement. | ||
| 2010 | Feb. 3, 2011 | St. Katharine Drexel |
Pleasant Mount | PA | 2/2 | St. Katharine's had a religious education program with 4 students. The Scranton diocese announced in Feb. 2011 that Honhart was placed on leave of absence "for reasons of health". On March 8 the diocese acknowledged that Honhart had been removed from active ministry due to the allegation that he had sexually abused a boy in Kansas City, MO in the 1980s. The diocese stated further that it informed the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese of the allegations, and that Honhart was sent immediately to treatment. Bishop Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph did not inform parishioners in his diocese of the allegations. |
Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1980-2011) • Bishop Bambera Announces Clergy Appointments, Diocese of Scranton, February 8, 2011
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