BishopAccountability.org
	Local Seminary under Scrutiny Priest Believed to Have Fathered Child of High School Sweetheart in Canada By Erin Meyer Hyde Park Herald [Chicago IL] November 10, 2005 A Catholic priest living in Hyde Park will probably not be defrocked, even if paternity tests determine that he is the father of an 8-month-old living in Canada, Fr. Thomas Phillips, provincial superior of a regional Carmelite order, told the Herald Monday. "This certainly is not a fait accompli," said Phillips, from his office in Milwaukee where he oversees the Midwest regional Carmelite order. "The media has only heard one side of the story." Phillips was referring to a Nov. 3 press conference staged in front of the Edith Stein House, 5345 S. University Ave., in which a religious watchdog group charged Fr. Elijah (Jason) Martin with fathering the child and shirking his financial responsibilities. Martin lives in the Stein House but has refused to talk to the press. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) held the event before several TV news cameras. "I am sad it has gotten to this point," said the mother, who in an interview with the Herald last week, asked to remain anonymous to protect the child. "But the church won't act unless they are shamed publicly into doing so." The mother, who lives in Ontario, Canada, said she is struggling to pay bills and has lost her house and car. Martin recently transferred to Hyde Park from Rome, where he had been offering mass and working on a graduate degree, according to the mother. SNAP spoke on behalf of the mother who is calling on Martin to take responsibility for the baby. "Martin has to take financial responsibility," said David Clohessy, executive director of SNAP. "But ideally Martin should be involved on more than just a financial level." TV cameramen followed SNAP members to the front door of the Stein House, where Clohessy hand-delivered a SNAP letter detailing the mother's demands to Martin's superior, Fr. Bonaventure Lussier. "I found out about all of this only this morning," Bonaventure said during the press conference. "If the allegations are true he (Martin) is going to have to support this child." Martin, a native of Canada, left the church in January 2004 and returned to Ontario where he fathered the child of a high-school sweatheart, according to the child's mother. But Martin later decided to return to the church and left Canada suddenly. "He moved to Chicago and changed his name from Jason to Elijah to hide from me," the mother told the Herald. Bonaventure told SNAP and the news media that the matter was before the court. The mother released emails from Martin sent in August 2004 to back up the allegations. "I love that you are the mother of our child," Martin wrote in the email. "I really want to be a 'good daddy' and I really feel I can." SNAP is only asking Martin to help relieve the mother's financial burden. The letter asks Martin to pay $2,000 per month in child support, considerably more than the $213 Martin's lawyer offered, according to the mother.