Pallottines / Society of the Catholic Apostolate – SAC

12 Accused in This Religious Order

Fr. Benedict P. Barszcz

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Order: SAC
Ordained: 1990
Status: Charged

From Poland. Arrested in July 1999 and charged with public lewdness after he was accused of exposing himself to two girls, ages 14 and 15. Barszcz reportedly masturbated in front of the girls while sitting in a car. He was removed from public ministry. Barszcz was had been assistant pastor of St. Peter's in Lewiston since October 1998. Prior to that he assisted in two Brooklyn parishes. Last known to have been port chaplain in 2001 in Szczecin, Poland. Included on Buffalo diocese's list updated 11/5/18.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. Carl Bartholomew

Order: SAC
Ordained: 2000
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Venice FL

Ordained at age 53. Assigned at some point to St. Martha's in Sarasota. Accused in 4/2002 by a woman of molesting her 16-year-old son in 1994 when Bartholomew was a chiropractor in Bradenton, FL, prior to ordination. Bartholomew was not assigned to the Venice diocese in 4/2002 and was reportedly in England. In 10/2002 a committee of lay persons investigated and cleared Bartholomew. The priest acknowledged genital contact with the boy, but said it was part of a medical procedure. One committee member, a psychologist, had once examined another teenage boy who had alleged that Bartholomew made sexual advances toward him in 1998. Bartholomew was returned to full active status.

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Fr. John G. Biermann

Order: SAC
Ordained: 1969
Status: Sued

Died: 01/22/2019
Diocese: Archdiocese of Newark NJ

Named publicly in 11/21 by Attorney Jeff Anderson as accused in a lawsuit filed under the NJ Victims’ Rights Bill.

Sources:

Fr. Barry F. Bossa

Order: SAC
Ordained: 1981
Status: Convicted

Died: 05/20/2007
Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston MA

Pleaded guilty in 1974 to a charge of misdemeanor sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy. No jail time. Order knew but allowed ordination. Two victims filed suit in Boston in 2002. They alleged he performed oral sex on them as 8- and 10-year-olds in Bridgewater in the 1970s when he was a "parish brother." Was working in the in NY archdiocese in 2002. Transferred to Rome after NY archdiocese pulled his privileges. MA charges filed and attempts made to extradite him. Died in 5/2007. Omitted from 2011 Boston AD database. Included 1/24/2023 on the St. Benedict's Abbey (Benet Lake WI) list of credibly accused.

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Fr. Douglas Carroll

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Order: SAC
Ordained: 1973
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Baltimore MD

Removed from ministry in 1990 after his Order told the archdiocese that he had admitted soliciting a minor in another state. Laicized in 1998. Included in 2002 on the Baltimore archdiocese's list of accused. Mentioned in the 4/5/2023 MD Attorney General's Report.

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Fr. John A. Howlett

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Order: SAC
Ordained: 1947
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Fort Worth TX

Ordained in Ireland. In Lubbock, TX by 1960. Accused by several women of abusing them as children. Diocese first learned of allegations in 1980s. Claims arose again in 1993. Diocese gave settlement to at least one alleged victim. Faculties removed. Returned to the Pallotines in Dublin, Ireland. Personnel files released by Diocese 11/28/06. On Amarillo diocese's list 1/31/19; assigned there 1/61-7/66 and 2/71-7/77.

Fr. Stanley Dominic Idziak

Order: SAC
Ordained: 1962
Status: Settled

Died: 01/3/2017
Diocese: Diocese of Buffalo NY

Member of Pallotines in NY, Buffalo area. Moved to GA in 1977, following a family with two young boys, initially living with them. Left Pallotines, became Atlanta archdiocesan priest. Worked in Dunwoody, Stone Mountain, then Gainseville parishes. Accused in the late 1980s of abuse of a boy at a Stone Mountain church. Interviewed by law enforcement but no charges due to the statute of limitations. More accusations of abuse of boys by Idziak, including of the two brothers 1985-1988, beginning when they lived in NY. Sent to treatment in DC, then to the Paracletes in NM. Civil suit settled in 1992 for $570K. One allegation of abuse of a boy at a WI high school in 1964. Laicized in 1992, living in Albuquerque. Died in 1/2017. Another lawsuit in Spring 2017 alleged abuse of a 12- to 15-year-old Corpus Christi Parish altar boy, 1982-1985; settled in 1/2018. On the Atlanta archdiocese's list 11/6/2018. Per a suit filed in 9/2019, abused a boy, age 5 in 1963, continuing until 1973. Included in the GA PAC Report 3/24/2023. At least seven known victims.

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Fr. Theodore Kocian

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Order: SAC
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Buffalo NY

Named publicly as accused on the Buffalo diocese's list updated 11/5/18. Kocian died in 1987.

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Fr. William E. Lemanski

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Order: SAC
Ordained: 1974
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Milwaukee WI

Lemanski had lived under supervision at a rectory close to a school for 11 years after admitting he abused a minor (possibly in 1990). In 3/02, Fr. Robert Carney, a former Provincial, wrote a letter apologizing to the victim and said that Lemanski had received therapy and was not assigned to any priestly ministry except saying mass for nuns at a convent. In 9/04, SNAP asked the Order to move him.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Milwaukee Catholic Herald 09.23.04

Fr. Anthony Lorento

Order: SAC
Ordained: 1972
Status: Settled

Diocese: Archdiocese of Baltimore MD

In 1994 a woman reported to the Archdiocese that Lorento held her and tried to kiss her when she was 16, in about 1981. Lorento was pastor 1980-1982 of St. Leo the Great in Little Italy, Baltimore, MD. The Archdiocese told the Pallotines. No action. Per the Order, Lorento was assigned to a parish in Brooklyn, NY in 1989 and left the priesthood in 1998. Name included on the 9/2002 Archdiocese of Baltimore list of accused. In 7/2017 a man reported that Lorento of sexually abused him when he was an altar boy, age 12, in about 1980. He received a settlement from the Archdiocese in 2018. Included in the 4/5/2023 MD Attorney General's Report.

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Fr. Aiden Maguire

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Order: SAC
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Amarillo TX

Ordained in Ireland. Named publicly as accused by the Amarillo diocese on its list 1/31/19. Worked in the diocese 1/61-12/65 and 10/69-8/81. Returned to Ireland in 1981.

Sources:

Diocese of Amarillo List 01.31.19

Fr. Michael Salerno

Order: SAC
Ordained: 1993
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Brooklyn NY

Placed on leave in 11/2007 by the Baltimore archdiocese after accusation surfaced that he had abused a teenage boy in Brooklyn in the 1970s. At the time of the alleged abuse, Salerno was a lay member (brother) of the Pallotine order. Salerno neither admitted nor denied the accusation at the time. Order announced in 12/2008 that Salerno had since admitted that he molested a 13-year-old boy in the late 1970s. Privileges permanently removed. On the Baltimore archdiocese's list 9/5/2019. Died in 9/2021. Mentioned in the 4/5/2023 MD Attorney General's Report.