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US archdiocese slammed as abuse cover-up comes to light

Priest continued to administer sacraments despite proven abuse of a teen
US archdiocese slammed as abuse cover-up comes to light
Published: May 16, 2014 08:44 AM GMT
Updated: May 15, 2014 10:03 PM GMT

The Seattle archdiocese has been harshly criticized for not publicly releasing the name of a priest removed from ministry a decade ago for the sexual exploitation of a teen. The priest then socialized with parishioners and performed occasional baptisms, weddings and funerals despite his removal until his past recently came to the attention of some parishioners.

The former chair and vice chair of the board that reviewed sexual abuse allegations in 2004 has leveled unvarnished reproof. That case review board urged the archdiocese to make public Fr. Harry Quigg's identity and offenses.

"The investigation's documents, dating to 2004 and which the archdiocese has refused to make public, would reveal that a 17-year-old boy involved with ... Quigg was passed among the priest and friends, according to multiple sources," wrote Joel Connelly in a blog post Monday for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, an online newspaper.

A May 2 statement from the archdiocese said that now-retired Archbishop Alexander Brunett had gone against the review board's recommendation to release Quigg's name "because of the determination that the sexual contact did not involve a minor" and "Quigg's request to respect his privacy."

The "age of majority in 1980 under both canon law and civil law was 16," it stated, noting that the relationship with Quinn went on for 15 years beginning in 1980, when the victim was 17.

 

Based "on what the archdiocese has learned recently," the statement promised a "thorough review" of the archdiocese's "relapse prevention program" and monitoring protocols.

It also said "the steps taken ... were not sufficient to alert us of Quigg's violations of the restrictions on the celebrations of the sacraments" and confirmed that pastors, staff members and parishioners where Quigg served had not been informed of his status or of the nature of the allegations.

Quigg's background became public in late April, when the Seattle branch of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests posted his name on its website. Quigg's name had been redacted from the review board's publicly available 2004 report.

Quigg came to SNAP's attention when it was given "an inadequately redacted copy" of the 2004 review board report, according to David Clohessy of the Seattle SNAP office.

"Quigg is believed to be living in the Seattle area," the SNAP website says.

The May 2 archdiocesan release spurred two former review board leaders, retired state Superior Court Judge Terrence Carroll and former U.S. attorney Michael McKay, to write Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, who succeeded Brunett in 2010.

In the May 6 letter, Carroll and McKay:

  • Disputed that the archdiocese only recently became aware of Quigg's post-removal activities, pointing out that a Dec. 20, 2004, letter from the review board to Brunett reported that "a review board member was in the congregation of a liturgy that included the active participation of a priest [Quigg] whom you earlier indicated had been barred from ministry."
  • Decried the fact Quigg's name was not made public despite their 2004 exhortation to do so; and
  • Described as a gross understatement the description of Quigg's sexual offenses.

"It is our understanding that Archbishop Brunett initially agreed with our recommendation about publishing Quigg's name and preventing him from exercising priestly functions," Carroll wrote in a May 9 email to NCR. "We have come to learn recently that Brunett met with him and decided to not publish [his name] and, further, the chancery was grossly negligent in failing to monitor the restrictions on his ministry."

Full Story: Despite ban, abuser priest remained in ministry for 10 years 

Source:National Catholic Reporter

 

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