CHRISTIAN PRIEST SEXUALLY MOLESTED RHODE ISLAND CHILDREN *** Jai Maharaj posts
and/or www.mantra.com/jai
By Richard C. Dujardin
Journal Staff Writer
The Providence Journal
Monday, December 28, 2009
An Irish priest whose sexual assaults on children figured prominently
in the collapse last fall of Ireland's coalition government may have
sexually abused children in Rhode Island when he was assigned here
three decades ago.
The Rev. Brendan Smyth, 67, is serving a four-year sentence in a
Belfast prison after admitting last year that he molested five girls
and three boys in Belfast over a 24-year period.
In an extraordinary letter sent to a television station in Ulster,
the Norbertine abbot who had been Father Smyth's religious superior
for 25 years acknowledged that he and others had known for decades
that Father Smyth had a "problem" with children, and thought they
could deal with it by having him reassigned every two or three years
to prevent him from forming "attachments to families and children."
Two of those assignments involved duty in the United States: three
years as a parish priest at Our Lady of Mercy parish in East
Greenwich in the 1960s, and an assignment years later in North
Dakota. In both places, according to the superior, Father Smyth
molested children.
"On neither occasion was the bishop of the diocese to which he was
sent notified of (Father Smyth's) propensity to molest children," the
Rt. Rev. Kevin Smith conceded in the letter he wrote a short time
before resigning as abbot of Holy Trinity Abbey in Kilnacrott, County
Cavan, Ireland.
"On both occasions Father Smyth offended against young parishioners,"
the abbott said. "I acknowledge that I, as his religious superior,
committed a grave error in sending Father Smyth abroad without
warning the bishop to whom I sent him."
Priests and others who knew Father Smyth during his Rhode Island
assignment say they were stunned by the disclosures of his
pedophilia. They recall him only as a personable man with an
intriguing brogue who was friendly with several parish families.
Old Journal-Bulletin stories show that Father Smyth was assigned to
Our Lady of Mercy parish as an assistant pastor from 1965 to 1968.
Other sources say he continued to revisit Rhode Island every two or
three years until 1992 or 1993.
A shortage of priests
Newspaper stories from the 1960s described Father Smyth's assignment
in Rhode Island as a "favor" from the abbey to the bishop of
Providence then, the Most Rev. Russell J. McVinney, whose forefathers
came from a town near the abbey.
It was while visiting his ancestral town, the Journal-Bulletin
reported, that Bishop McVinney asked the abbot if he had any priests
to lend him to help ease a shortage. Father Smyth is quoted in the
story as saying, "I was fortunate to be available at the time."
Another article, published at the time of Father Smyth's departure
from the state in February 1968, declared: "He will take with him
memories both fond and perplexing and leave behind the memory of a
man whose love of children and lilting 'r's' and 'e's' brightened the
town and the lives of many in it."
The story reported that Father Smyth helped rejuvenate Rhode Island's
CYO and gave "hour after hour of unofficial attention to the Girl
Scouts."
The letter from Abbot Smith to Ulster television reporter Chris Moore
states that in 1968 - the year Father Smyth left Rhode Island - the
religious order sought treatment for him at Purdysburn Hospital in
Belfast, where "aversion techniques" were used.
"At that time, psychiatrists believed that this was the appropriate
treatment for his disorder," the abbot wrote. "In time, it became
apparent that it was not effective in this case. In 1973, Fr. Smyth
was again sent for treatment, this time at St. Patrick's psychiatric
Hospital in Dublin. In 1974, Fr. Smyth was institutionalized for a
time at Stroud in Gloucestershire (England)."
Fifteen years later, in 1989, the Norbertines referred him for
treatment to a psychologist in Dublin who continued to meet with him
until late in 1993.
Wrote the abbot: "Father Smyth's behavior has perplexed and troubled
our community over many years. We always hoped that a combination of
treatment, Fr. Smyth's intelligence and the grace of God would enable
Fr. Smyth to overcome his disorder. We did not adequately understand
the compulsive nature of his disorder or the serious and enduring
damage which his behavior could cause."
The problem first drew public notice in 1993, when a young Belfast
woman complained to police that she had been sexually abused by
Father Smyth for nine years, starting just before her First
Communion. When the allegation surfaced, Father Smyth was working in
the Republic of Ireland as a chaplain for Tralee Hospital, where he
had access for three years to a 33-bed children's ward.
After the complaint to police, the Royal Ulster Constabulary sent a
warrant for Father Smyth's extradition to Northern Ireland to the
office of the Irish attorney general, Harry Whelehan.
Beginning a four-year sentence
The attorney general did not act on the warrants for seven months.
But, by then, Father Smyth had returned to Northern Ireland on his
own, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of sexually abusing eight young
people, and begun serving a four-year sentence.
The scandal escalated last fall when Prime Minister Albert Reynolds
appointed Attorney General Whelehan president of the High Court in
the Republic of Ireland. Whelehan was not popular with Labor Party
leaders in the coalition government, but many believe the straw that
broke the camel's back was a program, Counterpoint, that aired last
October on Ulster television. In it, reporter Moore broke the news
about the attorney general's inaction on the extradition request.
The show also explored in greater detail Father Smyth's long history
of child abuse. It included an interview with members of a North
Dakota family who received $20,000 from the priest between 1992 and
1993 for his having molested one of their children while he was
assigned there in the 1980s.
The program fueled demands that Reynolds withdraw his appointment of
Whelehan to head the High Court. But the prime minister rejected that
call, saying the blame for the delay of Father Smyth's extradition
fell not on Whelehan but on legal problems involving the Extradition
Act itself.
When Whelehan's successor as attorney general announced that
Reynolds's explanation was not entirely accurate, however, furious
Labor Party leaders retaliated by walking out of the coalition
government. The result was a collapse of the government and the
resignation of Reynolds both as prime minister and as leader of the
Fianna Fail party.
Many consider the Smyth case to be the worst of several sex scandals
that have shaken the Irish populace in the last two years, and that
has seriously weakened the Catholic Church's influence in Ireland's
political arena.
In Rhode Island, amazement
Those in Rhode Island who have had some acquaintance with Father
Smyth say they are amazed at all that has transpired in Ireland
during the last year.
"It's all kind of startling," said the Rev. Raymond C. Theroux, who
worked alongside Father Smyth as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of
Mercy parish in the late 1960s and who is now pastor of St. John
Vianney Church in Cumberland.
"When I read those stories out of Ireland, I couldn't believe that
this is the same guy I lived with in the rectory," Father Theroux
said. "He always seemed to be very personable and friendly. If there
was any abuse going on at that time, I had no inkling."
Father Theroux says he remembers Father Smyth because they began
their assignments at Our Lady of Mercy on the same day. One of their
duties, he recalled, was going to Our Lady of Mercy School to visit
classes. "The school had double grades, so we went there often. I got
a kick out of his accent, and found some of his expressions were very
humorous. Overall, we got along fine."
The priest said he understands from people in the parish that Father
Smyth returned periodically to Rhode Island to visit with families he
knew.
Sister of Mercy Wilma Miley, who was principal of Our Lady of Mercy
School, said she has only vague recollections of a priest with an
Irish accent who came occasionally to say Mass. She said she doesn't
remember him coming to the school to speak to classes.
"If someone had told me then that he was abusing children, that's one
thing I would not forget," said Sister Wilma, now a volunteer at the
(SEE MEMO ABOVE) Amos House soup kitchen in Providence. "But as it
is, I don't remember much about him. I didn't have much contact with
him."
The nun said that until a reporter's phone call she hadn't been aware
of any of the controversy abroad surrounding the priest. In light of
other stories of clergy pedophilia recently, she said, such
allegations don't surprise her. "But I'm not so sure I can believe it
all either."
The Rev. Richard D. Sheahan, pastor of Holy Apostles parish in
Cranston, was pastor of Our Lady of Mercy for six years during the
1980s. About three times during those years, he says, Father Smyth
dropped by for what appeared to be courtesy calls.
"I really don't remember much about him or recall why he was here.
Except for asking him, 'Well, how are things in Ireland?' there
wasn't much we talked about. He didn't ask to stay in the rectory. I
think he was coming to visit people somewhere, but I don't know where
or who. I do remember coming into the church one day and seeing him
in a pew, saying his prayers."
'Everyone liked him"
Kathy Guilfoyle of Narragansett was a parishioner of Our Lady of
Mercy parish when she was in her teens; she says she knew Father
Smyth when he came to East Greenwich in 1965. When she heard about
the recent events in Ireland, Guilfoyle said, she felt "sick."
"He was very Irish and charming, and everyone liked him," Guilfoyle
said in an interview last week. "I was only a kid then (about 19) but
I could see he had winning ways."
Guilfoyle's family has had experience with pedophilic priests. In
1986, her son filed a $14 million suit against Bishop Louis E.
Gelineau and other diocesan officials for failing to take action
sooner against William C. O'Connell, the former Bristol priest who
was eventually convicted of sexually abusing her son and other boys;
in 1990, the suit against the diocese was settled for $1 million.
Mrs. Guilfoyle said that back in the 1960s pedophilia was not
something people talked about, and virtually no one talked about it
with reference to priests. "I didn't even know such things happened
before what happened to my son. I guess back then we were all very
sheltered. I kick myself for being so naive, but it was the way
things were back then."
Records are sketchy
William G. Halpin, a spokesman for Bishop Gelineau, said diocesan
records on Father Smyth are very sketchy. They indicate, he says,
that the priest came here with a "strong recommendation of his
religious superior" and apparently because it was believed the
climate would "help with his asthma condition."
Halpin said the diocese has no record of the priest having a problem
with sexual abuse while he was in Rhode Island.
The original letter from Holy Trinity Abbey's former abbot gave no
details as to what kind of "offenses against young parishioners" may
have occurred in Rhode Island. Requests to the abbey's current
administrator, the Rev. Gerard Cusack, for elaboration have been
turned down; he wrote that "since Court proceedings have been issued
against the Order by a number of parties . . . it is not appropriate
for me to enter further correspondence with the media about the
matter."
Father Cusack, in the same letter, said the Norbertine community has
apologized to all those who have "suffered as a result of the crimes
of Fr. Brendan Smyth."
"It is," he said, "a matter of deep and continuing concern to us that
so much suffering has been caused in consequence."
More at:
http://www.projo.com/news/content/smyth.23239bfc.html
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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