Word: geoghan
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...Father Spags" was already a hero in Lowell, but never more so than early last week when he took on Cardinal Law's plan for solving a child-abuse crisis that was gruesomely revealed during the recent trial and conviction of defrocked priest John Geoghan, who was accused of molesting scores of boys in the 1980s. The week in Lowell started on a high but ended on a heartbreak. By Friday, Father Spagnolia was forced to admit that he had lied about parts of his sexual past. And his supporters were forced to reckon with a new sense of abandonment...
...interview, Father Spagnolia, 64, a small man, was tired both by the media swirl and a fast he was maintaining to protest Cardinal Law's handling of the Geoghan case. (The Cardinal, he says, has still not begged the flock's forgiveness for protecting Geoghan.) He answered my questions quietly but surprised me often with his scatological language, which I surmised he used to show indignation. He said that while the Cardinal's new zero-tolerance policy may seem a good thing, the swiftness and size of the roundup were tantamount to a witch hunt. Father Spagnolia was not convinced...
...Archdiocese of Boston are currently embroiled in a controversy over allegations that, over a period of decades, they did not take action after learning that parish priests were sexually abusing children. Former priest John Geoghan, who was sentenced Feb. 21 to nine to 10 years in prison for one count of child molestation, is accused of abusing at least 130 more children during his 30 years in the archdiocese...
...this comes in the wake of John J. Geoghan, a now-defrocked priest who has been convicted of child molestation and sexual abuse and issued a sentence of nine to ten years’ imprisonment, and had been protected by Law for many years. During the course of about three decades he was moved to different, unsuspecting parishes across Greater Boston. He was transferred each time complaints began to mount from each community he “served.” In contrast, Spagnolia has vehemently professed his innocence and is publicly supported and lauded for his courage by hundreds...
Cardinal Law’s recent backpedaling seems to be an overreaction to redeem his reputation in the public eye for the disastrous handling of Geoghan. By removing Spagnolia, Law seems to be acting solely on hearsay without having launched a full investigation. Making snap judgments on such a damning accusation goes against the very foundation of American law that one is innocent until proven guilty...