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Runaway Priests
Hiding in Plain Sight
The Rev. Joseph "Joe" Henn
Rome Case Study #6
Dallas Morning News
September 12, 2004
[See also the main article in this feature, In
the Shadow of the Vatican: Accused Clerics Serving in Rome, Heart of the
Catholic Church, by Reese Dunklin, and the other case studies on Revs.
James
Tully, Edgar
Hidalgo, Barry
Bossa, Julian
Fox, and John
Baptist Ormechea. The main article and case studies were also released
as a series of four PDFs 1
2 3
4. See earlier
articles in the Runaway Priests series.]
In mid-2003, while living in Rome, he was indicted on 13 molestation charges
involving assaults on three Phoenix boys decades earlier. Prosecutors
sought extradition after he refused to return voluntarily.
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Currently
He lives in the Salvatorian religious order's worldwide headquarters.
History
In the early 1980s, allegations circulated among parents in Phoenix that
Father Henn was acting inappropriately with their children, according
to documents and interviews. One mother reported the priest to church
officials after her son confided that Father Henn had molested him. Within
weeks, the priest was gone, according to a statement the son gave criminal
investigators last year. A spokeswoman for the Phoenix diocese did not
return messages but has previously said there was no record of a complaint.
The son, Richard Rivezzo, has filed a lawsuit against the diocese. In
the 1990s, the diocese paid a confidential settlement to another former
parishioner who had accused Father Henn of abusing him when he was younger,
according to documents from the Maricopa County Attorney's office in Phoenix.
That man declined to talk to The News. Maricopa County officials said
authorities were not told about Father Henn before the recent criminal
investigation.
The Priest Says
He said his lawyers were working to "make sure that everything was
sort of finished" and would not comment further.
The Salvatorians Say
Officials refused interview requests. In a written statement, the order's
U.S. and Rome leaders insisted they had told Father Henn to return to
Phoenix and answer the charges. He refused to do so, and they let him
stay.
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