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  Reception Set for Former Bangor Priest

Bangor Daily News [Bangor ME]
January 3, 2005

BANGOR - A reception for the priest who shepherded St. Mary's Catholic Church through the 1978 fire that destroyed its Cedar Street home will be held Sunday, Jan. 9, in South Portland. At the request of Bishop Richard Malone, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, the Rev. Paul Coughlin, 69, resigned in October. Coughlin's resignation followed a church investigation into his association with a man now serving a prison term for sexual abuse of a minor. Coughlin was appointed pastor of Holy Cross and St. the Evangelist churches in South Portland in 1996.

In a letter to parishioners dated Oct. 20, Coughlin thanked them for their support. He wrote that he had received nearly 600 cards, notes and telephone messages of support since he was placed on administrative leave in August.

"You, who know me, are aware of how much I love being a priest," he wrote. "I loved what I did, and I pray that this love was evident in my work with you. ... I thank you for allowing me to minister with you, as together we toiled to further God's Kingdom in the little acre that was given us to till."

The reception will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the VFW Hall in South Portland. Organizers said that parishioners from churches Coughlin served over the years are welcome to attend the event.

Coughlin is remembered by Bangor Catholics as the man who helped St. Mary's rebuild and relocate after the Feb. 3, 1978, blaze that destroyed the 105-year-old landmark on Cedar Street.

The priest had been assigned to the parish less than a month, when a 14-year-old boy set fire to the stone church in subzero temperatures.

For two years, Coughlin celebrated Mass at the chapel at the former Dow Air Force Base while a new church was built on Ohio Street. The modern St. Mary's was dedicated in December 1980.

Coughlin, who left Bangor in 1987, was temporarily removed from his South Portland pastorate in early August when church officials began an investigation into whether he put children at risk by allowing John Skinner Sr., 62, of Bar Harbor to live with him at the St. John's rectory between 1999 and 2001.

Informing parishioners of Coughlin's resignation, Malone added, the priest had also been the subject of an internal review in response to a complaint, alleging sexual misconduct with a minor in 1985, made two years ago.

The bishop described the misconduct as "inappropriate physical contact," and did not give any other details. Malone said that Coughlin's actions were "ethical violations" but not criminal offenses.

Skinner was sentenced on Aug. 27 in Penobscot County Superior Court to 18 years in prison, with all but five years suspended, after pleading guilty to sexually abusing two boys he met through church in separate incidents in 1989 and between 1990 and 1994.

Both victims participated in youth programs at St. Mary of Lourdes Catholic Church in Lincoln, where Skinner volunteered as an adult supervisor in the late 1980s.

A native of Stoneham, Mass., Coughlin was ordained in 1966. His first assignment in Maine was at St. Athanasius and St. John churches in Rumford. He also served at parishes in Waterville, Oakland and Augusta.

 
 

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