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  Bishop on L.I. Is Challenged after Decision in Boston

By Bruce Lambert
The New York Times [Boston MA]
November 22, 2005

Federal prosecutors have ended a criminal investigation into whether the Catholic Church covered up complaints against a priest in Boston, a case that focused on the central role played by a prelate who is now the bishop of Long Island.

Prosecutors in Boston announced on Friday that they would not indict anyone. But in return for the government's dropping the case, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston agreed to adopt new safeguards to prevent sex abuse.

Critics accused the prosecutors of letting the church and the bishop off easy. National groups like Bishop Accountability and Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests called the safeguards insufficient and said the case should have gone to trial.

The prosecutors were considering charging the archdiocese with giving the government false information in the background-check form that the bishop, William F. Murphy, sent in 1999 recommending a priest's appointment as a military chaplain.

Bishop Murphy, who was vicar general in Boston at the time, marked "no" to the form's question "Do you have any adverse information?" about the priest. The bishop also sent a letter, described as a "testimonial" for the applicant, calling him "a priest in good standing."

But a file in the church's secret personnel archive listed several concerns about the priest, court records show. Notations said the priest "fools around with kids," a district attorney "had received complaints about him," the priest had "possible over-involvement with boys," he displayed "infatuation" with a young man, and he was tested at an institute for troubled priests. After he was hired as a chaplain, a teenage girl accused him of previously raping her, starting on her 12th birthday, which he denied. The priest has not been charged. The Boston archdiocese said he was no longer on active assignment.

The United States attorney in Boston, Michael J. Sullivan, called the agreement with the archdiocese "the first of its kind in the nation." The archdiocese, devastated by numerous other abuse cases, denied wrongdoing in this case but said it wanted to avoid a trial.

So the archdiocese agreed to several new steps to prevent abuse. It will turn over its background information to prosecutors on priests now serving or applying to serve as federal chaplains for the active military, war veterans and prisoners and will also notify the government of any new complaints involving the priests. The church will also train its staff on federal laws involving child abuse and exploitation and report suspected violations. In addition, the church agreed to various reviews and monitoring of its programs to prevent abuse.

Bishop Murphy, who in 2001 became head of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, covering Nassau and Suffolk Counties, declined to comment, saying that he was not a party to the negotiations or the agreement. A lawyer for the Boston archdiocese, Michael K. Fee, said the church did not believe it violated the law. Noting that there were no proved incidents in the priest's file, he said, "We have no reason to doubt the good faith certification."

But on Long Island, Dan Bartley, co-chairman of the local chapter of Voice of the Faithful, said: "It affirms what we've been saying all along, further proof that our call for his resignation was justified. You can't have somebody in that position who was the target of a federal investigation."

 
 

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