|
| |
PRESS RELEASE
DeLuca & DeLuca, Law Offices, Inc.
631 Jefferson Blvd
Warwick, RI 02886
401 732-4420
For more information contact:
Carl P. DeLuca, Esq.
DeLuca & DeLuca, Law Offices, Inc.,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Warwick, RI March 22, 2002
Carl P. DeLuca, Esq., an attorney representing 30 plaintiffs who have filed claims in RI Superior Court alleging that they were sexually
abused by priests from the Providence Diocese responds to the assertions
of the Bishop of Providence that neither he nor previous Bishops had
knowledge about priest molesting children:
"It is difficult to believe that Bishop Mulvee did not know about
the prior accusations about Azzarone, and that he is not aware of
evidence that his successors knew that priests were abusing children.
However, if this is true, Bishop Mulvee has been betrayed.
"For there to be two accusations against Azzarone, the second one
coming during Bishop Mulvee's term, and neither one having been reported
to Bishop Mulvee, is an unconscionable betrayal to a Bishop who came in
on the heals of precisely this type of scandal. Even if he ultimately
chose to ignore the fact that one of Azzarone's accusers was reaching
out from his death bed to inform Bishop Gelineau of the danger, it was
his right to make this choice on his own since he now may bear
responsibility for the consequences.
"For Bishop Mulvee to be unaware of the letter sent by Fr. Jude
McGeough on November 2, 1978, to the then Bishop of Providence in which
he reported on the "Scandal of little boys" involving O'Connell seems
impossible nine years after this litigation began. There were multiple
complaints, many of which were in writing, about O'Connell. How
then, could this not be known to his predecessors?
"Presumably, he does not know about the affidavit of Thomas
Moriarity where he speaks of his rebuked efforts to speak with Bishop
McVinney in the 1960's about Dunn's conduct, and his conversations with
Bishop Reilly of Hartford, (then Mgsr. Reilly of Rhode Island,) where he
informed Bishop Reilly that Dunn had molested his daughter. Bishop
Reilly responded that this was a standing problem with Dunn. How then,
could this not have been know to his predecessors?
"If it is true that Bishop Mulvee is not aware of these facts, then
he has been betrayed, and he can no longer rely on the personnel who
were charged with responsibility for investigating these matters prior
to his tenure here.
"It is incumbent upon Bishop Mulvee to investigate this matter
personally and take responsibility where none of his predecessors have.
We ask Bishop Mulvee to do as has been done in Boston, and now
Connecticut; settle these cases in a fair and reasonable manner and take
real steps to make sure that these things never happen again. The fact
that he is not responsible for what has happened for any of the past
child abuse, other than perhaps the Azzarone victims, is no excuse as
he now represents the Diocese of Providence which has certainly been
culpable in these acts.
"I refer Bishop Mulvee to http://www.tjcesq.com/html/theyknew.html
if he wishes to review the documents referred to above."
|
