Replies

Having read Bishop Reilly's comments, two presumptions come to mind about his diocese:

1. The recent homosexual scandal has hit his diocese harder than most.

2. His diocese has an especially severe vocations crisis, aggravated by large numbers of heterodox priests, religious, and chancery officials.

Anyone with particular knowledge about the Diocese of Worcester is invited to confirm or rebut these presumptions.

More than 30 sex-abuse lawsuits have been filed in recent years alleging that he and other administrators took part in covering for accused priests during his tenures at three New England dioceses. Bishop Reilly, who also worked in Providence, R.I., and Norwich, Conn., has denied involvement in decisions to transfer clerics. He kept the Rev. Peter Inzerillo of Worcester active despite allegations of sexual misconduct with a young priest candidate in the mid-1980s. The man said the misconduct happened when he was 19 during counseling sessions with Father Inzerillo. He said he had confided to Father Inzerillo that another priest had abused him when he was 13. Father Inzerillo denied the allegation, but after a lawsuit was filed in 1994 the bishop at the time placed him on leave. Years later, Bishop Reilly settled the case for $300,000 and reinstated the priest at a church. Bishop Reilly continued to express support for Father Inzerillo and let him work until March. When parishioners demanded the priest's removal, Bishop Reilly relented and put Father Inzerillo on leave again.

Anyone with particular knowledge about the Diocese of Worcester is invited to confirm or rebut these presumptions.

There have been a few priests removed from Parishes because of accusations of molestation; including the Pastor of the parish where our kids were in school for a couple of years. He apparently had been fooling around with teenage boys in the 80's. I don't know for sure, because I haven't heard anything more. There certainly haven't been large numbers of them.

I heard on the news a priest was accusing of having raped a teenaged girl many years ago, but am not sure of the details.

We haven't had huge numbers of vocations, but there have been 6 or so new seminarians each year since we've been here (15 years), so that's not too bad. Interestingly many of them have been Hispanic or Asian.

Many of the Parishes have the typical Northeast liberal Catholic attitude, with liberal pastors and DREs, especially ex-nuns. But even with those folks running the show, most Catholics tend to be moderate. Northeastern Catholics are a strange group. They don't trust people who are TOO overly religious. They makes them nervous. ;o)

Anyone with particular knowledge about the Diocese of Worcester is invited to confirm or rebut these presumptions.

The Jesuit President of Holy Cross College is openly "pro-choice." He has never been publicly reprimanded. Holy Cross also sponsored "The Vagina Monologues." Despite protests from Holy Cross alumni, Bishop Reilly was publicly silent.