Rod Dreher: Blowing the Whistle (Dreher outs Arlington, Tx. priest)

Troublemaking whistleblower or peacekeeping hypocrite – which would you rather be? I made my choice earlier this week when I helped reveal troubling information about Father Christopher Clay, an accused sexual abuser ministering in the Roman Catholic parish I was attending. Here's what happened.

A few weeks back, my friend Rachel Dillard told me she wanted to be received into the Catholic Church. I suggested that she ask Father Clay, a dynamic orthodox priest at the marvelous St. Mary the Virgin parish in Arlington, if he would instruct her in the faith.

Father Clay seemed like the kind of priest lots of Catholics wish for, but rarely find (which is why my family had been driving all the way from our Dallas home to Arlington for Mass). He was not officially on staff at St. Mary, but he told me he was helping out while on leave from the Diocese of Scranton, where he'd run afoul of liberal diocesan politics. When he agreed to catechize Rachel, I believed she was in good hands.

About a week ago, I asked her how her lessons were going. She raved about Father Clay and what a "treasure" he is. I agreed enthusiastically, and said, "Can you believe the liberals ran off such a good priest?"

"That's funny," she said. "He told me he came home to Dallas because the conservatives drove him away."

Rachel went home and ran Father Clay's name through an Internet search engine. She discovered he had been suspended by Scranton in 2002 after a sex-abuse allegation involving a male teen. Rachel e-mailed this information to me that night, saying, "Please don't let this be true."

I spent the next several days trying to find whatever information I could about Father Clay's situation. It was true: Father Clay had been banned from active ministry.

What to do with this information? I wasn't worried about Father Clay. I was worried about Father Allan Hawkins, the parish's very fine pastor, and the good people of the congregation.

I thought: Can't this be handled quietly, so Father Hawkins and the parish aren't embarrassed?

And then I thought: If I go that route, I am no better than the bishops and others I have criticized. They kept it in-house for the sake of the church and led us all off the cliff. Public exposure is the only sure way to handle Father Clay.

But he might be innocent! Yes, he might be. But Father Clay is on suspension. He surely knew that before he presented himself to Father Hawkins and offered to help. Why was it so important for him to get back into parish work?

Because of my inquiry, the Scranton diocese had already issued a press release about Father Clay. Why not let the Pennsylvania media break the story?

If I do that, I thought, what do I tell my editors when they want to know why I didn't tell reporters at my own newspaper? The answer would have been: Because I was protecting a parish and a pastor I didn't want to see hurt. That is, because I am a hypocrite.

I couldn't be a hypocrite. The protection of children must come first. I wrote down everything I'd learned and sent it to the religion desk. Susan Hogan/Albach worked the story and wrote the article in yesterday's paper.

Rachel and I feel absolutely horrible about all this. But I have no doubt that we did the right thing. Father Clay had to be stopped. Parishioners looked up to Father Clay, liked him, admired him, trusted him. How ironic that his downfall came out of a conversation in which Rachel and I gushed about what a wonderful priest he is.

Rachel, God bless her, still wants to become a Catholic. I am searching for a new parish for my family, though my wife and I are left wondering if we'll ever be able to trust the church with the safety of our two young boys.

I am left with two lessons: First, the church's child-protection rules are only as reliable as those people whose job it is to enforce them. Catholic parents cannot have faith in bureaucratic procedures.

Second, I have more empathy with those I have denounced. I have never been able to understand why bishops and parents of abused kids would try to handle things quietly. Well, I get it now. The only reason I anguished over any of this was not for the sake of Father Clay, but for trouble publicly exposing his deception would cause innocent people.

In the end, though, kids have to be shielded, and the church has to be liberated from this curse of secrets, lies and clerical privilege. I did what I had to do, and am not sorry for it.

Another article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Fort Worth diocese bars priest accused of sexual misconduct

By Darren Barbee
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

ARLINGTON - A Pennsylvania priest suspended because of sexual misconduct allegations has been barred from practicing in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese.

The Rev. Christopher Clay, who maintains his innocence, has celebrated Mass at St. Mary the Virgin Roman Catholic Church in Arlington for more than a year without the diocese's knowledge, said the Rev. Robert Wilson, the diocese's chancellor.

"He cannot perform any kind of priestly duties," Wilson said.

Clay, who lives in Oak Cliff, has been on a leave of absence from active ministry in the Diocese of Scranton since February 2003, according to a statement from the Pennsylvania diocese.

The Rev. Allan Hawkins of St. Mary said that he was aware of allegations against his friend Clay but invited him to celebrate Mass at the Arlington church because he believed Clay was on sick leave. In an e-mail, Hawkins said Clay had been appointed to a Lake Ariel, Pa., parish in 2003 before asking for a leave of absence.

Hawkins said that he contacted the Scranton diocese around March 2003 to make sure Clay could assist at St. Mary.

The now-retired Scranton bishop "assured me that this was entirely acceptable," Hawkins wrote. In a statement issued last week, the Diocese of Scranton said no diocese had requested information about Clay.

Allegations against Clay first came to light during a 2002 law-enforcement investigation, a Scranton diocese spokeswoman said. The diocese is still investigating the incident, Wilson said Wednesday.

Clay, who did not return a message left at his home, has not been charged with a crime. Hawkins said Clay "strenuously denies all and any such allegations."

Clay was accused in a subsequent civil court document of giving a young man alcohol and undressing him, said James Bendell, a Washington state attorney who represents Clay's accuser in a lawsuit against two other priests. Clay is not being sued, Bendell said.

Mike Gleason, a St. Mary parishioner until he moved to California a few weeks ago, said he was not aware of the allegations against Clay.

Gleason said he will continue to support St. Mary even though he has moved out of state.

"I don't want to take this lightly, especially as the father of young children," Gleason said. "But it's frustrating when you hear this about someone you know who is doing a lot of good."

"I am left with two lessons: First, the church's child-protection rules are only as reliable as those people whose job it is to enforce them. Catholic parents cannot have faith in bureaucratic procedures."

Ironically, the lead story in yesterdays Boston Globe was Vatican pace on abuse worries (Bishop) O'Malley. Here

One of his complaints was the long delay in resolving open cases caused by the Vatican Bureaucracy. There are, from the Archdiocese of Boston, about two dozen cases which have been in limbo for two years or more. Can you imagine how many worldwide cases are piled up in the "pending" maw?

Rev. Christopher Clay may or may not be innocent but he, the parishioners, and the alleged victims are all caught up in the bureaucratic mess. And that is sad.

(Aside to Dave) He is not automatically "guilty as charged" nor is he automatically "innocent as claimed". The Church machinery is at work and you are forced to live with it. Or change it!

A bloody mess in Dallas/Ft. Worth

Yesterday, the DMN ran this story.

Today Fr. Allan Hawkins drafts this for the parish:

From Fr Hawkins to the people of St Mary the Virgin

No doubt you will have seen the story which appeared today in the Dallas Morning News, and perhaps elsewhere in the media. I plan to speak about this hurtful and distressing matter at all three Masses next Sunday -- but, meanwhile, I would like you to have immediately the following brief outline of the facts.

I have known Fr Christopher Clay for almost ten years, having first met him through a mutual friend -- a priest now deceased -- several years before his ordination to the priesthood. Fr Clay was ordained for the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, of which diocese he remains a priest.

In May 2002 certain allegations were made concerning several priests, of whom Fr Clay was one, about an incident which was alleged to have taken place some four years earlier. Fr Clay strenuously denies all and any such allegations. The Diocese "removed Fr Clay from active ministry" while the matter was investigated. The outcome of this investigation was that no charges of any kind were brought against Fr Clay (though I understand that there are still ongoing processes with regard to the other priests concerned). Furthermore, according to a message dated June 28 to me from Rod Dreher (a journalist for the Dallas Morning News whom many of you will know as a worshiper in our Parish, who appears to have instigated the present interest in the matter) "the Pennsylvania State Police … has no record of an investigation into Father Clay". (It seems that Rod Dreher has had an ongoing journalistic interest in these events in Scranton, having written about them in February 2002 in the National Review Online.)

One might imagine that that would have been the end of the matter. And, indeed, so it appeared to have been. Bishop Timlin (the now-retired Bishop of Scranton) ended Fr Clay's "removal from active ministry" by appointing him parochial vicar at St Thomas More parish in Lake Ariel, PA - and I have Bishop Timlin's letter to this effect, dated February 4, 2003, before me as I write. This could not have happened if Fr Clay had been suspended or had had his faculties removed.

In the event, very soon after Fr Clay reported for his new assignment he became unwell, no doubt as a result of the stress of all these events; and he sought a leave of absence from the Diocese on health grounds. This was granted, and Fr Clay moved to his home town of Dallas; and I have a copy of the positive and supportive letter which Bishop Timlin sent to him, confirming these arrangements, dated March 10, 2003.

At about that time I personally contacted Bishop Timlin to make sure that there was no objection to my inviting Fr Clay to assist us at St Mary the Virgin. The Bishop assured me that this was entirely acceptable - and he expressed satisfaction that Fr Clay had supportive friends in the area. I also spoke with Fr Peter Stravinskas who was Fr Clay's superior at the Oratory in which Fr Clay lived at the time of the alleged incident; he gave no indication of any concern.

On April 22 of this year the new Bishop of Scranton, Bishop Joseph F. Martino, wrote to Fr Clay as a priest of his Diocese but now living in Dallas, to ask him his "intentions regarding your future ministry". Again, such an inquiry would be meaningless and absurd if Fr Clay was under suspension and without faculties as a priest.

In the light of all the above, it is difficult indeed to see what ends of truth, justice and charity have been served by today's Dallas Morning News and its journalists.

Please pray for Fr Christopher Clay at this time. He is a devout and fine priest. He is, and will continue to be, a close friend of mine and my family. He is, by adoption and grace, a member of our Parish community; and we will support him. And may Blessed Mary pray for her parish, and for the priests who are her sons.

Fr Allan

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