Thank you Colleen

Posted last evening and in today’s papers:

19 May 2016:  Abuse victim speaks for first time, demands to know why priest not defrocked

Well done Colleen.  Good for you telling us what’s been going on.

Can you believe it?  Collen was told in 1997 that McGrory had been removed from the priesthood!

Of course, as we well know that just did not happen.  To the contrary.  Father Barry McGrory has been proudly proclaiming himself a priest for years, and blithely functioning in that capacity.

Do you get the impression as I do that there there has been no attempt on the part of Ottawa archdiocesan bishops and officials to have McGrory defrocked?  and that now that they’ve been caught flat footed they may reconsider?  Not will, but may?

Note:

“Given the comments attributed to him[McGrory] in recent days,” he[the spokesman] said, “that matter will be under review for possible recommendation to the Vatican.”

Indeed.  The decision as to whether or not to do the right thing and push to get a known – and convicted – child molester out of the priesthood will be under review?

As one wise and insightful friend told me after reading the article:  “so now they’re considering removing him, not because of what he did, but because of what he said!”

So sadly true.

No matter, it’s long past time to get on with the business of getting another wolf in sheep’s clothing out of the priesthood.

Thank you Colleen.  Thank you for speaking up.  A brave step.  Thank you for shedding light on the betrayals.   Thank you!

Question

A question:  Does anyone know if Father Barry McGrory was shipped out of Ottawa in 1986 because a victim or a parent or someone threatened  to go public if wasn’t removed?  My memory is that his departure was both sudden and quite a surprise to local clergy, and my memory is that there were whispers that he would not be coming back.  At the time I didn’t question his departure, but recall sensing that something untoward was happening.  Perhaps I mistook the ‘mood’?

I was what you might call a baby Catholic in those days, and rest assured the farthest thing from my mind in 1986 was priests sexually abusing children.  Still, some things have a strange  way of niggling away at the mind, and for me, news of Father McGrory’s departure and the manner in which I heard of it is one of them.   I  have often looked back at comments made in my presence by both Father Stephen Hill and Steve Gerraghty at Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  It was just, well, strange.  Really strange.  Strange enough that it has stuck in mind all of these years.  Did Father McGrory leave in 1986 to keep the lid on the reality that he was a cunning sexual predator?  Was he in fact forced to leave, or perhaps wind up in jail?  Does anyone know?

*****

I realized yesterday that the information on Father Dale Crampton page was far from complete.  It was one of the first pages added to t he Accused list – at that time I believe I decided that I would just put enough information to give a brief overview with the intent of coming back to fill it in once the entire data base was up.  I didn’t even get the timelines posted!

I got to work on fixing that.  There are still more to add, but it’s certainly more up to date than in it was.

In light of the shenanigans with and tap dancing regarding Father McGrory it might be good at this time to revisit and reflect upon a recent comment posted by “Arlene” on the Father Dale Crampton obituary thread on 10 March 2016:

I am a former parishioner of St. Georges, London, Ontario. At Easter time in 80s, I entered the church and saw Dale Crampton serving mass. Previously from St. Maurices in Ottawa, I was aware of what he had done. I phoned the Bishops office and told them to get Crampton out of the church because I knew who he was and what they were pulling off or I would call the London Free Press. The Bishops Secretary arrived. I was then called by the Bishop Sherlock to come to his office to discuss this matter. We had a heated argument whereby I defended the raped children, called Crampton and people like him, wolves in sheeps clothing. It got worse and he basically dismissed me as having no forgiveness in my heart for a recovering alcoholic. That was the day I left the Catholic Church (he robbed me of my faith) but I let him know that the Bishop”s sneaky ways of lying to the parents of the children he raped were believing this guy was out of commission but he was in the back room of the church with the children and passing out communion with his filthy hands. Glad to hear the problem is solved and obviously by the culprit. I tried my best but the Bishop was great at overpowering my logic that this guy and perverts like him should not be in the priesthood but should be in jail, but they have a way of just lying and relocating. He did his best to load me with guilt and make me think I was over reacting and crazy. The whole thing is disgusting! But I tried!

It’s in the back of my head that somewhere I have further information about Father Crampton functioning as a priest in the Diocese of London.  I shall keep looking.

Enough for now,

Sylvia