Father Paul Pinard sse (Obituary photo)
Paul A. Pinard
Father Paul Pinard sse
Priest with the order of priests known as the Society of St. Edward (Edmundites). The letters sse behind his name indicate that he is an Edmundite.
Ordained 1959. Around 1968 came to Canada to serve in the Diocese of St. Jerome, Quebec. Returned to States after allegations of sex abuse of a boy. Was presumably being monitored while serving at the Edmundites retreat on Enders Island, Mystic Connecticut. Removed from Enders Island after it became known there were “substantial allegations of sexual misconduct with minors” during his 14 years in Canada.
Died 12 June 2017.
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Bishops of Diocese of Saint Jerome, Quebec durig Father Paul Pinard’s 14 years in the diocese: Émilien Frenette (5 Jul 1951 – 11 Jun 1971); Bernard Hubert (25 Jun 1971 – 27 Jan 1977 Appointed, Coadjutor Bishop of Saint-Jean-de-Québec, Québec) ; Charles-Omer Valois (10 June 1977 – – 22 Jan 1997 )
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June 2017: Father Paul Pinard sse Obituary
06 August 2013: BLOG No presumption of innocence here?
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The following information is drawn from Canadian Catholic Church Directories (CCCD) which I have on hand, media (M) and the obituary (obit)
20 June 2017: Funeral Mass, St. Michael the Archangel Chapel on the campus of St. Michael’s College in Colchester, VT (obit)
12 June 2917: Died, age 85 (obit)
2014: not listed in CCCD index
2013, 2012, 2010: Address in Englewood, Florida (CCCD)
1995-2005: Enders Island, Mystic, Connecticut (M)
2005: removed from Enders Island due to “substantial allegations of sexual misconduct with minors” during his 14 years in Canada (M)
1995-2004: procurator and treasurer of Saint Edmund’s Retreat in Mystic, CT. (obit)
2004: Retired to Edmundite residence in Engelwood, Florida (obit)
2002, 2000: P.O. Box 399, Mystic, Connecticut (CCCD)
1999, 1998, 1997, 1996: 8 Fairholt Rd., Burlington, Vermont (CCCD)
1995: Enders Island, Mystic, Connecticut (M) The Edmunites operated a retreat, St. Edmunds Retreat, on the island.
1994: 8 Fairholt Rd., Burlington, Vermont (CCCD)
1993: Fairmont South Prospect Ave., Burlington. Vermont (CCCD)
1991-1995: Procurator of the Edmundite Generalate in Burlington, VT (obit)
1992: Pastor, Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Rosemere, Quebec (CCCD) I believe this may be a case of information been sent for the 1992 directory before Father Pinard was pulled?
1991: after sex abuse allegation returned to Vermont and underwent some form of counselling (M)
1968-1991: Rosemere, Quebec (Diocese of St. Jerome)
1991: removed from parish duties after allegations of sex abuse of a minor (M)
1991: Pastor, Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Rosemere, Quebec (CCCD)
1989-1991: Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Rosemere, Quebec (obit)
1984-1988: Board of Trustees of Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, VT (obit)
1973-89: taught at Rosemere High School (M)
1969-1972: Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Rosemere, Quebec (obit)
? 1968: Pastor Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Rosemere, Quebec (M) (St. Jerome’s Diocese, Quebec, Canada). Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church was run by the Edmundites.
1972-1973: Fordham University, the Bronx, NY – attained M.A. in Religious Education (obit)
1967-1969: Administrator, St. Amadeus Roman Catholic Church, in Alburgh, VT (obit)
1964-1968: Director of St. Anne’s Shrine in Isle La Motte, VT (obit)
1964-67: taught at St. Michael’s College in Winooski, Vermont
1961-1964: St. Anastase Roman Catholic Church, Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada (obit)
1960-1961: assisting at St. Elizabeth’s Mission, Selma, Alabama (obit)
– assistant Director of the Don Bosco Boy’s Club (obit)
1959-1960: continued his education at Catholic University of America, Washington DC (Obit)
23 May 1959: offered first Mass at St. Monia’s Roman Catholic Church, Barre, Vermont (obit)
22 May 1959: ORDAINED by Bishop Robert F. Joyce, Bishop of Burlington (obit)
– undergrad degree attained at St. Michael’s College (obit)
15 July 1956: Subdeacon at Knights of Columbus Mass at St Anne’s Shrine on Isle La Motte, Vermont. In attendance were the Brothers of Sacred Heart Choir from Granby, Quebec (Rev. Paul Pinard sub deacon at shrine)
25 February 1932: Born in Montpelier, VT (obit)
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Diocese Meets Child-Protection Rules
The Audit Comes Just Weeks after Bishop Michael Cote Expelled a Priest Following Allegations of Sexual Misconduct 14 Years Ago
The Day (New London, Connecticut)
19 February 2005
By Kenton Robinson
Norwich – In the wake of the recent expulsion of a priest, the Norwich Diocese Friday announced it had received a clean bill of health for its efforts to keep children safe from sexual abuse.
The Office of Child and Youth Protection of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said an audit of the diocese showed it to be in full compliance with the bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” adopted in 2002.
The Gavin Group Inc., an independent investigative firm based in Boston that audited the diocese in October, found the diocese responds swiftly to allegations of sexual abuse and reaches out to victims, said the Rev. Ted F. Tumicki, the bishop’s delegate for safe environments.
This was the second year since the audits began, and the second year the diocese received a positive review.
“I am very grateful to the members of our diocesan family for their cooperation in implementing our educational opportunities, pastoral code of conduct, comprehensive screening measures, and sexual misconduct policy,” said Norwich Bishop Michael R. Cote. “We are committed to providing a safe environment within our parishes, schools and institutions.”
It was with that commitment in mind, Cote said, that he asked the head of the Society of St. Edmund to remove the Rev. Paul Pinard, 73, from the diocese last month.
The reason was not, Cote stressed, any new allegations of sexual abuse against Pinard but “substantial allegations of sexual misconduct with minors” made during Pinard’s service in Canada 14 years ago.
Pinard had served at the Edmundites’ retreat on Enders Island in Mystic without apparent incident since 1995.
The Rev. Richard Myhalyk, the superior general of the Edmundites, said Friday that he had no idea why Cote asked him to remove Pinard from the diocese.
“As far as I know, Father Pinard has done nothing, and he is very remorseful, and he is greatly filled with shame,” Myhalyk said.
“I have no idea why Cote did that,” he said. “To put the best spin on it, he is trying to demonstrate that he is absolutely, positively going to follow the letter of the law. But if every bishop in the United States takes that position, what’s going to happen to priests accused of abuse?”
The Edmundites believe “the thing to do is to retain them and keep them under supervision,” Myhalyk said. “Father Pinard had a safety plan in place, and Father Pinard has been very cooperative. In fact, I was about to ask Bishop Cote to expand his ministry.”
Pinard came to Enders Island 10 years ago with the permission of then-Bishop Daniel A. Hart, who was informed of Pinard’s history, Myhalyk said. Hart allowed Pinard to come to the diocese on the condition that he would be closely supervised.
But some former parishioners and sources familiar with the situation suggested Friday that Pinard was not closely supervised.
The Rev. Thomas F.X. Hoar, who is director of the retreat center, frequently travels, they said, leaving Pinard to celebrate Masses and hear confessions on his own.
Middle school and high school students work in the kitchen preparing meals at the retreat, and the retreat conducts home schooling programs for teenagers in grades 6 through 9.
But Myhalyk said that whenever Father Hoar was away, Pinard was supervised by Deacon Ron Henderson, “so there was always someone monitoring Father Pinard.”
Prior to coming to Enders Island, most of Pinard’s career was spent teaching high school.
He taught at St. Michael’s College in Winooski, Vermont, from 1964 to 1967 before becoming a pastor in a parish in Rosemere, Quebec.
Pinard taught at Rosemere High School from 1973 to 1989. He was removed from his assignment as a parish priest in Canada in 1991, immediately after an allegation of sexual abuse was made against him, Myhalyk said. He stressed that the allegation did not come from a high school student.
Pinard was returned to the Edmundites’ headquarters in Vermont, where he went through counseling.
“He is not a pedophile, according to the testing,” Myhalyk said. “So although there was abuse of a minor in the past, after it’s been probed and tested, he is not a pedophile.”
But if Pinard was not being supervised according to the original agreement, it may have given Cote cause to call for his expulsion.
Jacqueline Keller, a spokeswoman for the diocese, would not comment on that question, saying only that “it is the bishop’s obligation to make sure that young people are protected.”
According to the audit, the Norwich Diocese reports all allegations to authorities, conducts investigations with the help of a lay review board, screens employees, clergy and volunteers, and has implemented a comprehensive Safe Environment Program, Tumicki said.
Two auditors spent four days interviewing staff members, priests, the bishop, law enforcement officials and victims, he said.
“It was very thorough, and that really impressed me,” Tumicki said. “They were former FBI agents, and they really knew their stuff, which we were very happy about.”
The audit of the Norwich Diocese was part of a national audit that found nearly all the nation’s 195 dioceses were fully complying with the child protection programs prelates mandated nearly three years ago. Dioceses and religious orders said they spent more than $20 million on child protection last year.
But claims of sexual abuse by priests are still coming in.
Roman Catholic leaders said Friday they received 1,092 new abuse claims against American priests and deacons last year, even after they had already paid more than $800 million in settlements.
Bishops said, however, that the flood of fresh allegations was not a sign abuse is rampant in parishes today. Most of the alleged incidents occurred decades ago and nearly three-quarters of the 756 accused clerics had died, been defrocked or been removed from public ministry before the claims were made in 2004, church leaders said.
Still, the financial fallout continues. Kathleen McChesney, head of the bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection, said the total payout to victims has now climbed to at least $840 million since 1950.
“The crisis of sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church is not over,” McChesney said. “What is over is the denial that this problem exists.”
Wire reports were included in this story.
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Priest’s Departure Forced
The Hartford Courant
17 February 2005
The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich has asked a priest at St. Edmund’s Retreat on Enders Island in Mystic to leave because of allegations of past sexual misconduct with minors.
The Rev. Paul Pinard, who is retired, lived at the retreat, but did not participate in parish work, said Jacqueline Kellar, spokeswoman for the Norwich diocese.
“I made the request for his departure … after being informed of past substantial allegations of sexual misconduct with minors that were made against Father Pinard prior to his arrival in our diocese,” Norwich Bishop Michael R. Cote announced in a Jan. 26 letter to priests in the diocese. The letter was published this month in the Four County Catholic, the diocesan newspaper.
Pinard moved to the retreat several years ago with permission from Bishop Daniel Hart, though it is not clear when the allegations against Pinard were made or when they came to the attention of the diocese.
Pinard, who sometimes conducted Mass and heard confessions on the island, was supervised while he lived there and cooperated with restrictions placed on him, said the Rev. Richard Myhalyk, superior general of the Society of St. Edmund, an order of priests with 42 members that is based in Colchester, Vt.
The priest left the island immediately after being notified by the bishop, Myhalyk said, and the order will transfer him to another location. There are no new allegations against Pinard, he said.
“We believe we have taken a responsible position by placing [him] where he can be monitored, to be sure no future abuse occurs,” Myhalyk said. He added that he understood that Cote’s order was an effort to conform with the rules of a charter the U.S. Conference of Bishops adopted in 2002 in response to the clergy sex abuse scandal.
St. Edmund’s Retreat was founded by the Society of St. Edmund and Enders Island became a part of Norwich diocese in 1954. The retreat became an independent ministry in 2003.
Rev.Paul Pinard;
I traced an recent address listing to Harvard St., Englewood, Florida. This raises a number of issues;
1- St. Raphael’s, Englewood is the Roman Catholic Parish. It is minsitered by the Carmelite religious order. What was Pinard’s relationship with the parish? Were the Carmelites aware of his background? Did they permit Pinard to minsiter in any capacity at St. Raphael’s or elsewhere under their approval? Were parishoners advised of Pinard? Given the issues surrounding Pinard what restrictions if any did the Bishop Of Venice(the diocese which Englewood falls under) place upon Pinard? Why was he there at all?
2- The Fathers of St. Edmund the religious congregation responsible for Pinard need to make account of their responsibility regarding him and his time at Englewood. Did they advise the pastor of the parish and the diocese of Pinard’s history in Canada and elsewhere? What safeguards and restrictions did they take to protect children there? Was he living there alone?
3- This congregation did administer a parish in London, England. They eventually left this parish. Given all religious orders/congregations predilection to shift and shift all too frequently errant clerics, did they take the opportunity to shift Pinard to England and to their parish there or elsewhere?
4- Where is Pinard now?
Good questions Tanya = questions which should be asked when any known clerical molester.
I don’t know if Father Pinard has any affiliation with St. Raphael’s. He is about 81 now. It is possible that he has retired to the area and has nothing to do with the local church. IF he is or has been assisting at Masses in Englewood then a bishop has given him faculties to say Mass.
I don’t have the 2013 directory yet, but, as I noted, in the 2012 directory, his address was in Englewood.
I find it strange that, after all of these years, he is still listed in the Canadian Catholic Church Directories. He is still a member of the Society of St. Edmund, but the order does not have a large presence in Canada so I don’t believe it’s a case of his ‘belonging’ to a Canadian branch.
Thank you Sylvia for your reply;
As is customary we are handicapped by the sheer lack of data and information. I have emailed the pastor at St. Raphael’s Englewood, Father Mark Schaffner, O. Carm. I believe he has served there since 2004. It will be interesting to see if he responds and if he does what he will say in his reply to my inquiry.
I am assuming that the reason why criminal charges may not have been preferred against Pinard in Canada is that an out of court settlement ,with all the gagging clauses attached, was arrived at between victim and diocese/religious congregation. There again I admit I could be wrong. Valois, the bishop emeritus at St. Jerome died yesterday.
At least Pinard , has no “supporters site”. to date at any rate. This is in contrast to the recently convicted paedophile cleric in Sacramento-Uriel Ojeda. His supporters site is certainly a sight to behold. This cleric at least stayed to face justice. Four other clerics in Sacramento fled the jurisdiction before trials could be pursued.
I am not surprised the Diocese of Norwich took fright at Pinard and told him to leave. Given that diocese’ record in relation to clerical paedophiles the removal of this cleric would ease their financial if not moral burden slightly.
Yet in all these cases it is the insurers who are driving the responses and controlling outcomes.
Yes Tanya, there may well have been out of court settlements, or, as is sometimes the case, the victims may have been assured that he would be relocated and kept away from children. We just don’t know. The thing is that regardless of what happened those victims could still pursue criminal charges against him. It is illegal in Canada for any settlement to prevent a victim from going to police.
My hope is that one or more of those victims will happen upon the site and contact me. That could take months or years, but it could be sooner.
If charges were laid against him there would be the hoops of having him extradited, but, so be it. At least the wheels of justice would be rolling.
Thank you Sylvia for your reply
I strongly suspect that Pinard has been give a carte blanche agenda to do as he pleases throughout his clerical career. I do not think the Society of St. Edmund has been particularly interested in supervising him or restricting him. The fact that the Norwich diocese requested his removal is evidence enough of the sort of paedophile they had in their midst.
All sexual crimes are horrific and paedophile crimes particularly heinous. I believe that Pinard has been dangerous for decades and with the connivance of pliant ecclesiastical superiors been able to walk away from his criminality. The crimes committed in Canada I sense were particularly revolting and what is as bad was the failure to prosecute him.
Perhaps the only way forward is to notfiy the local media situated in the St. Jerome diocese. Victims may then come forward and in numbers too. The victims of Pinard and the Roman Church need no longer fear him or the institution that so willingly surrendered their innocence to him.
Rev. Paul Pinard S.S.E. and Rev. Charles G. (or S.) Many S.S.E ( believed to ahve been laicised in 1994)
It would now seem that Pinard was not alone in his paedophile predilections within the Society of St. Edmund.
I refer the reader to the following two links;
http://rootsgpk.blogspot.com.au/2007/06/omg-were-greenfield-parks-rc-children.html [This link is broken]
http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Many_Charles_SSE.htm
The first link interestingly contains a photo. albeit dated of Pinard. If the claims are correct then it is commonly believed/claimed that Pinard and his fellow Edmundite Rev. Charles Many were inappropriately involved with children at the Greenfiled Park Parish in the 1960’s and prior to Pinard’s removal to Rosemere.
The second link narrates Many’s career as an alleged paedophile in both the Burlington diocese. Vermont and the Norwich diocese. Connecticut before removal to the Edmundite Generalate and his laicisation- voluntary or otherwise.
Clearly it is no easy task picking out what is definite truth and fact from supposition and hearsay. The trends all point to the allegations being substantially true and it would be very interesting to discover what exactly transpired at Greenfiled Park with Pinard and in Many’s other parochial appointments
The Society of St. Edmund are very accountable here. Getting those personnel files on these two clerics will be very difficult. Legal hardball and defiant belligernace will characterise all such attempts to expose this congregations role in the movements of these two clergy. We need a break in the omerta culture that so defines this criminality.
I am in receipt of an email from Rev. Michael P. Cronogue of the Society of St. Edmund.
The email dated 09 Aug.’13 states that Paul Pinard has not been granted faculties where he now resides, diocese of Venice, Florida.
Cronogue offers no further information other than this brief 6 word reply.
This of course omits to tell us as to Pinard’s living arrangements, supervision, if any, notification of his presence to local police and welfare agencies and whether the Roman parish in Englewood , Florida where Pianard resides, has been notified of this clerics history.
A curious reply from Rev. Mark Schaffner O.Carm, the pastor at St. Raphael’s Church, Englewood, Florida.
In his reply Schaffner asserts that;
1- He does not know Paul Pinard but is aware that he resides in the parish boundaries.
2- Is unaware if Pinard has been granted faculties from the diocesan Ordinary.
3- Bizzarely, Schaffner seems to think that I am petitioning for Pinard to be granted faculties to practice as a priest in the diocese of Venice!
4- Appears completely unaware of Pinard’s clerical history.
Schaffner has been pastor at Englewood for the last eight years. I would have to be fairly credulous to believe Schaffner’s statements regarding Pinard.
Of course this could well be an exercise in misdirection- feigning ignorance now that Pinard is ” back in the frame” so to speak.
I am in something of a quandary; Quo Vadis?
A curious reply from Rev. Mark Schaffner O.Carm, the pastor at St. Raphael’s Church, Englewood, Florida.
In his reply Schaffner asserts that;
1- He does not know Paul Pinard but is aware that he resides in the parish boundaries.
2- Is unaware if Pinard has been granted faculties from the diocesan Ordinary.
3- Bizzarely, Schaffner seems to think that I am petitioning for Pinard to be granted faculties to practice as a priest in the diocese of Venice!
4- Appears completely unaware of Pinard’s clerical history.
Schaffner has been pastor at Englewood for the last eight years. I would have to be fairly credulous to believe Schaffner’s statements regarding Pinard.
Of course this could well be an exercise in misdirection- feigning ignorance now that Pinard is ” back in the frame” so to speak.
I am in something of a quandary; Quo Vadis?
I like many students from Rosemere had learned, travelled with and performed (choir) with Fr Pinard throughout the 70s and 80s and had encountered ABSOLUTELY no behaviour on his part that would raise any alarms. If he was a perv he had lots and lots of potential opportunities to exploit me and my friends and he NEVER even went close. I do not know whether these allegations are true, partially true, hearsay, or outright lies. My guess would be a combination of the latter two.
As with other Catholic-bashing sites I just hope for three things:
1) That you also make a similar effort to look into sexual abuse in the Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Protestant communities in Canada. I know Catholic/New Testament haters like you know that Catholic bashing is the only acceptable form of prejudice in modern society. Just once I would like to see you go after other religions with the same hateful fervour.
2) Please state on your website that you have never made any mistakes and have never and will never do anything that may be wrong. Please state clearly on this website that you are “free of any sin”.
3) Please also state on your website that you would have no problem with Journalists and bloggers posting slanderous information about you.
I am thankful that you Robert were never sexually abused by Fr. Pinar, and I remind you that ‘a thief doesn’t hit every house in the block.’
I also suggest you air your concerns with Bishop Cote, and in that vein direct you to these paras from a 19 February 2005 article on the above page
You have not followed up on the points that I mentioned that would, from an intellectual perspective, make your Catholic bashing crusade slightly more balanced. What are your answers to the three points I listed? I am especially interested in a clear non-evasive answer to the first point I listed. What is the problem? Are you afraid of being exposed as a hate-mongering hypocrite?
I believe that we should respect all religions with the understanding that we are all fallible and we all need to grow in a spirit of understanding and mutual respect. That is what I teach to my children since it was good Catholic teachers like Fr Pinard who taught it to me. Yes Fr Pinard taught us to respect all religions. Where were you during that lesson? You have a lot to learn about intellectual balance and respect.
If you are searching for the truth, contact Bishop Cote.
That’s the end of this “discussion” Robert.
Hey Sylvia
If you really had any legal integrity here and was not just bent on Expressing your hatred for Catholics and Christians like me you would realize Father Pinard passed away last June.
You’re going after a DEAD MAN. Because you are not a believer there is nothing of any substance here as far as you are concerned anymore.
If you still have problems finding this basic information on the internet I can help you by forwarding the link confirming this to be the case.
Only the most pervertedly hateful individual would go after a dead person. But of course that is just my Christian belief taught by father Pinard.
Thanks for Robert for letting me now that Father Pinard died last June.. I did find and have now posted the obituary.
June 2017: Father Paul Pinard sse Obituary
The information provided in the obituary has allowed me to fill a number of gaps on the timelines. Those have been added to the Father Paul Pinard page above.
My thoughts and prayers at this time go to those “minors” who were referenced by Bishop Michael Cote in 2005 when he spoke of the “substantial allegations of sexual misconduct with minors” by Father Pinard during Pinard’s years in Canada.
Robert, keep in mind abusers don’t abuse EVERYONE they come in contact with.. They are predatory in nature and usually take advantage of the most vulnerable in the worst way. AND, if you knew anything about Sylvia she is a devout Catholic and from what I know, she lives her Christian values. Providing support, understanding and compassion for the victims of horrendous crimes perpetrated by the Catholic church, does not in any way convey “hate” for Catholics or for the Church. Sylvia often speaks of loving, supportive truly Christian priests who strongly denounce the horrendous crimes that have transpired over the years. She does not paint ALL Catholic priests with the same brush. I on the other hand, loathe and DESPISE the Catholic Church and believe it is nothing more than a front for mostly homosexual pedophilia, with a couple of heterosexual offenders thrown in for good measure. I am bitter and hateful for good reason. I truly believe that when every child who was raped, abused, assaulted and molested eventually grows up and speaks up, the Catholic Church will fall. Sylvia and the majority of the people on this site are not hateful and do not believe these wolves outnumber the good.